Diamonds Gymnastic Club


Class newsletters........ (click circular image button)

N E W S L E T T E R - April 2010

Christmas Show 2009

Come and see a real snowman! We are holding our Christmas Show on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December 2009. Taking part in the show will be some of the finest gymnasts at the club who will thrill you with their routines.

Tickets are now available, priced at £4 for adults and £2 for children. There will be shows at 3pm and 6pm on each day.

We will be holding a raffle draw at the event and donations would be greatly appreciated.
A professional DVD of the show will be available after the event.

This will be the greatest event you’ll see this year so order your tickets now! (See your child’s coach for ticket information).

Christmas Raffle

Since its opening in 2003 Diamonds Gymnastics Club has made steady progress in its aim to provide valuable sporting opportunities. In order to continue providing suitable facilities and safe equipment we are involved in a fund-raising project with our Christmas Show and raffle.

We are asking you to support our activities by selling a book of raffle tickets. All monies raised will go towards funding equipment and support for all our gymnasts. The raffle will be drawn on Sunday 6th December during the Christmas Show. Please return money and ticket stubs to your child’s coach by Friday 4th December.

We rely on the support of many people and would like to say thank you to all those people who have donated prizes or have bought tickets.

Display Gymnastics

* London Gymnastics Festival *

We set off in high spirits on Friday 2nd October bound for Brentwood, Essex to take part in our first London Gym Festival. A music quiz, general ignorance quiz and silly problems to solve interrupted the journey enough to make it bearable.

We stayed at the Park Inn Hotel, Harlow which is not a bad place to kip for a couple of nights. The gymnasts were well-behaved and the grown-ups didn’t behave too badly either!

The squad performed to a full house on both days and had a fabulous time. No matter how experienced the gymnasts are at performing to an audience, we still all felt the nerves. But nerves or no nerves kids...you did us proud! A big thank you to all the parents who came along to support us. It really helped the squad to hear you cheering for us.

We all went to the Hawaiian party on the Saturday night organised by the venue (dressed accordingly). Wayne looked fabulous in his coconut-shell bra and grass skirt! Shame we couldn’t talk Jonny into wearing the same though.

We can’t miss this opportunity to thank all the parents and squad members who helped Diamonds in our fundraising efforts. As a result, we were able to cover the cost of the coach which was a massive help and very much appreciated.

Overall we had a super time and have been invited to take part in the Edinburgh Gym Festival next year. We’ll see...!

Carol & Jonny (Display Squad Coaches)

Women’s Artistic

* Yorkshire Championships *

The Women’s Artistic section enjoyed a successful day at the Yorkshire Open competition hosted by the Diamonds Gym Club on September 28th. Several of the gymnasts were competing new skills for the first time, building confidence and experience for the busy competition season ahead.

At senior level, Nicola Wilson brought home bronze medals on bars and floor with a further third position overall, while Laura Wadsworth placed second overall and picked up a bronze medal for the beam.

In the junior section Georgina Harris became Yorkshire Champion in several disciplines, not only placing first overall but also taking gold medals on vault and bars, and silver on floor. She was joined on the junior podium by Laura Walker (silver on vault, bronze on bars) and Victoria Harris (bronze on floor).

Jemma North had a steady competition at level 3, finishing in sixth place overall and Delilah Lowe was seventh at level 4.

Acrobatic Gymnastics

* Yorkshire Acrobatics and Tumbling Finals *

Our congratulations go to all our gymnasts who competed at the Metrodome in Barnsley in the Yorkshire Championships. This event brought together the top gymnasts in the region to compete for the title of Champion of Yorkshire.

Gymnasts were competing at National 1 level and above in women’s pairs, mixed pairs and men’s pairs. The level of competition at this event was quite stunning. All of the Diamonds competitors performed well but now know that stepping up a level takes real effort if success is to be achieved.

The reward of a bronze medal position in the women’s groups at National 2 level (Nicola May, Hannah Woodworth and Kennedy Wall) was a great achievement for their elegant group routine.
Results are as follows:

Women’s Pairs: National 1:
Katie Fenton & Lois Jordan          14th

Women’s Pairs: National 2:
Annabel Kersley & Katie Harper       7th 
Emma Warden & Alicia Haycock         6th

Women’s Groups: National 2:
Nicola May, Hannah Woodworth         
& Kennedy Wall                       3rd

Women’s Groups: National 1:
Sophie Crawford, Francesca Bland     
& Emily Paul                         6th

Gymnasts from the Acro section were also involved in the tumbling section of the championships (see tumbling report below).

Tumbling

The Yorkshire NDP Tumbling Championships took place alongside the regional acrobatics competition in Barnsley. Diamonds was well represented at both the National and Elite levels.

Alicia Haycock brought home the first gold medal for Diamonds in the National 1 competition in the 11-12 age group.
Meanwhile, in the National 1 women’s 13+ category, Lois Jordan, Katie Fenton and Katie Harper swept the medals board, taking gold, silver and bronze respectively.

Darcey Sutcliffe performed three clean runs to take the silver medal at National 2, missing out on first place by just a tenth of a mark. In the National 2 men’s competition Aston Quigley kept his composure in his first tumbling competition and picked up a gold medal with three excellent scores.
Joe Vessey took a gold medal in the Elite 1 competition whilst team-mate Tom Uttley bravely overcame illness to collect silver at Elite 2.

Tom, Joe and Darcey (along with four other members of the tumbling squad) are currently preparing for the national ‘team tumbling’ competition in West Bromwich on 6th December. This will be the first time Diamonds gymnasts have been involved in this event, which forms part of the ‘national tumbling league’ series. The tumbling section will be entering two teams in the competition and Katy and Julie hope that these team events will become a permanent fixture in the tumbling calendar.
Good luck to all these gymnasts. News and results to follow.

Veterans Squad

* British National Champion! *

A band of dedicated athletes, who lived a spartan life (or so they would have us believe) training every Saturday at the gym, took part in the British National Finals for Veterans in Basingstoke. This competition is a wonderful event and caters for former elite gymnasts as well as novices.

In the Acro section our ladies trio looked wonderful in the Gymnast Magazine. The team won the warm up with some excellent work. However they were not able to win through to the medal positions. Their training programme which had included a two week stint of holidaying in warmer climates did not pay dividends, although they looked good with a tan. Thank you to Emma Kershaw, Emma Rae & Jen Robinson.

Craig Walker was superb in the Men’s Artistic Section performing clean routines on floor, vault, parallel bars & rings. His vault was out of this world and Craig was a very worthy silver medal winner.
On trampoline Dave McKeating was very good and came back determined to work on his landings next year.
We would all like to congratulate Richard Baker, who became British National Champion in trampolining in his very first year as a gymnast. Richard, who was a complete beginner, beat off strong competition in his event and he showed remarkable control. Well done Richard. Thank you to all the veterans who went and supported the team. The evening meal on the Saturday night was enhanced with a game of killer bingo!

Veterans are gymnasts over 18 years of age and should know better. Many of them are excellent gymnasts. Some are just beginners and are making superb progress. Next year the squad will be looking to enter even more gymnasts into this ever-growing competition.

Cheer

* Senior Cheer News *

Welcome to our newest cheerleading coach Michelle Robbins. Michelle brings a wealth of cheerleading knowledge and experience to the section.

Sharon and Sam are currently studying for their UKCA level 4 exams which take place on the 21st and 22nd of November. Good luck!

Winners of the ‘Spirit of the Month’ award:
August – Leanne Brumby
September – Jess Holden

The senior cheerleaders are taking part in their first BCA Northern Classic Competition held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. They will be performing a cheerleading routine involving stunts, tumbles, jumps and a cheer. A junior stunt team made up of Beth, Arianne and Sarah is entered at level two and Katie Huck is competing in the senior individual cheer section. Good luck to all cheerleaders.
“Let’s go Divas. Let’s go!”

Foundation Squads

* Award Scheme success *

Gymnasts from the Carr Green Foundation Squad earned badges and certificates when they participated in the Diamonds Award scheme. This is a graded programme of six stages aimed at foundation level gymnasts, which require the gymnasts to learn and demonstrate a selection of essential basic gymnastics skills. The younger children from the 9am class have been working towards the first (green) badge, which includes skills such as shoulder stand and single leg balance.

Meanwhile the 10am class were working on forward and backward rolls, cartwheels and handstands in order to pass the third (red) badge.

Coaches Katy and Jo were very pleased with the enthusiasm shown by all the gymnasts and hope that they can continue their hard work in preparation for the next step of the award scheme.

Foundation Squads will resume their 10 week block of classes after the Christmas holidays on the following dates:

Thursday Friday Saturday
7th Jan 8th Jan 9th Jan

Fundraising

* Advertising Space *

Do you have a business? Need advertising?
The boards around the gym are available to businesses at a rate of £50 per year for an 8’ x 2’ display. See Bill Smithies for details.