A talented group of young gymnasts have wowed the judges at the English Gymnastics TeamGym Tournament taking home gold medals and the title of ‘English Champions’ in Newcastle on Sunday 7th July 2019.
The gymnasts from Richmondshire Gymnastics Club train at Colburn Leisure Centre and Thirsk Dales School of Gymnastics at Thirsk Auction Mart. Known as the ‘Richmondshire Rebels’, the team only started competing in TeamGym fourteen months ago, achieving success at competitions over the last year to qualify for the Level 4 Primary Challenge at National level. Teams from across the UK were invited to compete on trampette, tumbling and floor pieces with Richmondshire achieving the highest score on the trampette and tumble track. Richmondshire took joint gold alongside North East Gymnastics Academy, with Tyneside Gymnastics and Leeds Esprit taking the silver and bronze.
Aged between 8 and 11, Lily Rodgers, Georgia Wilson, Abigail Smith, Henry Chapman, Evie Almack, Zoe Hall, Hollie Bowers, India Clay and Chloe Proud live locally in Thirsk, Northallerton, Bedale and Ingleby Barwick.
Following continued success, the club has announced it is fundraising to develop the training opportunities located at the Thirsk site (Thirsk Auction Mart) as it aims to provide more opportunities for its local squad to compete on a national stage. This includes installing a new tumble track and landing pit. This equipment will enable squad members to safely learn new skills that will take their gymnastics further.
Rebecca Clay, head coach at Richmondshire Gymnastics Club, said:
“It was an amazing feeling hearing Richmondshire’s name called out as gold medallists. They have worked so hard and overcome many challenges over recent months, making this moment even more special. The Rebels are not only very talented gymnasts but they have shown incredible teamwork too, supporting each other at training and competition. The smiles on their faces as they collected the medals was incredible to see. TeamGym and tumbling is an area we’d love to develop further as a club and we are appealing to the local community, businesses, groups and residents to support us as we try and raise enough funds to purchase and install new tumbling equipment. These gymnasts train between 8 and 12 hours a week and many are doing a 50mile round-trip to use the facilities at Colburn. They are desperate to train more locally using specialist equipment that will enable them to develop new tumbling routines. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost.”
The club has set up a crowdfunding page for donations and would love to hear from anyone who has ideas of how they can support them on this journey https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thisk-dales-school-of-gymnastics.
You can also email Richmondshiregymenquiries@gmail.com and find them on Facebook at Richmondshire Gymnastics Club and Thirsk Dales School of Gymnastics.