The squad now prepares for two big competitions next year where some of them will compete back in Sittingbourne in March at the qualifiers for the National Finals, to be held later in the year, while the senior FIG group will take part in the prestigious Pat Wade Classic at Stoke on Trent’s Fenton Manor Sports Complex, also in March.

Anya got a sliver medal with a floor score of 8.6 and a Vault score of 7.00, Erin came 11th with a floor score of 7.6 and a vault score of 7.2, and Maia came 13th with a floor score of 7.35 and a vault score of 7.00. They all did extremely well considering they were all against some tough competition in large categories.

On Sunday 16th October, the 8 hour girls then competed at the South East Floor & Vault competition but at K2, Crawley. Ellie place 7^th, Darcey and Grace placed 6^th, Katie placed 4^th, Sophie A, Sophie S and Frenki got bronze and Annabel and Syrie got silver.  

The British Championships – one of the highest ranked competitions in the world of Sports Acro Gymnastics – was held over three days at Liverpool’s Echo Arena and produced high levels of competitive competition.

In the 11 – 16 years women’s group competition Horsham had two groups competing; Georgia, Ella & Phoebe and Ella D, Myla & Zoe G. After the Friday Balance display, Georgia, Ella and Phoebe were leading the competition and both groups went into Saturday’s Dynamic display looking to reach Sunday’s finals. After the Dynamic performance Ella, Myla and Zoe just missed out on Sunday’s final, finishing ninth, but Georgia, Ella and Phoebe went through eventually finishing ranked 8th in Britain in the final.

In the 12 – 18 years women’s group Emily, Zoe S and Natalie went through to Sunday’s finals after two good displays that saw them qualify in 3rd place. On the Sunday – in what was Emily's final competition due to university –  the Horsham group put in a great performance to finish ranked 5th in Britain.

Horsham’s other competitors, the women’s pair of Maddie and Aimee, also made it through Friday and Saturday’s qualifying to Sundays final where they finished just outside the medals in 4th place; a great result given the top quality gymnasts competing.

All of the Horsham gymnasts exceeded expectations with those not in the medals finishing well within the top ten ahead of many gymnasts who regularly represent their country at International level. As well as Horsham’s medal winners Emily, Zoe S and Natalie finished in 5th and Georgia, Ella N and Phoebe in 7th - all achieved in competition with a large number of competitors.

Head Acrobatics Coach Ali Goss said, “I am thrilled with what we achieved and proud of them all. The whole trip was a fantastic adventure for them and I was impressed, but not surprised, by how determined and disciplined the whole squad were. My thanks go to fellow coach Ellie Stewart-Croker, all the parents who supported them, and of course the skill and effort of our gymnasts for making it all possible.” In what has been a busy time for the squad attentions now turn to the British Championships on July 28 to 31 at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, where Horsham will be well represented.

Round 1 saw the Level 5 gymnasts compete. Lily competed in the 06/05 category placing 6th overall. Elisha and Brooke competed in the 08/07 category and placed =2nd overall. Brooke was also 1st on beam, 6th on vault and 4th on floor with Elisha placing 2nd on beam and 1st on bars. Morgan placed 9th overall, Evie 10th, Jess 14th and Polly 15th in the 08/07 category also. Jess won a special award for vault with Brooke a special award for beam.

Round 2 saw gymnasts in Levels 4, 3 and 2 compete. In the Level 4 05/04 category Poppy finished 5th overall, 6th on vault and 5th on bars with Izzy 4th overall. In the Level 4 07/06 category Phoebe finished 5th overall, 5th on bars and 6th on floor with Lola placing 8th overall. Level 2 saw Fran place 1st overall as well as achieving 1st on floor and vault and 2nd on bars and beam as well as a special award for her beam work. Millie in the Level 3 section placed 1st overall with 3rd on vault, 4th on bars, 3rd on beam and 6th on floor.

The final round saw the FIG gymnasts compete. There were a few errors on new skills but Honesty finished 7th overall and 6th on floor and vault in the Espoir section. Scarlett only competed 2 pieces but successfully completed her bar routine with her best bar score to date finishing 6th on this piece

FIG Junior Women’s Group – Emily Steere, Zoe Schubert & Natalie O’Hara.
FIG Junior Women’s Pair – Aimee Tolhurst & Madeline Kent.
FIG 11 – 16 Women’s Group – Myla Kettell, Ella Dronfield & Zoe Gaudiano.
FIG 11 – 16 Mixed Pair – Benjamin Ratciffe & Zoe Gaudiano.
Grade 6 Women’s Group – Manami Imada, Caitlin Simpson & Alex Rogers.
Grade 5 Women’s Pairs – Matilda Tester & Alexis O’Hara.
Grade 5 Men’s Pair – Dominic Smith & Jackson Laing.
Grade 4 Mixed Pair – Dominic Goddard & Darcy Luke.
Grade 4 Women’s Group – Ella Turtle, Grace Hanger & Kitty O’Pray.
Grade 3 Women’s Group - Annabelle Wright, Lilly Knight & Darcy Luke.
Grade 3 Mixed Pair – Devon Thomas & Lily O’Keefe.
Grade 2 Women’s Group – Olivia Barry, Nina Butler Laplace & Naima Hyder.
Grade 2 Women’s Pair – India Fielden & Sophie Porter.
The five silver medals as runners up to those named above were: FIG 11 – 16 Women’s Group – Georgia Brock, Ella Nelson & Phoebe Rochead (Italy) and Grade 5 Women’s Pair – Macy Lawes & Amelia Edson.

Head Acro gymnastics coach at Horsham, Ali Harmer, said, “All our gymnasts have put in many hours of work perfecting their routines and their dedication showed in our performance at the Sussex Championships. We now go into the unknown in Italy where we will compete against many international clubs in what will be another step in the squads learning curve”.

Emily Steere, Zoe Schubert, Natalie O’Hara, Aimee Tolhurst, Madeline Kent, Benjamin Ratciffe, Zoe Gaudiano, Georgia Brock, Ella Nelson and Phoebe Rochead flew out to Turin on Wednesday with their HGC coaches for four days of competition against clubs from Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Poland, Austria, South Africa, Germany, and Uzbekistan

This event not only rewards gymnasts for their efforts and work in the gym but it’s also about bringing everyone together for a fun and friendly event.

Thankyou to all the parents and volunteers that supported us on the day, creating an amazing experience for the all the gymnasts.  

Click Here to see the Club Championships Results

The final group for the intermediate 07/08 born category had 7 Horsham gymnasts competing in it. Tana McArthur placed 8th, Chloe Gunning and Emily Boyd 7th, Emily Sturt 6th, Tara Moore 4th with Verity Mott collecting the bronze medal and Aimee Osborne the gold medal.

The Women's Artistic Squad competed in the Sussex Invitational last weekend. A total of 9 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals were taken home as well as a further 8 top 10 positions. This competition saw the gymnasts compete for an overall placing within their age group as well as an overall placing as a member of the Sussex County Squad. The Level 5 Out of Age saw Lily Garrard place 4th in her age group as well as taking a gold medal as a member of the county squad. Morgan Millar competed exceptionally well winning her age category by over 2 whole marks. In the Level 5 In Age competition Horsham did extremely well with Jess Harmer placing 10th, Evie Harris-Duff 9th, Elisha Venturini 4th, Tabitha Lees 2nd and Brooke Stocker crowned the winner.

The next round of competition saw the competitors in the Out of Age Level 4 take part. Phoebe Light place 5th overall within her age band as well as Poppy Griggs 3rd and Izzy Carr 2nd for their age categories. The combined ages for this level for Sussex saw Phoebe take 8th, Poppy 4th and Izzy 3rd. In the Out of Age Level 3 section Millie Craven placed 1st within her age category as well as 2nd in the combined Sussex section by just 0.15. Lola McNaughton competed very well in her first Level 4 In Age competition taking the Gold medal for her age category by over a whole mark as well as taking gold in the Sussex category.

The final round of the day saw Francesca Clark compete in the Level 2 Out of Age competition picking up a gold medal for both her age category and the Sussex squad section. Honesty South competed in her first Espoir Challenge F.I.G level competition and gained valuable experience to place 4th in the combined section and 3rd in the Sussex squad section. Scarlett Tidy finished in overall 2nd place in this competition by just a margin of 0.1 and also claimed the gold medal for the Sussex squad section.

This was a very positive competition for all involved with every gymnast competing new skills in their routines.

Honesty had an unfortunate mistake on Bars which dropped her out of the top 15 to finish 25th individually overall out of 50 competitors. Scarlett performed consistently well finishing 7th in the country individually. This was an extremely close fought, high level competition with the gap to the medals just 0.50 of a mark away.

The girls performed extremely well and represented their region exceptionally well. All at Horsham Gymnastics Centre are very proud of these achievements.

The first round involved the Grade 5 in and out of age competitors. Lily Garrard competed extremely well, taking the gold medal in the out of age section. Morgan Millar, competing in the in age category, also performed a steady competition and collected the gold medal. Lily received the top score on range and conditioning for her age category and Morgan top scored on bars, beam, floor and range and conditioning for her age category.

The following round involved Polly Stott who competed at grade 6 out of age. She had a great competition and achieved the bronze medal overall with the second highest score on beam. In the grade 6 in age section Horsham was represented by Evie Harris-Duff and Jessica Harmer. Evie finished a creditable 17th overall and Jess a fantastic 4th overall. Jess also top scored on the bars and beam with Evie achieving the second highest score on beam. This was a fabulous achievement as there were 57 competitors in this category.

The second weekend of competition began with the National 4 and 2 grades.  In the National 4 section Izzy Carr and Phoebe Light finished a creditable 10^th and 15^th overall and passed their grades with commendations. The National 2 category saw 3 gymnasts compete with Scarlett Tidy being crowned the regional grades champion, Honesty South placing 2^nd and Fran Clark 6^th. Scarlett and Honesty will both now compete for the South East region at National Finals in Stoke in May.

National 3 had Poppy Griggs and Millie Craven compete where the girls finished 6^th and 7^th respectively and passed their grades with commendations. The final round of the day saw 3 of our gymnasts competing in their first grading. Elisha Venturini placed 4^th overall, Brooke Stocker 8^th and Tabitha Lees 12^th at Compulsory 5 grade. All 3 of these gymnasts hit the pass mark for their grade with ease and gained valuable competition experience. Lola McNaughton also competed in this round at National 5 grade placing 1^st overall and being named the South East National 5 grade champion.

The following day 2 gymnasts competed in the Regional 4 competition. Jaia Sahota-Lyons competed in the 05 year of birth section and placed a well deserved 9^th overall. Sophie Hilliard competed at the same grade but in the 04 year of birth section and came away as the regional grade 4 champion, winning by over 2 marks.

This was an extremely successful 2 weekends of competition for Horsham’s Women’s Artistic squad who came away with 5 regional grades champions, 1 silver, 2 bronze, 1 x 4^th and 2 x 6^th places. All of the 18 gymnasts who competed passed their grade with either a commendation or distinction.

Darcey Tidy placed 3rd on floor, Ellie Bachelor placed 3rd on Bars, Frenki Morina placed 1st on vault, beam and overall, and 2nd on Bars. Sophie Ashton placed 3rd on Beam, Annabel Worsfold placed 2nd on vault, Syrie Lalley placed 3rd on floor and beam, Maia Colombo placed 3rd on floor, 2nd on beam and 1st on bar, Anya Barrett placed 2nd on Vault and 1st on bar, and Kimberley Turner placed 3rd on bars.

Horsham Gymnastic Centre Sports Acro competed at the NDP Qualifiers and Grades Competition on Sat/Sun 12/13th March in Sittingbourne.

They all performed to a high standard which resulted in 5 Silvers, 7 Bronze and 20 gymnasts passing their grade, 7 with merit Grade 3 Mixed Pair Devon Thomas and Kitty O’Pray finished in 2nd place and passed their grade with Merit.

Grade 5 Womens Groups Georgia Brock, Ella Louise Nelson and Phoebe Rochead finished in 2nd place and passed their grade with Merit.

Grade 2 Womens Group Lilly Knight, India Fielden and Lily O’Keefe finished in 3rd place.

Grade 4 Mens Pair Dominic Smith and Jackson Laing finished in third place and passed their grade.

Grade 4 Mixed Pair Dominic Goddard and Darcy Luke finished in third place and passed their grade.

Grade 3 Womens Group Grace Hanger, Annabelle Wright and Nina Butler Laplace finshed in 4th place and passed their grade.

Grade 5 Womens Pair Caitlin Simpson and Alex Rogers finished in fourth place and passed their grade with Merit.

Grade 5 Womens Group Manami Imadi, Matilda Tester and Alexis O’Hara finished in 4th place and passed their grade.

Grade 4 Womens Group Isabella Powell, Ella Turtle and Amelia Edson finished in seventh place and passed their grade.

Grade 3 Womens Pair Macy Lawes and Olivia Barry finished in 9th place

For the full results and scores, click here.

The first round involved the Grade 5 in and out of age competitors. Lily Garrard competed extremely well, taking the gold medal in the out of age section. Morgan Millar competing in the in age category also performed a steady competition and collected the gold medal. Lily also top score on range and conditioning for her age category and Morgan top scored on bars, beam, floor and range and conditioning for her age category.

The following round involved Polly Stott who competed at grade 6 out of age. She had a great competition and achieved the bronze medal overall with the second highest score on beam. In the grade 6 in age section Horsham was represented by Evie Harris-Duff and Jessica Harmer. Evie finished a creditable 17th overall and Jess a fantastic 4th overall. Jess also top scored on the bars and beam with Evie achieving the second highest score on beam. This was a fabulous achievement as there were 57 competitors in this category.

This was a fabulous weekend for Horsham with 2 gymnasts being crowned South East Regional Grades champion and all 5 competitors passing their grade with distinction.

Next Dimension Gymnastics Club held a preparatory grades competition on 21st February. Horsham entered 5 gymnasts in this competition, competing at club grade 6 and 5 levels. Jessica Harmer, Polly Stott and Evie Harris-Duff competed at the club grade 6 competition as individuals as well as a team. Polly competed in the out of age category and finished in a very respectable 3rd place. Evie finished 6th overall and Jess 3rd overall in the In age section. As a team they also picked up the bronze medal which was highly commendable against some strong competition. For all 3 of these gymnasts it was their very first competition and they competed extremely well.

At club grade 5 in age Horsham was represented by Morgan Miller who finished 1st overall, winning the competition by nearly 2 whole marks. Lily Garrard competed in the out of age club grade 5 section and placed 1st overall.

These girls will compete again at NDGA on the 13th March at the South East Regional Club Grade 6 and 5 competition.