Double whammy for Coalville Gymnastics Club

Gymnasts and coaches of Coalville Gymnastics Club were celebrating this week after winning both trophies for the Regional Open Age Club Team Championships Competition on Sunday 3rd June. Both the senior and the junior teams fought hard to bring the trophies back to Coalville this year.

Coalville Gymnastics Club almost withdrew the senior team due to injuries, sickness and holidays, but decided to go anyway and enjoy the day. Little did they expect to come home with any medals at all, but to win with a 6 point lead was astounding and a credit to the hard work and enthusiasm put in by the girls.

Team mates Jemma, Anna, Jessie, Ellis and Laura began the competition with ease on vault; all giving rock solid performances and beginning the competition with high scores. Anna MacDonald performed a very difficult straight somersault tzukahara over the vault for the first time in competition and landed it smoothly.

Bars were next and brought no surprises. The team were well practiced and ran through the routines like clockwork. Injured gymnast Laura was able to shine through here and give a score to bump up the team result.

The most daunting piece for most gymnasts is beam. Leaping, turning and tumbling on a 10cm wide piece of wood, 1.2 metres off the floor is not for the faint hearted. However, Coalville Gymnastics Club seem to have this apparatus perfected, with Jemma, Anna and Jessie getting the top three beam scores of the day. Highest scorer was Jemma with a front somersault mount onto the beam and a second front somersault taking off and landing back on the beam. Jemma never missed a step and was unshakable.

Last but not least was the floor with Ellis performing a straight one and a half twisting somersault for the first time in competition; Ellis made it look as if she’d been doing them for years with not a wobble. Jessie performed her routine with sparkle and pizzazz as always, giving the audience a stunning treat. However, the star on floor with the highest score of the day was Anna MacDonald. Anna performed her routine like never before and stole the show with perfect spins and leaps, and a double twisting straight somersault to finish.

The excitement did not end there! The second competition of the day saw Fleur, Harriet, Kezia, Emily D and Emily C fight a much harder battle to win the trophy for the second year running. Less than a single mark between them and the team in second place, every point counted. Team coach Karen Edwards said, “With a junior team of five girls - all at full fitness - it was difficult to pick which four gymnasts to compete on each piece. However, after much debate we actually made the right choices which just gave us the top position in the end.”

The junior team also got vault first in the draw. All girls performed a half on half off vault with ease, executing near textbook landings. Team top scorers Harriet and Emily D showed how easy vault could be. The bar routines that followed were tidy and well competed with Kezia getting the top score of the day.

Once again the beam was stunning to watch with high scores clocking up the team score. Team highest scorer Fleur gave a brilliant performance and youngest member Emily C (in her debut appearance for a regional team) forgot her nerves and gave us a score that counted.

Finally the routines on floor wowed the audience again with stunning performances from all the girls. Beautifully choreographed routines with carefully executed skills made the final piece flow brilliantly.

All teams had done well with some very high scores, but Coalville Gymnastics Club were rewarded for hard work and unrivalled enthusiasm with the junior trophy for the second year running.

Coaches at Coalville Gymnastics Club were delighted with the result and praised the work of all the gymnasts, coaches and judges for a truly team effort.

Leicestershire Level 4 and 3 Championships

Coalville Gymnastics Club are celebrating again after attending the Leicestershire Level 4 and 3 championships at Daventry on 1st July.

At Level 4 – competition for the first time as an individual – Chelsey Thomas brought home the gold medal. Her routines were well performed and showed potential for the future, putting her in a good position for a place in the top three. However, when the results were announced Chelsey’s winning score was a clear 6 points ahead of the gymnast placed second; an excellent day for this very young gymnast.

In the next age group Coalville Gymnastics Club took five of the top six places. Aimee Riley placed 6th; Lily Walker 5th; Emily Clark 4th, missing a medal by a small margin. The girls had performed well and received good results but the competition was tough. Sisters Keara and Ashleigh Peters took the top two places with younger sister Keara winning the gold medal. The girls had worked hard to prepare for the competition and were pleased with their results.

Christine Becks and Harriet Copeland were entered into the Level 3 competitions within their own age group; both winning gold medals. Both girls gave stunning performances on all four pieces and were delighted to achieve gold medal places. Christine Becks was also the highest scorer of the day; quite and achievement for such a young gymnast against all the other age groups.

Coaches at the club were delighted with the results and are now looking forward to the Regional Championships in September and October.