Gala 2009
Just when we thought that Gala themes had been decided for years to come (the 1970's in 2007, the 80's last year and the 90's this year) someone noticed that this would be the 40th Gala held by Southampton Gym Club, so a celebration of that was decided. Hence the theme became 1969 - good for us 'older' coaches (!), but more difficult to find music that gymnasts had heard of. But our clever Sara somehow discovered that Sesame Street and Scooby Doo both started in 1969 (can you believe that!) so our Juniors were sorted for music with a nice mix of the two theme songs.
But what to do for the Seniors? Another event happened in the summer that linked together for us. We sadly lost the King of Pop, Michael Jackson earlier in the year and we were surprised when we looked back and saw that his first hit with his brothers was, you've guessed it, in 1969!!!!!
And what an intricate routine Sara choreographed for it, complete with afro wigs for the lead five gymnasts!!!
So, two excellent routines displayed well in both performances, and....................
So many messages of appreciation and congratulations from parents, other coaches and officials at the Guildhall, our email inbox was overflowing!!!
We nominated Heather for Gymnast of the Year for the way she has adapted to the rapid climb through the levels over the last year and has already competed at Grade 2 with a Grade 3 trio hoping to happen in the summer. Unfortunately she didn't win the trophy, but bear in mind that we do not nomiate someone every year - we expect our gymnasts to be special, so they have to be VERY special to get nominated by us. Well done Hev!
And well done boys and girls (and coaches) for making us the best yet again.
A DVD is already available exclusively for Testwood gymnasts at £3, let us know if you want one. I also saw Nicky taking pictures during the day, so hopefully we will be getting some still pictures through before too long. They will be on the website as soon as I get them.
And, at last, the pictures are here! There is quite a collection - as well as the Juniors and Seniors, there are some of Testwood Sports College in the School's Gala (see if you can spot Katy & Hannah).
Just to prove that while gymnasts may retire from the sport they still have what it takes, there are some pictures of Donna strutting her stuff in the Ex-Centre of Excellence routine!!
Click here for the pix.
Gala 2008
Not surprisingly after last year, the theme this year was the 1980s (I wonder what next years will be!).
Unlike last year when injuries piled up (most not related to gymnastics fortunately), this year was considerably calmer and quiet in comparison!
We nominated Elizabeth for Gymnast of the Year, but unlike Samantha the year before, she was pipped at the post by Holly Manning, one of the stars of the disability group, NJoys.
Whilst some of our Juniors were a little nervous to say the least (some are only 5 and 6 years old), they all 'Walked on Sunshine' with a fantastic performance that got a great round of applause at the end.
Wham and Wake Me up Before you Go Go was the Senior's choice of music - a piece of music that I used to like! Now that I've heard it many times over on every training session between September and December I don't really want to hear it ever again!!!!
But it is a good piece to interpret and with the ever-present Sara and Donna at the helm and the other coaches putting their five eggs in every so often, we battered it into shape (or was that the gymnasts we battered - no surely not!)
Anyway, the week before Gala, we are usually wishing we had another month to perfect our performance - not so this year, but was this misplaced confidence?
Fortunately NO! With their fluorescent pink leggings adapted to become bolero tops and matching leg-warmers, the Seniors made an impressive entrance and wowwed the audience with probably their best routine ever.
Well done to you all for 'doing the business' again! And thank you Sara and Donna for the untold hours of behind the scenes work on choreography, design, costumes and make-up and etc.., etc..
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Gala 2007
With the theme of the 1970s, this year's Gala was spot on for the 'older' Coaches!
But what a run-up to the performance we had. First with a month to go, Amy landed badly from a trio pitch and came back from hospital with her foot in plaster! The week after that, Kayleigh, another trio top, was
trying her first flics after recovering from a torn ligament in her wrist and she lands awkwardly and comes back from hospital with a broken arm!
So now two of the four front line trios were out.
Then Sara (choreographer-in-chief) tears a shoulder muscle (and that puts the third trio in doubt).
Following on from that there were four other injuries (all school-related) which threw an even bigger spanner in the works every time the phone ran!
But we soldiered on, changing it week on week until we were certain that nobody knew what they were supposed to be doing (and that included us!)
But, come the day, our fantastic gymnasts proved to us that they really did know what they were doing after all and produced a smooth and professional display that was possibly the best routine of the day (even if I am a bit biased!)
As usual, we received loads of favourable comments, not just from parents, but also from knowledgeable officials and senior gymnasts of SAGC. So once again you gymnasts have done us proud. WELL DONE!
And to top it all, Sammi wins Gymnast of the Year - an award that was really deserved. As I've said before, we expect all of our gymnasts to perform above and beyond the norm anyway, so we have only nominated someone for this trophy on seven occasions in the 16 years we have been running, and we've won it on five of them!!).
As usual, we did video-record 'selected highlights' from both performances onto Digital Video (which includes a selection of several Centres and nearly all of the Acro Squad routines) and it runs for about an hour, so if you would like a copy, speak to Linda, or email us, and for just a few pounds we will produce them for you. (this is only available to current members of our Club).
to read the Echo article.
for the pictures.
Gala 2004
WOW, WOW, WOW!!!
Did you see Gala? Wasn't it wonderful? It just shows what a tremendous amount of gymnastic talent there is in Southampton! As usual, we received loads of favourable comments, not just from parents, but also from knowledgeable officials and senior gymnasts of SAGC. So once again you gymnasts have done us proud. WELL DONE!
And with Sara winning Gymnast of the Year as well, that rounded off a long, long day perfectly. (We expect all of our gymnasts to perform above and beyond the norm anyway, so we have only nominated someone for this trophy on six occasions in the 13 years we have been running, and we've won it on four of them!!).
We did video-record 'selected highlights' from both performances onto Digital Video (which includes a selection of several Centres and nearly all of the Acro Squad routines plus the Acromaniacs) and it runs for over an hour, so if you would like a copy, speak to Linda, or email us, and for just a few pounds we will produce them for you. (Sorry, but this is only available to current members of our Club).
Some schools start back on Tuesday January 4th 2005, but not all do, so therefore, we will not start training until the following week - Tuesday 11th January for Seniors and Wednesday 12th for Juniors, when, unfortunately, fees will be due again.
Final date for entries to be in for the Prelims competition in March is Tuesday 1st February.
Sara - Gymnast of the Year 