New Term Starts!

We Re-Open this week! Looking forward to welcoming back our members and supporters of the Club, as well as any new people that we have met or talked to over the summer who will be joining us from this week.

We had a fun week last week at our Taster Sessions sponsored by Play Sport London. We expected more people…, but those who attended had a great time! We have new equipment that we are going to use at our regular sessions and our new Baby Bouncers! Sessions, as well as more activities and resources for our Bounce Your Way to Fitness! Programme.

Thanks to the staff and volunteers who gave their time to make it such an exciting week. Unfortunately, I have lost the lead that connects my camera to my PC, so am unable to upload any pictures at the moment – I will though as soon as I get a new one…. Get Fit! Have Fun! Try Trampolining! Anne-Sonia, Natalie & Chanelle www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

Great Summer (shame about the weather)!

Summer hols are almost over. We have had fun working on various school holiday programmes – just finished working on the 2-week Greenwich Summer Uni programme which was held at Samuel Montagu – Greenwich Bouncers home! Chanelle and I had great fun – we met some really nice kids, as well as having fun working with some of our GBta members who enrolled on the Summer Uni programme.

At our sessions,  we spotted some talent and are hoping that some of the students enjoyed themselves so much that they join us when re restart our sessions in September. In the spirit of the holidays, we spent some time each session playing games – some we made up as we went along! A photographer from Greenwich Time came along on one of the days and we helped him set up some wacky shots. At one time there were 5 of us on the trampoline, so that he could get a good group-shot.

Natalie also coached on the Summer Uni programme at a couple of other centres around the Borough and really enjoyed herself. She also conducted some sessions for special needs children which ran very successfully and smoothly.

Don’t forget… our Club is closed for normal sessions for the rest of the month and reopens on Wednesday 2nd September. Looking forward to seeing you between 25th and 27th August at our trampoline taster sessions… Baby Bouncers for toddlers aged 1-4; Bounce Your Way to Fitness: a taster session for our 6-week fitness programme; and a Women and girls Only session. More details: ..\Marketing\Play Sport 09 flier.pdf We have had a lot of enquiries about carer/toddler sessions, so we have added a new 6-week course for the under 5’s. This programme is an interactive 40-minute session where the carer can participate in the session by getting on with their child on the trampoline and play with them in various hotspots, including a ‘Chillaxing zone’. The course has to be booked in advance and starts on Tuesday 8th September at 2pm, 2:45 and 3:30pm. Send me an email if you want to join in the fun and games! (but only if you if bring someone under 5!)

Will let you know how it went!

Enjoy the rest of the summer,

Anne-Sonia, Natalie & Chanelle
www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

Summer Fun!

We love our leotards!

Apologies for not blogging for a whole month – it’s been hectic!

We had a fantastic time at the Greenwich Council Olympic Countdown Event last Sunday.  The event was an open-air display of various sports clubs that are supported by the Council and was held in Greenwich Park.  As well as trampolining there were gymnastics and martial arts displays, as well as opportunities to find out more about what sports and fitness opportunities are available in the Borough.  Even the rain held off for the event!  

We had a good turnout from our Club, with many members, families and friends giving us moral and physical support.  Most of our squad was there, but unfortunately Suliaman had a prior engagement and Olivia was unwell and unable to attend.  Special thanks to Chloe’s Dad who spotted and Georgina’s mum who controlled the timer.  Both of them hardly moved throughout the 5-hour event! Not forgetting the squad girls who sold raffle tickets to raise much-needed funds for the Club.  Thanks Folks!!!    

Our raffle prizes were won by:

• C Sadler – A free place on our Bounce Your Way to Fitness course
• J Lane – A week of trampolining
• Niki – 3 free trampolining sessions

Can't see the somi for the trees!

We put on quite a few demonstrations of the type of moves and routines that we learn and perform at the regular sessions in the club.  There was also an opportunity for members of the public to have a go!  This was a long queue for most of the day, and we must have had more than 100 children – and 2 adults – having a go on the trampoline! 

Chanelle and Evie did a great job face-painting, creating some fabulous designs for the kids!  I am thinking of hiring them out for events!!!!  Despite this, Chanelle still had time to perform on the trampoline with a terrific routine that involved 8 different somersaults!

We wanted to raise some money for the Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Care Forum, but unfortunately as Greenwich Park is a Royal Park collecting for charity is not permitted.  However, we shall be collecting on their behalf at other events, as well as at the Club.

School Holidays!  Need I say more?                                                                 

I am currently working for the Richmond Summer Uni programme, and am having a great time.  I have met some nice people – the kids and staff are fab.  I have been working alongside the Metropolitan Police Community Support Team, who are doing a great job!  They are interacting with the young people there and getting involved in all the sports.  They even allowed some of the kids (and me!) to try on their hats and vests (which are extremely heavy!)

Next week…  Greenwich Summer Uni….

Don’t forget,  our Club is closed for normal sessions throughout the month of August, but we are offering some sessions for children aged 8-19 years through the Greenwich Council funded Summer Uni programme at Samuel Montagu from 10^th – 21^st August.  You have to register, so hurry because spaces are limited and the sessions are free:

http://www.summerunilondon.org/courses/SearchResults.asp x?page=1&borough=12&freetext=”Trampolining“

Also, between 25^th and 27^th August we shall be offering some trampoline taster sessions for all ages and abilities – Baby Bouncers for toddlers aged 1-4; Bounce Your Way to Fitness: a taster session for our 6-week fitness programme; and a Women and girls Only session.  More details:

..\Marketing\Play Sport 09 flier.pdf

Finally, since the article that was in the London Lite recently, we’ve been inundated with enquiries for our next Bounce Your Way to Fitness classes.  To remind you:

http://e-edition.thelondonlite.co.uk/2009/07/06/?p=12&keywords=bounce

We are very excited about the new programme, we’ve added some exciting new conditioning exercises and are using some additional resources… if you’re curious, make a booking!  Send me an email….

Looking forward to seeing you!

Anne-Sonia, Natalie & Chanelle

www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

WE’RE IN THE PAPER!!

The Squad, family and friends supporting us at London Youth Games 2009

We’ve had a hectic few weeks… We are pleased with the result from the Youth Games – we came 17th out of 26 teams. We worked really hard, and didn’t really have a long time to train. Some of our squad only learnt to somersault a few weeks before the big event. So all in all, we did terrifically well!! We had a lot of support from the parents and friends at the Club – everyone helped create the banners we held up to support the squad.

We recently had an article written about our Club in last Monday’s London Lite. The journalist, Claire, came down last week to try out the programmes we had on offer. We had a great time coaching her, and she obviously enjoyed herself with us. Read it and post your comments… http://e-edition.thelondonlite.co.uk/2009/07/06/?p=12&keywords=bounce

Lots more events coming up for the summer. Our Club is closed for normal sessions throughout the month of August, but we are offering some sessions for children aged 8-19 years through the Greenwich Council funded Summer Uni programme at Samuel Montagu from 10th – 21st August. You have to register, so hurry because spaces are limited and the sessions are free:

http://www.summerunilondon.org/courses/SearchResults.aspx?page=1&borough=12&freetext=”Trampolining“

Also, between 25th and 27th August we shall be offering some trampoline taster sessions for all ages and abilities – Baby Bouncers for toddlers aged 1-4; Bounce Your Way to Fitness: a taster session for our 6-week fitness programme; and a Women Only taster session. More details will follow, and shall be posted on the website in a few days, so check it out.

Have a great week,

Anne-Sonia, Natalie & Chanelle
www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

London Youth Games – this Saturday!

Squad training

The London Youth Games is on Saturday!   We have been working flat out and our squad is as ready as we will ever be!  Excitement is rising and nerves are getting frazzled…  Luckily, we have had some extra help this week from my other daughter, Natalie, who has joined me and Chanelle in coaching the squad and helping out generally with Greenwich Bouncers. (More about her next time).  Last week we went down to Gillingham to the jumpers Rebound Centre (www.trampoline.co.uk), which is the national centre of excellence for the sport of trampolining in Great Britain, and the only purpose built Rebound Centre in the UK.  And this week we went to Crook Log Leisure Centre in Bexleyheath (http://www.leisurecentre.com/centres/16/home/Crook-Log-Leisure-Centre.aspx?) where Natalie runs some trampoline courses and kindly arranged for us to practice there.

We are all a bit upset because I didn’t order the leotards in good time, and we might not get our order in time for Saturday.  We have chosen a really beautiful leotard, black velvet with a red ribbon trim and net sleeves – it’s gorgeous.  Worse-case scenario, we might have to compete in our practice leotards, which are plain red.  Never mind.  The most important thing is that we are ready and honoured to be part of this prestigious event.

The London Youth Games are a unique season of events at the heart of youth sports in the capital, involving all 33 London Boroughs and 26 National Governing bodies.  This year 26 out of the 33 boroughs are competing in trampolining.  The games are open to all young people aged between 7 and 17, living or going to school in the capital.  In 2008 over 27,000 participants represented their local borough in 60 competitions across 30 sports.

The goal of the Youth Games is to inspire all young Londoners to discover and achieve their potential by providing high quality sporting events. 

Our squad line-up is as follows:

Chanelle King Olivia Grimsley Chloe Hobbs Suliaman Bah Georgina Dunn Yasemin Genc Grace Bowden

Of the seven squad members, only four will compete on the day – the final team can be decided right up until the day, as the other three are reserves.

We are hoping for as much support for the Greenwich team from friends and family and anyone who has an interest in trampolining and would like to experience and event like this and I am sure you’ll find the whole experience of watching a competition like this a memorable one.  It’s being held at the Redbridge Sports Centre, Barkingside, Essex.

Results next week…… Wish us luck!

Anne-Sonia & Chanelle
www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

COUNTDOWN – 4 weeks!

The London Youth Games is now only four weeks away.  We are all getting very excited.  The squad is training hard in final preparations for the competition. We have put on some extra sessions so they can practice their routines and they are enjoying the camaraderie that this competition is fostering. This is the last time that Chanelle has a chance to compete as she will be 18 next year and would be too old.  So she is hoping for a good result.

Chanelle and I spent an evening at Bishops Challenor School in East London this week judging an inter-schools competition between themselves, Morpeth, Phoenix and Mulberry.  There were some participants with real potential and fun was had by all…  Some tears too, but overall it was great fun!

I am back at Bishops next week for their half-term programme.  Looking forward to it.

Normal sessions at Greenwich Bounces this week too.

More next week….

Get Fit, Have Fun!

Anne-Sonia & Chanelle
www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

We’ve been Accredited!

No post last week – apologies. But it was worth the wait because we have been granted GymMark – whoopee!

GymMark is the only national cross sports quality accreditation scheme for clubs and is fully supported by British Gymnastics and English Gymnastics for trampoline and gymnastics clubs, as well as all other sports clubs. It is built around a set of core criteria which ensure that accredited clubs operate to a set of consistent, accepted and adopted minimum operating standards. Sport England recognises and values the commitment made by sports clubs to develop high quality, welcoming environments for young participants. GymMark clubs encourage young people to take-up sport, improve their talents and give them the option to initiate and maintain life-long participation in sport. We are so proud to be awarded this prestigious accreditation. All the hard work has been worth it! I take this opportunity to thank the support from Chanelle, Chloe and Magdalene, who have all helped us achieve this. Thanks ladies!

For techie details about GymMark check out this link: http://www.clubmark.org.uk/

It was the last week for our Bounce programmes – new sessions start from Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Interest in the programme is growing and we are having such a great time delivering the course. We had another visitor this week, an old friend of mine, Kay her husband and daughter. Kay and I worked together previously and she and her husband are joining us for the Saturday bounce programme.

We have finalised our London Youth Games squad and they are all working very hard on their routines. As the time grows nearer, we are getting very excited! More next week….

Get Fit, Have Fun!

Anne-Sonia & Chanelle
www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

Run, Run, Run

Sorry that I posted late this week – I’ve had a hectic weekend and have only just got around to putting pen to paper.  So, it will be a quick one today.

We have spent a busy week working towards the London Youth Games.  We have, more-or-less, picked our squad and they are all working very hard on their routines.  We have had some trampolinists with potential that have joined us recently who we are able to put in the squad.

We are also involved in 2 Schools competitions, one locally and one in East London.  Both occur next month and I am coaching one school team and Chanelle and I are judging at the other one, as well as helping to organise it.

Monday was the last week of the Bounce programme – everyone was pleased with the results.  I am finding the running easier than I did a few weeks ago, although I am still reluctant to run at first – but once I get going, am pleased with my progress.  We did skipping and hula hooping outside as it was sunny – prior to the downfall that occurred about half hour after we went in!   We start a new one on 11th May.

More next week…. Gotta run!

Get Fit, Have Fun!

Anne-Sonia & Chanelle

www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

  

Spring into Fitness!

Up, Up and Away!

I spent the week at the Bishops Challenor school holiday programme delivering trampolining to local children in East London. I have been coaching there every holiday since last summer, and enjoyed catching up with some of the other coaches and youth workers.  It was nice to continue coaching some kids that I have coached previously, as well as meeting some great new kids too. By the end of the week we were working on hands and knees turnovers to feet.  I managed to get to my feet for the first time, and was very proud of myself.  It was fun, but exhausting!   I also played a toned-down version of dodgeball with the staff and kids which was great fun!  Girls versus boys, but afraid to say that girls lost!  But we put up a good fight.  One of the staff members is starting an adult dodge ball game on Monday nights.  Contact me if you’re interested.

Chanelle was at Danson Youth Club over the holidays coaching with Holly and Liz.  She progressed performers to hands and knees to donkey kicks.

Things at Greenwich Bouncers were very quiet all week, which has made us rethink our school holiday opening policy for the next school year. It’s possible that we may not open during school holidays, but no decision has been made yet. What do you think?

Our adult Bounce your way to Fitness programme went well over the break with the participants working really hard and seeing amazing results! Two of our ladies were so happy when they did a handstand – something they hadn’t done since school, at least 10 years! We have noticed increased stamina, confidence and improved performance over the last few weeks, with some talking about signing up again for the next round in May!

Chanelle and our two Volunteers, Chloe and Magdalene, went on the first day of a 2-day Trampoline Club Judge course which will enable us to run in-house competitions as well as being able to offer our services to schools, other clubs or leisure centres who wish to run their own competitions. Their exam is in a couple of weeks and hopefully they would all be qualified quite soon. It is a requirement of the London Youth Games that we provide at least one judge to represent our club for the competition. If you want to find out more about trampoline judging, check out this website: http://www.trampolining-online.co.uk/judging/judging-for-dummies/index.php

We are training really hard for the Youth Games, with the squad members being finalised within the next couple of weeks. Potential candidates have been working really hard and we spent this last week working on the compulsory routine. Progress is being made and we are feeling pleased with the commitment and dedication of our members.

Get Fit, Have Fun!
Anne-Sonia & Chanelle
www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

Easter Break, first week

I am feeling much better this week – I am such an impatient patient – hate being sick!

I spent the week coaching at George Green School for East London Summer University and had a great time.  It was nice seeing some kids that I have coached before, and meeting new kids.  I particularly enjoyed meeting and helping an A’Level student who was trying to improve her grade for her forthcoming moderation.  She worked really hard, and we were pleased with the end result!  I wish her good luck – she knows who she is!

We had a good week of ‘Bounce your way to fitness’ programmes this week.  Because of the holidays, we had some mixing and matching of the sessions, as some couldn’t make their usual session so attended on a different day.  So for them it was an opportunity for them the meet some others on the same programme, meet new friends and compare notes.

On Wednesday we ran a session for a youth group from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.  Unfortunately, there was a major accident in the Elephant and Castle area and it took them over 2 hours to get to us.  Although they had a shorter session they really enjoyed themselves.  I spotted some prospective talent!

We also had some interesting visitors – an agent and a photographer who are interested in putting on a team building day that involves taking some action shots of their team jumping on the trampoline to promote their client’s new uniform.  Will keep you informed on how that works out.

Enjoy your week,

Anne-Sonia & Chanelle

www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk