Flyers Rise to the Challenge

Okehampton Flyers rise to the challenge at the South West trampoline Club and Regional Challenge Cup Final in Bath this month, with a number of club gymnasts becoming Challenge Cup champions in their categories.

At the South West qualifying competition in June, the club had achieved seventeen qualifying places for the Cup Final in trampoline and double mini trampoline (DMT).

For trampolining, gymnasts perform two routines containing ten moves each in front of a panel of judges. For DMT, gymnasts compete four passes consisting of two moves each on a long, narrow trampoline. Competitors are marked for form and technique, height, travel and in more advanced categories, difficulty.

Individual Effort

In trampoline, all of the gymnasts showed style in their routines, with Abigail Graves and Bracken Granger both taking first place in their respective club 1 and club 2 categories. For the club 3 11-12 girls, Skye File came first, with Connie James coming second by 0.05, and Victoria Bristow came sixth. In the club 3 13-14 girls, Sophie Ware took the gold medal, with Sienna Trick taking silver, and Charlotte Pickbourne coming 5th.

In the regional categories for trampoline, Adela Wrzecionko took the silver medal in regional 1 11-12 girls. Esther Smith also gave neat performances to finishing 34th after recovering from a couple of errors. For regional 2 15+ girls, both Teegan Smith and Miya Porter performed well to come 4th and 8th respectively. All of the regional gymnasts had increased their routine difficulty ready for the cup final.

For DMT, Victoria Bristow took the gold medal for with very tidy passes. In the club 2 11-12 girls, Connie James took gold, with Adela Wrzecionko taking silver and Esther Smith taking bronze, all with neat, solid passes. Mason Parker-Groves also took the gold medal in the regional 1 9-12 boys.

Team Results

In the team competitions, Skye File, Connie James and Victoria Bristow took the gold medal for club 3 11-12 girls trampoline. Sophie Ware, Sienna Trick and Charlotte Pickbourne won gold in the club 3 13-14 trampoline. For DMT, Esther Smith, Adela Wrzecionko and Connie James took team gold for club 2 11-12 girls.

Many of the club gymnasts took Challenge Cup titles. Abigail Graves, Bracken Granger, Skye File and Sophie Ware all becoming Club Challenge Cup champions in trampoline. Connie James and Victoria Bristow became Club Challenge Cup champions in DMT. Mason Parker-Groves became Regional Challenge Cup champion in DMT.

The gymnasts were developed by a team of coaches at the club. All of the gymnasts are now working towards higher grades and increasing their skill difficulty ready for next season. Many other club gymnasts are preparing to compete next season either at British Gymnastics regional or national level.

The club’s head coach, Vicki Pritchard, said: “Thank you very much to Ann Smith and Robin Catling for judging all day, the coaches for all of their hard work preparing the children for the competition and supporting them on the day and to all of the parents who did bed marshalling. It was also lovely to see such team spirit amongst the gymnasts at the event.”

Photo 1: (back left to right) Lucia Hazuchova (coach), Vicki Pritchard (head coach), Adela Wrzecionko, Mason Parker-Groves, Esther Smith, Alice Smith (coach), Robin Catling (coach and judge); (front left to right) Sue Bristow (coach), Miya Porter (coach), Bracken Granger, Victoria Bristow, Connie James, Teegan Smith (coach)
Photo 2: Abigail Graves
Photo 3: (Gold medal position, left to right) Sophie Ware, Charlotte Pickbourne, Sienna Trick