NATIONAL QUALIFYING REPORT

5/6TH FEBRUARY 2011

Midlands Hertfordshire Sports Village, Hatfield

RESULTS FROM NATIONAL GALA WEEKEND - FIg A, Fig B, Nat C

[Results - click here for Webpage]

[Download Results - click here for Excel Spreadsheet]

Saturday

This weekend was an outstanding weekend for the National Level performers of Gatwick Flyers T.C. & DMT. Saturday started in a very positive way by Jolie Lam in the O19 ladies National C category starting out the 2^nd flight group with a really positive and well performed set routine. Jolie swiftly followed this by a good solid voluntary, which overall put her into 10^th place (out of 47 entrants) and secured Jolie her first ever National Finals placing and earned her a promotional offer to Fig B.

Jolie was followed by Maddy Perkin taking part in U17 national C category.   On the panel that Maddy was on (and later on Edward as well) I was informed that there was an international judge who insisted that the marks be kept to international event marking (i.e. very strictly!). Maddy produced two really good performances and secured herself a place in the British National Finals in July as well as in the finals for that day! This too, was Maddy’s first time qualification to National Finals. |Maddy finished 4^th overall with a score of 78.60 after 3 rounds.

Whilst Maddy was performing so well, Victoria and Stephanie were in the process of beginning their hunt for National Finals placings. Victoria put in a very strong set & vol scoring 54.70 after 2 rounds. She was immediately followed by her team mate Stephanie (who was at her first National C competition). Stephanie scored 51.60 after two rounds which placed her overall 23^rd out of 54 competitors, which is excellent for her first ever national event. After waiting expectantly for two more flights Victoria competed in the finals (top 8) and ended up in 4^th position overall. She also gained a promotional offer to move to Fig B. Her overall score was 85.00. Both Stephanie and Victoria have secured themselves a spot at the British National Championships in Birmingham in July.

Edward Weeden then went on to compete in the under 15 boys category, a very strong event with many boys from City of Liverpool T.C., Olga and Edgbarrow T.C. who had some amazing tariff as well as good form. Edward equitted himself well, as this was also his first National C competition. Edward achieved a top 8 position, which was no mean feat, but narrowly missed National Finals qualification due to numbers in his age group (i.e. he came 8^th out of 15) only top 50% can make it to Nationals. I believe that next time Edwards will make the finals, so good luck Ed, keep up the hard work.

Sally was the last to perform on Saturday. With Sally’s improvements over the last 6 months, she elected to go into the Under 19 girls category (although she is only 14) so that she may qualify for Fig B should she achieve the necessary score. Sally bounced exceptionally well, beating many more experienced and older performers. She eventually finished 17^th out of 45 entrants with an overall score of 50.70. She is on her way to British National Finals as well.

Sunday 6^th February

Today Maddy returned to take part in her first DMT competition and “Perks” went on to round her weekend off perfectly with a score of 57.60 which also takes her to National Finals in her first ever National DMT event. An outstanding weekend for Maddy and well deserved. Now past disappointments can be laid to rest or “rolled down the hill!”

Gemma Osborne entered DMT today in the same group as Maddy and although things did not seem to be going well for Gemma, as she was having some difficulty with placement on the DMT, she put in some good efforts. Unfortunately a difficult 2^nd pass, left Gemma in 48^th place and missed National finals qualification. Gemma will go to Gillingham at the end of the month to try again. Better luck next time Gemma. My thanks to Gemma and her mum Karen who stayed nearly all day to support the others who had to wait all day to perform.

Whist the DMT was in progress, Tom Robinson put in his bid in the O19M fig B group. Tom had a good set routine and set a high standard for others to follow. He then went on to have problems in the voluntary routine which ended up with him (technically) only completing 8 moves out of 10. This meant that Tom ended up in 19^th place with a score of 47.10 and will have to try again at Gillingham to attain National Finals entry.

Stephanie and Victoria then went into the synchro Junior girls and competed a very good set routine.   They had problems in the voluntary and got out of time with each other which resulted in them finishing 16^th in their group.   I think the girls were a bit disappointed, but had had little practice and had done amazingly well in their set routine.

Tom had to “lift” himself up again later that day after his disappointment in the individual to take part with his synchro partner in the Senior mens section. Tom partnered James Coomber from Jumpers T.C. and as many of you know, Tom and James barely have enough time to train, let alone train together!   They put in a very good set routine achieving high synchro scores. They then managed, albeit a bit shakey in places to get through their voluntary routine quite well. They achieved 4^th position and achieved 5 points towards National Finals synchro invitation.

Lastly, but not least, Kirsty Briggs had to wait until almost 5pm and the last flight of her age group to get on the trampoline to start her bid for National Finals entry.   Kirsty had some very good warm ups and went on to perform a really good set routine. She then performed her voluntary routine, which was a bit wobbly (due to her having the shakes) and went into 3^rd place overall. In the finals, Kirsty produced a good routine and shot into 2^nd place with an overall score of 86.80 only 0.30 behind the eventual winner! She also received a promotional offer to move to “ladies” which is the highest category in British trampolining.

“The whole weekend was amazing. A few disappointments, but as this was only the first qualifying event of the season, I am really pleased with all efforts. I would like to thank all parents that came along and supported as the team moral was really high on the Saturday and one success seemed to follow another. Gemma and her mum joined us for dinner that night and had to listen over and over to all the good things that had happened that day!   Steph’s dad Glenn took some great pictures of all the team, some of which may appear on the website! Everyone this weekend did really well and I believe we are in a very strong position for the whole season. There are some improvements that can be made by all and I believe that by the time National rolls around, we will be ready with a strong and determined team of performers!”

“I would like to thank all the officials (Mike, Lydia, Helen), for without them we cannot even enter the events. For Cat, Tom, Kirsty, Vicki for staying at club on the Saturday and running sessions as usual. For Helen for providing me with peanut m&m’s when I needed sustenance and the really good venue which was both comfortable, clean and had good food available and plenty of toilets!

Please go along and support the club on 26/27^th February at Gillingham for the next qualifying event for nationals.   As well as supporting club members, you will see some of the best trampolining in Britain and this could be invaluable experience for your child if they are in the process of grading up to D!   It is unusual for the National events to be local and it may well be worth your while to go and see it if you can.   Put the dates in your diary now!