GIRLS COACHING
The Making of a Gymnast: Talent Identification …….. or not?

There are many articles and papers written on the ideal size and shape for a gymnast. In general they say 'small, strong and lean', they forget to mention 'bravery and determination.'

Of all the gymnasts who have passed through my hands it has been the workers who have achieved the most, against the odds. Joanne Atkinson, Laura Baptist and Angela Minervini have all achieved much more than their physical limitations should have allowed. Indeed Angela continues to improve her scores and add new elements to her routines
even though she doesn't work anything like as hard now as she did at the ages of 8/9 and 10.

These children that are not perfect in shape generally succeed when they are in a group with a super-talented child. The workers stay and achieve whilst those with the talent see the threat starting to materialize and they run. They may be brave enough to cope with the physical demands of the sport but not with the idea of coming second to someone they have trained with for years and beaten many times. Why? I wish I knew.

On many occasions now during selection for the advanced children I rely on instinct as well as test results, sometimes correctly, sometimes not.

I often wish now I could have Joanne Atkinson all over again, with the benefit of this many years experience. She never stopped working; her theory on the moves that scared her a little bit was 'if Maria says I can do it, it'll be okay.' Her theory never let her down. I think she went as far as I was capable of taking her at the time.

The real worker in the gym at present has to be Kelly Park. Often injured, but ALWAYS in the gym working, consequently she has the routines that are worth more than anyone else's (the occasional teen age strop can almost be forgiven). Hopefully the coming year will give her the performances, scores and results she deserves.

At the moment there are several very talented young gymnasts training, hopefully they will become workers as well, the initial signs are promising.

I could also mention the essential support of parents but that is another topic entirely, and could take up the whole of this newsletter and the next!
Maria Sinclair
Senior Coach

RESULTS
National Finals British Club Grade - Kettering - April 2002

In Newsletter Issue one, three of our gymnasts, Angela, Megan and Amy, kindly gave us their impressions of travelling to Kettering for the National Finals British Club Grades. It was unfortunately not made very clear that the team from the North of England, of which Megan was part of, won the bronze Team Medal in the Grade 2 competition.

National Age Group Finals - Level 4 - Guildford - November 2002

In the last Newsletter we reported that Laura Bicknell and Emma Berry had been placed 4th and 5th in the North of England Regional Age Group Championships. Laura was to go on to represent the North of England in the above competition. Unfortunately Laura suffered an injury, which prevented her from competing. With only 4 days to go Emma had to step in. The North of England team came 8th.

This is what Emma had to say - 'I went to Guildford for the National Age Group finals to represent the North of England. I really enjoyed the experience and the atmosphere was great. The facilities were wonderful. I managed to tuck back on the floor and I would have loved to fit the floor into my Dad's car boot!!'

British Gymnasts Challenge Cup - Aldershot - November 2002

Amy, Angela and Kelly travelled to Aldershot to take part in the British Gymnasts Challenge Cup. This is an annual event with gymnasts entering from all corners of the British Isles. The gymnasts are already planning next years assault and they all intend to fly down. The joys of the M25!! Julie says she will drive on her own and meet the rest of us there!! (and this from a woman who is prepared to hang from the Civic Centre with nothing but a rope between her and ………. the bottom.)

Cumbria 4 - Piece Championship - November 2002

Under 10
Individual Pieces

Vault - Gold Emma Berry & Georgina Harris, Silver Nicola Hinde, Bronze Kate Murrant.
Bars - Gold Emma Berry, Silver Eden Hedley, Bronze Helen Gill & Nicola Hinde.
Beam - Gold Emma Berry, Silver Nicola Hinde, Bronze Charlotte Wordsworth.
Floor - Gold Helen Gill, Silver Eden Hedley, Bronze Kate Murrant & Emma Berry.

Final Positions

Gold Emma Berry, Silver Nicola Hinde & Eden Hedley, Bronze Georgina Harris.

Under 13
Individual Pieces

Vault - Gold Megan Pattinson, Silver Natalie Lewthwaite, Bronze Amy Drinkall
Bars - Gold Megan Pattinson, Silver Amy Drinkall, Bronze Sophie Townsend.
Beam - Gold Megan Pattinson, Silver Amy Drinkall, Bronze Jessica Berry.
Floor - Gold Natalie Lewthwaite, Silver Megan Pattinson, Bronze Amy Drinkall.

Final Positions

Gold Megan Pattinson, Silver Amy Drinkall, Bronze Natalie Lewthwaite.

Seniors
Individual Pieces
Vault - Gold Kelly Park, Silver Angela Minervini.
Bars - Gold Angela Minervini, Silver Kelly Park.
Beam - Gold Kelly Park, Silver Angela Minervini.
Floor - Gold Angela Minervini, Silver Kelly Park.

Final Positions

Gold Angela Minervini, Silver Kelly Park.

North of England Championship - Pre-Elite - Newcastle - December 2002

Seniors
Gold Angela Minervini, Silver Kelly Park.

Under 13
Silver Amy Drinkall, Bronze Natalie Lewthwaite.

Club Competition
This was an excellent day, which was enjoyed by all who took part and hopefully by all who came to watch.

BOYS
Under 9
Gold Teo Castlevecchi, Silver Callum Aldridge, Bronze Peter Mortensen.

Under 11
Gold Christy Bailey, Silver Ben Queen, Bronze John Gill.

GIRLS
Under 9
Gold Georgina Harris, Silver Charlotte Wordsworth, Bronze Kate Murrant.

Under 10
Gold Laura Bicknell, Silver Emma Berry, Bronze Eden Hedley.

Senior
Gold Megan Pattinson, Silver Jessica Berry, Bronze Sophie Townsend.

Intermediate
Gold Jessica Huggett, Silver Karen Henderson, Bronze Claire Adams.

TEAMS
Gold - Ben Queen, Emma Berry, Annie McKie and Jessica Huggett.
Silver - Christy Bailey, Georgina Harris, Jessica Berry and Sarah Jackson.
Bronze - John Gill, Helen Gill, Megan Pattinson and Claire Adams.

The above results could not have been achieved without the commitment to training from our gymnasts, and so congratulations go out to all the gymnasts for their hard work, but it should also be mentioned that these results would not have been possible without our coaches. The coaches are all volunteers, who give up their free time to coach our children and without their commitment the club would not be able to function. So to get 2003 off to a good start-lets hear it for the coaches!!!

SOCIAL COMMITTEE
Laura Boughey has most kindly agreed to take on the role of Social Chairman. Please can as many people as possible help support Laura in this role. Laura's telephone number is 01228 527151. As usual if you have any fund raising ideas, or can offer any help or support, please let Laura know.

FUND RAISING
Following the recent round of fundraising events we have successfully raised £1195.84. These funds will go towards replacing the sprung floor in the gym. The funds were raised as follows: -

Disco £35 approx
Coffee Morning £ 153.60
Baker Ross Xmas Book £112.47
Candlemagic £40.50
Bag Packing £854.27

Thanks to all those who were able to offer help and support at these events. Without your help we would have been unable to run them.

A further positive note on the fundraising side, we have recently been lucky enough to receive a cheque for £250 from Carlisle Round Table towards our funds. A big thanks goes out to the Round Table. We have also received £100 donation from Edenside Carpets, once again, thanks to them.

WEBSITE
We now have our own Web site up and running www.carlislegymclub.org.uk. The site gives a background to the club, club contact, a notice board for messages, list of sponsors and should soon have a link with the BAGA site. Our web address is also to be quoted in the Carlisle Sports and Recreation Web site at www.carlisle-city.gov.uk/sportandrec.

ASSISTANT COACHES EXAM
Kelly Park, Lucy Charlton and Angela Minervini successfully passed their Assistant Coaches Exam in November. Congratulations to them all.

FEES
Due to the continued increase in the clubs outgoings it has been decided that we must unfortunately increase our fees. The fees will be increased from January 2003. If anyone has a problem concerning the fees please see one of the coaches. The fees still represent great value for money and are nowhere near the amount that gymnasts have to pay in other areas.

PHOTOGRAPHS
From time to time we hope to use photographs of gymnasts who attend the club in the Newsletter. If you have any issues about this matter please raise them with the coaches.