Date: Sunday 3rd March 2013 at Saffron Walden
Entries close: TBC
Entry ages: 4 years +
The 2013 Saffron Walden grading was a massive success for the club and the region. Cangaroos had over 60 entries and took home an impressive haul of silverware. The tireless efforts of an army of volunteers meant we can continue to run one of the best regional grading competitions of the season.
The competition took months of planning and on Friday 1st March the trampolines and mats were moved from Sawston to Saffron Walden by a handful of volunteers ready for setup on Saturday. The following day trampolines were erected for normal Saturday training sessions as a group of volunteers began setting up the venue. Dan Culshaw ensured all seating was adequately placed and was keen the show the “older ones” how it should be done. The kitchen team, marshaled by Brigadier Lizz Kendon dropped off food, cakes, rations and drink. As the training sessions ended, the coaches began to arrange the trampolines. Andrew arrived late after a successful Varsity cup win for Cambridge University Trampoline Club against Oxford, and then spent much of the afternoon hanging Cangaroos banners; onlookers stared curiously as he questionably hoisted a poor innocent Ali into the air to attach them to the various basketball hoops around the Sports Hall. Once Tony was satisfied the trampolines were the correct number of millimetres from the wall, the kids did some 'essential' pre-competition testing and we headed off for an early night.
Sunday arrived and DE Photo was practically banging on the door as Ali’s bike rattled into the car park. As ever the caretaker was incredibly helpful and tirelessly assisted with our every request. It was not long before people began to arrive and the equipment started turning on. The buzz in the air was almost electric as Team Kitchen wafted the hypnotising smell of Bacon down into the hall - hungry parents and children were soon chowing down some much needed nourishment. To add to this Lexi and Abhi's Mum was kind enough to provide the coaches with some much needed free gingerbread Cangaroos (even if Lexi thought they looked like dinosaurs we still appreciated them). The kind selection of treats for the coaches was incredible and we thank you greatly!
The morning kicked off with Byron and Laurence in Regional E. Unfortunately a fault on Byron’s first routine put him out the running but his second routine was substantially better and shows promise for success at the next competition. Laurence attacked his two routines and narrowly missed grading, finishing 5th. At the same time Callum and Edred performed well in Regional G also only narrowly missing the required grade score. On the third panel Macy Dexter was competing in Club H and did well finishing 4th.
Following them was the one and only Andrew Aistrup in Regional D. Andrew (being well-known for his pre-competition optimism) was on great form and, in his second attempt since grading in October, made it to National C to join Matt, Ali and Luis Taranne, Trinity, David and Myffy on the National Gala Circuit. His two routines soared into the air and he made the grade and finished 1st beating off his opposition - massive congratulations.
After Andrew was the mass swarm of girls in club H – fantastic to have so many entries and so many teams! Charlotte Lawton, Danae Candotti, Hannah Swinton, Katie Golding, Lexi Marlow, Rhyannon Kinnley, Sanjana Duraikan, Sarah Hardwick and Scarlett East all teamed up to show the only thing cooler than a Cangaroo is a team of them achieving results as high as 2nd place and taking a clean sweep of the 1st place team medals!
Following them was Zach and Charlie in Regional F. Charlie had only just graded up but performed very well and should be very proud, narrowly missing the grade score this time. The stand out result of the day belonged to Zach Goggin who nailed two routines scorings 8s across the board, finishing 1st and double grading to D – congratulations! Daniella Stephenson was keen to make an improvement on Brentwood and after a wobbly first routine greatly improved in the second and narrowly missed out on grading. She has been very tidy in training and we are confident she will make Regional E this season.
Ashlea Bucke and Gaelle Daniel both performed well in Under 15 girls regional G but this time Ashlea stole the show finishing 1st and making the grading score to F – catching her friend Mila up slowly! The Under 11 Girls Grade G girls trio of Hermione Simpson, Meghan Searle and Anya Snook were sharing plenty of nerves at the start of their competitions. This did not however, stop the cheeky smiles and mischief before their routines. Despite some wobbles they all did very well and took home the team gold beating all the other teams in their group – massive well done!
Florence Simmons and Rebecca Livermore were up next in Grade G and did incredibly well despite some un-steady warm-ups. They all showed great character to produce two good routines each and they can now aim to improve for the next competition.
The Under 13 Girls Regional G group was nearly an army of Cangaroos which included Aaliyah Kinnley, Daisy Frost, Ella Schumann, Felicity Lawrence, Georgina Wrigley, Isobel Grant, Katie Todman, Sydney Kelly and Yasmin Snook. Even other clubs were impressed with our entries as the smiles and laughs lifted the spirits of panel 1 as they dominated the team events and Sydney even took 2nd place. Both Sydney and Yasmin also made the score to qualify for grade F. Sydney will also be in action at the National Schools Finals next weekend.
Alex Burson and Oliver Burrell both performed well in the Under 11 boys H and under much pressure both showed great character to get on and do their routines. Following them was Cameron Ackroyd, Daniel Joannou and Henry Ashton in the Under 13 Boys H. Henry’s unstoppable run of trophies saw him master his way to 1st place to make it two in a row after the Brentwood Grading and achieve qualification to Regional G.
Next up was the legendary rivalry of Frances and Imogen Pickup. These two made ‘The Oldfirm’ look like lawn bowls only the margins were closer. Today it was Imogen’s day as she finished 2nd to Frances’s 4th.
Following them was Charlotte Vincent and Sophie Barber in the over 15 girls H. Under the watchful eye of Tony they both did themselves proud finishing 1st and 2nd respectively. At the same time was Chloe Saintey, Corinna Hudson, Hatty Addley and Holly Vincent in the under 15 girls. They also did fantastically well and finished just outside the podium places. Shortly after them was Joel Bowden-Pickstock, Charlie Rixon and Greg Briscoe. Despite all three arriving at the panel late they all performed very well and finished 1st,2nd and 3rd making our trophy haul even bigger, and taking team Gold. Also Mael Bely, Milo Abbiss and William Redfern all competed very well in the Under 15 Boys grade G, especially Mael who had been struggling with the somersault all week, the results bringing Team Gold for the boys efforts.
The moment many (including the kids) had waited for was to see Linton coach Cathy Culshaw perform her routine in the Over 17 ladies along with Katie Evans. Cathy performed brilliant in her first grading in two years since being back and finished 3rd. Katie did two great routines and finished joint first alongside Joanne Wardle (a judge who helped out at our own club competition).
The last girls group of the day saw Alexa Hanson, Shanti Duraikan and Susie Franklin perform valiantly in the under 13 girls club H and they did themselves proud taking bronze in the team event. The last boys group of the day was Abhi Macdonal-Marlow and Gabriel Strydom-Green compete in the under 11 boys G. In a tough group Abhi performed two good routines and did incredibly well. Gabe did one better and finished in 3rd place for our final trophy of the day and also qualified for regional G.
Once all the presentations were complete the massive job of packing away began. It was a huge team effort to fold everything away and get the trampolines back to Sawston but all our volunteers, coaches and committee did a superb job and the whole day was fantastic.
We must pass our thanks onto everyone that helped including:
- Kim Pearson
- Lizz and Taranne Kendon
- Nikki Grant
- Neil Pike
- Stuart Kelly
- Becky Midgely
- Clare Kirk
- Grace Pike
- Anthony and Sarah Goggins
- Melissa and Scott Kinnley
- Benoit Bely
- Harry Mallows
- Trinity Kelly
- All the coaches that were on the floor, the many members who assisted the coaches
and everyone that helped (apologies if we have missed you off).
One thing we as a club can say is that it we are and continue to be amazed by the dedication of all our members, coaches, committee, volunteers, parents and friends without whom we would not be where we are today. You truly all make this club a beacon of success and no matter what the victory, with you alongside us it will always be worth the work to achieve it.