GBta 2009 Competition Squad

Hi folks,

This week our Guest Blog has been written by three members of last year’s competition squad, Yasemin, Chloe and Georgina.  These are all in their own words, with no prompting from us (I promise!)  Although it looks like they love trampolining almost as much as we do!  You can see from the scans that these are genuinely from these girls (click on the links below if you don’t believe me…) , but I am typing them out here to make it easier for you to follow.  Enjoy!

Yasemin March2010
Chloe March2010
Georgina March2010

Yasemin   “My name is Yasemin, and I am 12 years old and I go to Greenwich Bouncers trampolining Club.  I think that Greenwich Bouncers is a really good place to learn trampolining because they teach you really good.  And I’ve been coming here for like a year and a half, and I already know how to do front somersaults and back-somersaults.  And I go in the London Youth games.  And the people that go there are really nice. And the teachers are really nice and kind.” [Editor note:  Why did she scratch out friendly?????...]

Chloe receiving 2009 Spirit of the Games Award

Chloe :   “Hello Chloe here.  I enjoy trampolining is fun is good and is healthy.  London youth games are coming up I am a bit worried you find out who’s going on at the last minute but last year I got to spot.  This year I have been working hard with Anne-Sonia and Chanelle also with other members of the team.  Like Yas, we are best mates and we talk a lot.  At the mo’ she’s been doing a straight back and I have done a pike back.  This London youth games we will come 15-8, last year we came 17th.  I believe in the team and the team believes too we will come 15th-8th.  Anne-Sonia and Chanelle are the best teachers ever they help and they have a lot of focus – I should know.  They nominated me to get the Spirit of the Games award.  The mayor gave it to me and that’s where I met my boyfriend.  On the night Sonia, Chanelle and Nat (Sonia’s other daughter) all look stunning.   From Chloe” [Editor note:  check us out in the photo – not wearing trackie bottoms!] 

Georgina:    “Hi and my name is Georgina and I go Greenwich Bouncers and I love it there.  When you can’t do a move they say that’s OK, just try, try and try again and they are very supportive.  I did dance before I did this but because of my Dyslexia I found it hard because of the writing we had to do, after every lesson it would be write what you learnt.

And I even tried football, teenies and Boxing, but they just didn’t work then I tried trampolining and I loved it.  They help me and no-one is treated differently because they can’t read, write or even if they have Downs Syndrome.  THE ONE THING I LOVE THE MOST IS SONIA” because she is so kind and she loves us all” [Editor note:  We are a fully inclusive Club, and welcome all ages and abilities]

Hope you enjoyed getting a different perspective… your comments are welcome.

Our Guest Blog next week is from one of our Coaches

Get Fit! Have Fun! Try Trampolining!

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

New Blog Format

Hi folks,

The kids were glad to be back at Greenwich Bouncers after the half term break. It is always nice to see our regulars and welcome newbies to the Club. Chanelle was unwell on Saturday with a throat infection, but hope she will be back with us next week. Feel better soon Chanelle. We also started new Bounce Your Way to Fitness! Courses this week – still have places available if you want to join mid-course, or if you wish to join on a pay-as-you-go option. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our hoop, hoop, hooray! Course and our Baby Bouncers course due to lack of support. Don’t worry, we shall be running new courses in a few weeks.

From next week, we shall introducing a new format for our Blog. I shall not be writing the Blog on my own… Don’t worry, I shall keep writing, but you will only hear from me at the beginning of each month. This is Great News as it means that our readers can get the prospective of others in the Club. We shall have guest blogs from our other coaches, members, including our competition squad, and non-members as well as parents. So our readers can find out more about us as a Club and get insights into how others feel about trampolining. Everyone knows about my passion from trampolining! But lots of you share my passion, so if you want to add your comments too, that would be great!

 Get Fit! Have Fun!

Try Trampolining!

Anne-Sonia, Natalie & Chanelle

Bounce course

www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk

Is Half Term over already?

Somersault help at Greenwich Bouncers

Hi folks,

I can’t believe it is almost the end of February and half term in over already!  I had a good week last week trampoline coaching at Bishop Challenor school working at their holiday playscheme.  Slightly different this year as they only offered the sessions to primary school children.  It was good to see some kids from last year, and of course some new faces.  We had a great week, and many achieved accreditation from the British Gymnastics Awards scheme.

Greenwich Bouncers starts this term off with a BANG, with three Bounce Your Way to Fitness! Courses starting this week… Monday at 7pm; Wednesday at 8:30pm and Saturday at 11:30am.  Why not join us and see the difference this can make to your fitness regime.

If you want to try something different… why not join us tomorrow at 6pm when Natalie will teach you some amazing tricks with a hula hoop!  Our Hoop! Hoop! Hooray! For Greenwich Bouncers course starts tomorrow at 6pm. 

Don’t forget our usual drop-in trampoline sessions on Wednesday from 6pm and Saturday from 9am.  Full details on our website:  http://www.greenwichbouncers.co.uk/sessions.html

Excitement is rising as we are starting preparations for the London Youth Games on Saturday 19^th June 2010.  We have started the try-outs for the squad.  So, if you are 18 or under by end August 2010, live or go to school in the Greenwich Borough, and think you have what it takes, come along to any Greenwich Bouncers training session and try out!  You must be able to somersault well.  This competition is open to boys and girls.  Hope to see you!!!

Get Fit! Have Fun! Try Trampolining!

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

Happy New Year!!!

We hope you all had a very good seasonal break, and are ready to start the New Year with vigour and vim!

We have many new and exciting things planned for the Club this year, including participation in some competitions for our members, and we start getting ready for the forthcoming London Youth Games. 

At the beginning of the year, our thoughts turn to resolutions usually based around getting fit, losing weight and generally improving the way we look.  Well, if this sounds like you, WE CAN HELP!!

We have exciting programmes for Adults as well… Our unique Bounce Your Way to Fitness! Programme is going from strength to strength as there is more focus on using the trampoline as a workout tool.    Join the hula hoop fitness craze and check out our NEW Hoop Dance sessions which are a great way to tone your body and get fit for the New Year.  Come and give us a try!

Get Fit! Have Fun! Try Trampolining!

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