As you may know we have been doing a lot of fund raising in order to send some of our gymnasts to Malta to compete in the Gymstars International competition that they hold annually.
We had 14 gymnasts competing in the competition which was-
Honor Dickens Ebony Birt Charlotte Abell
Sophie Winfield Danielle Wattie Hannah Betts
Jessica Davie Chloe Pepper Dalila Watson
Madison Newell Emily Pike Eden Dickens
Madison Jurkowski Abi Barham
We also took Ellie Bryan for some support for the girls as due to injury Ellie was unable to compete in the competition.
We travelled to Malta on Thursday 10th July and we used the afternoon and evening to get use to the surroundings and the girls socialized with the other girls already in the hostel ready for the competition.
On Friday all the girls participated in podium training which gave the girls a chance to get use to the apparatus and map out where they will be going in their routines. This is always good for gymnasts to have when they are using a new gym. After training we headed off to the beach where the girls enjoyed jumping into the sea playing games and having ice cream with their friends.
On Saturday all the B and C category gymnasts competed which was Ebony, Charlotte, Sophie, Madison N, Emily and Danielle. All gymnasts had a good day apart from some small hiccups here and there (mainly on beam) however all the girls took it as a positive experience and all come away smiling.
On the Sunday the girls were not competing until dinner time which gave them the opportunity to have a relaxing morning by the pool and catch a sun tan before it was their time to go. On Sunday all the D category gymnasts competed which was Honor, Jessica, Eden, Dalila, Hannah, Chloe, Madison J, and Abi. Again all gymnasts had a good day with minor mistakes throughout the day. Chloe even got a bronze medal on vault which was excellent for her and following this competition all girls were smiling.
Monday was waterpark day ! Unfortunately Eden took poorly over night and couldnt come with us and Charlotte had jetted off on her family holiday after her competition but all of the girls had fun going down the slides, in the wave pool and even joined in with the water dancing! in the evening we took a stroll to get some ice cream and even sqeezed some time in at the park impressing the locals with some handstands and chin ups on the swings.
Everybody had a fabulous time while over there a massive well done to the coaches, judges and helpers while over there looking after so many children and well done to all the girls competing in their first friendly international and we hope there are many more to come.
Also a massive thank you to Sandra the competition organizer for her help throughout the competition and prior to answering questions and queries !