Northampton Trampoline Centre, Benham Sports Arena, Kings Park Road, Northampton, NN3 6LL
Tel: 01604 645120 Email: info@ntga.co.uk
January 2014 Newsletter www.NTGA.co.uk Facebook.com/NorthamptonTGA Twitter.com/NorthamptonTGA YouTube.com/NorthamptonTGA
Get ready for a bumper 2014 with our competition squad try-outs! Find your competitive level with our competition squad try-out days A BELATED Happy New Year to all of our members!
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A BIT OF COMPETITION: NTGA lads compete at the British Championships last year. Photos: www.AlisdairTait.com
And what an exciting 2014 it proves to be with the new national competition structure being introduced. With this in mind, we’re inviting all our members who currently attend sessions on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday to attend our competition squad tryout days, where using our vast level of experience, we will be identifying suitable squads based on current ability level, training hours, commitment, attitude and potential. We strive to nurture and develop all club members to be the best they can be, and becoming a squad member on our competition pathway will offer the potential to represent NTGA at Club, County, Regional, National and International level. Now that we have had some time to digest and experience the introduction
of the New British Gymnastics Competition Structure and National Development Plan (NDP) we are pleased to announce we are overhauling our squad structure, starting with the appointment of Dani Martin as our new Competition Squad Manager (Levels 1-7) who will be responsible for overseeing the development pathways of NTGA. In order to consider joining the NTGA Competition Squads, members must be willing to train a minimum of four hours per week (2 x 2hr sessions) for NDP Level 1 & 2 and increase training hours as they progress through the NDP Levels. Our first Squad try-out days will take place on Monday 27th January 5-7.30pm (5-9yrs only) and Friday 7th February 5-7.30pm (10yrs+) with more to follow in April. If you would like to attend, please ask in the office or email us at info@ ntga.co.uk! Good luck!
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January Newsletter 2014 New NTGA school satellite centres open DUE to the overwhelming demand for places in our sessions, we’re delighted to announce the creation of three new satellite centres that NTGA will operate from. Kettering Buccleuch Academy, Abbeyfield School and Northampton Academy will all host NTGA sessions after school hours, with a variety of days available. Classes will run at the Buccleuch Academy on Mondays, with Abbeyfield open on Tuesdays and Northampton Academy following suit on Fridays. We’ve already seen plenty of places booked up, and we will be keeping an eye out for any talented youngsters who would benefit from joining our competition squad pathway. For more information, ask in the office or email info@ NTGA.co.uk.
Air Gravity wow the crowds at Olympia NTGA’S AIR GRAVITY showed off their skills in front of the international equestrian community as they were asked to perform at the London International Horse Show in December. Tasked with the headline slot before competition events, Jaime Moore and Lawrence Breslin wowed the crowds at the London Olympia across a week of fabulous compe-
tition. Performing two shows per day to a capacity audience of over seven thousand, the pair were also captured by BBC cameras as part of the channel’s coverage of the event. And they posed for the camera with BBC Sport presenter Clare Balding, who tweeted: “They had trampolinists before the show jumping started. I felt rather overdressed next to them!”
Farewell to seniors Matt, Sophie and Penny WE SAID goodbye to long-term members Matt Russell, Sophie Gardner and Penny Mitchell towards the end of 2013 as the trio decided to end their competitive careers. Matt, who had been part of NTGA since 1997 when he joined as a five
year-old, represented England during his time competing for NTGA. Sophie, who also joined the club as a five year-old, represented Great Britain at junior level in 2009 as she competed at the World Age Games in St Petersburg, Russia, while Penny, who had been with
us since the age of 10, earned youth GB honours in the same arena, competing in the European Youth Championships in 2012. NTGA wish Matt, Sophie and Penny all the very best for their future beyond competing, and hope to see the trio stay involved with club activities!
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Tracy helps GB women’s team become World Champions! It’s gold for Great Britain while our very own Andrew Stamp shows his class with fourth place in the 11-12 boys
GOLDEN GIRLS: Amanda Parker (above left) and Katherine Driscoll (above right) celebrate with Tracy Whittaker-Smith after winning the Women’s Synchronised World Title, while Andrew Stamp (left) competes on his way to fourth place at the World Age Games in Bulgaria
NTGA HEAD-COACH Tracy WhittakerSmith capped a fantastic start to life as Great Britain Senior Women’s Coach with a World Championship double in November. Tracy helped GB to a first world team title since 1992 as they started the road to Rio 2016 in style. And as if that wasn’t enough, Tracy saw Kat Driscoll and Amanda Parker take world synchronised gold to add to the World Games title they won earlier in the year. Speaking to the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Tracy said:
“It was an incredible achievement for the girls to win the world title and obviously everyone in the camp was thrilled,” “To beat the Chinese favourites shows how talented this team is and of course the strength in depth that we have - especially with Amanda Parker winning the synchronized with Kat but not making the individual team. “We were confident going in that we could do it and the girls stepped up and performed on the night and got what they deserved.” Tracy’s involvement with the GB team has seen 2013 World Cup winner Bryony Page training
regularly at Northampton Trampoline Centre, with teammates Laura Gallagher, Katherine Driscoll and Amanda Parker set to visit regularly throughout 2014. Andrew Stamp had a 2013 to remember as he ended the year with a fantastic fourth place at the World Age Games in Bulgaria, which took place following the senior competition. Andrew started the year competing at regional level and saw his incredible development rewarded with a place on the GB junior team, which he grabbed with both hands. Congratulations Andrew from everyone at NTGA!
January Newsletter 2014
Goodbye to 2013...
2013 proved to be another memorable year in the history of NTGA. We saw two of our longestserving members Steve Walsh and James Higgins end their competitive careers, with Higgins ending on a high as he took his fifth and final British Senior Mens Title. Head-Coach Tracy WhittakerSmith was appointed to lead the Great Britain women’s team, while Andrew Stamp earned Great Britain junior honours for the first time. We also saw a fantastic eight medals won at the British
Championships, welcomed BBC Breakfast to the trampoline centre and appeared on Britain’s Got Talent. We’d like to say a big thank
you to all our members for their commitment and support across the last year, and look forward to celebrating more fantastic results in 2014!
Competition Dates 2014 National Development Pathway Level 1-6 Events Events
Date
Venue
Regional Qualifying 1
26/01/2014
The Fun Farm, Lincoln
Regional Qualifying 2
16/02/2014
Harborough Leisure Centre
Regional Qualifying 3
30/03/2014
Werrington Leisure, Peterborough
Regional Championships
TBC
TBC
National Development Pathway Level 7-8 & Elite Events
Date
Venue
Spring Series 1
15-16/03/2014
EIS, Sheffield
Spring Series 2
26-27/03/2014
University of Bath
Spring Series 3
10-11/05/2014
Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Spring Series 4
14-15/06/2014
Northumbria University
NDP Grades Final
5-6/07/2014
International Centre, Telford
British Championships
19-21/09/2014
Echo Arena, Liverpool
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