Date: Sunday 3rd February 2013 at Brentwood School Sports Centre
Entries close: TBC
Entry ages: 4 years +
The 2013 Brentwood Open was our largest ever entry to a competition not hosted by the Cangaroos. 32 entrants along with parents, coaches and judges from the club descended on The Brentwood School Sports Centre. As the familiar faces arrived and Neil and Stuart setup the IT equipment to run the competition there was a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air. Even Lizz Kendon was ‘a-buzz’ with pictures of Cats and Dogs on her iPhone as she prepared to undergo the day’s festivities. However, the morning started on a respectful note, as we conducted a minute silence in memory of the late Andie Buckley who passed away a few weeks back.
The Trampolining kicked off with Lexi, Ashlea and Abhi competing at the same time as the first of our many competitors took to the beds. Whilst both Lexi and Ashlea performed well finishing 6th and 5th, Abhi stole the show with two blistering routines in the Under 9 Boys H to secure 1st place. He was followed by Rhyannon who worked hard but was not quite able to replicate the success of her team mates thus far.
As the first hour ended it was the turn of Dani and Mila to compete at G. Dani had to battle with the notoriously powerful 4x4s (a trampoline that she was not used to) but was still able to get through both her routines well. Mila was on another level and surged into first place and double graded to E as she blasted through two routines averaging over 8.5 out of 10 from every judge on each routine. A massive well done to her as even Tony stood there in awe! Next up Lois sought to follow in Mila’s footsteps, with two excellent routines she was unlucky to narrowly miss out on promotion and a trophy finishing 4th. Following her was veteran Frances Pickup whose determination to grade has always been admired and she was again close but just missed out finishing 7th. Next up was Aaliyah and Alexa in the Under 13 Girls H and they competed very well to finish 7th and 16th as we added more trophies to the haul. It was then Daisy and Isobel’s turn in the Under 13 Girls G. This was Daisy’s first regional grading and she did very well but unfortunately landed on the mat and this saw her finish 19th. Isobel had been training very hard and had got her routine ready just in time but missed promotion by 0.1 and finished 12th – she will surely grade at Saffron Walden.
It was then the ever-eccentric Harry Mallows who performed an incredible pair of routines finishing 3rd and qualifying for regional D – one level below nationals. His sweep was complete as he not only picked up 3rd but also his long-wanted shield for highest form score at the Brentwood Open from September 2012. At the same time Zach was also bouncing very high and performed well but not quite enough to grade this time even though he finished 3rd. After Kim showed off her ID card and photo to Ali and Tony, Laurence performed really well finishing 2nd and getting the grading score - in fact he very nearly double-graded!.
Katie Evans then started off as our older performers began to show off. She performed valiantly but today was not her day as she finished 4th but with her tidiest set of routines to date. Another possibility for trophies and grading at the next competition. Meghan also performed well with a strong 10th place in the Under 11 girls G.
Byron was widely tipped to grade but he just came short despite some really good practice routines and finished 3rd – another trophy to add to his burgeoning collection. Rebecka Kiff who had been training hard all week found her confidence and surged through to 2nd place under the watchful eye of Tony and Ali. After a small admin mix up Milo and Charlie started competing in the wrong group but both completed their routines. However Grace saved the day and got them moved across to the correct G panel where Milo performed well in his first ever competition – well done! William Redfern followed them and was unlucky in both routines but left the hall with a smile and we hope he will stick with it for the Saffron Walden Grading. It was then that Henry blasted away the opposition in the Under 13 Boys H and finished 1st and we look forward to seeing more of him competing.
After a long wait the ever-eager Charlie bounced his heart out and graded up to F with two good routines finishing 5th. Tristan bounced well in the Under 13 Boys G and took 13th and we are proud of his effort. Next up was Taranne in the Under 17 Girls Regional D and she performed two excellent routines, leading in 1st place and scoring over 50 marks going into the final, where she eventually came 2nd, but more importantly taking her through to National C where she will join Ali, Luis and Matt on the national circuit next season - massive well done! Finally it was Corrina and Callum who both bounced so very well at the end of the day and finished 10th and 3rd respectively.
As the day drew to a close Luis, Ali and Lawrence were left to dawdle around as ‘the grown ups’ had their regional committee meeting (in the bar). After a long wait they all made their way to the cars and set home for Cambridge and we now look forward to the Bath Gala where the national team will aim for some FIG B qualifications!