Inside this issue:

Raffle

Ice Skating

Christmas Party

The Pits

Grades

Christmas Walk

Parents Have a Go Session

Club and Group Photos

The 2014 Calendar

SSoG Calendar 2014

Stockport School of Gymnastics

January 12th

First Sunday Adult Session of 2014

January 13th

Start back for all Pre-School Classes.

February 1st & 2nd

GMGA Regional Grades 9 to 14 at Wig-

an.

March 23rd

Stockport Spring 4 Piece Competition

at Newby Road. This is for those gym-

nasts not taking part yet in County or

Regional 4 piece competitions.

13th April

The Stockport Easter Competition at

the Newby Road Centre

May 11th

Stockport Floor and Vault Champion-

ship

28th & 29th June

The Frank Williams at Newby Road

The NW Handbook is still in production

so no firm dates are available for 2014

comps. I have ‘copied’ the dates off

another club’s website, so please treat

January 2nd

First Official Club training session of

2014.

January 6th/7th & 8th

Pit fit out by Continental Sports

January 6th to January 11th

Start of the new recreational term at

the Newby Road Centre. (10 weeks)

January 10th

Start of Parent and Toddler Classes

2014

January 10th

Start of Friday Adult Classes 2014

January 11th & 12th

Start of the new recreational term at

the Offerton Centre. (10 weeks)

January 12th

Regional Grades Trials for all club gym-

nasts wishing to take part in the 2014

Grades. Joint with Manchester South

at Newby Rd. 9.30 start for gymnasts

taking grades only.

the dates with caution until the

handbook is issued.

April 5th & 6th

National and Compulsory Grades

and Regional Grades Finals at Wigan

June 14th & 15th

Greater Manchester Open at Wigan

June 1st

Compulsory 2 at Ipswich

July 12th- & 13th

GMGA Floor & Vault at Wigan

September 20th & 21st

North West Age Groups & Teams at

Wigan

October 18th & 19th

North West 4 Piece at Wigan

November 8th & 9th

GMGA 4 Piece at Wigan

November 22nd & 23rd

North West Floor & Vault at Wigan

December 13th & 14th

North West Inter-County Teams at

Wigan

January 2014 Newsletter

The SSoG Gymnast of the

Year for 2013 is Rebekah

Mooney. Becky has had a

fabulous year and was vot-

ed for by all coaches with-

out exception. Having

passed Compulsory 3 she

has performed well in com-

petition and has been the

first gymnast in the club to

compete tsukis on the

Vault and back tucks on the

Beam. She represented

Greater Manchester in the

Inter-County Teams and

has been Gymnast of the

Month 3 times. Well done

Page 2 Stockport School of Gymnastics

Pits Progress

6th January. There are a

few finishing touches for us

to complete such as some

steps to get up there and

some hand rails to stop us

falling off and a bit of car-

peting.

What has worked really

well with this project is that

Progress to the end of De-

cember is that all is going to

plan with the podiums all in

place and ready for Continen-

tal Sports to add foam pad-

ding to all the edges, to fill

the pits with foam and to

install the uneven bars and

spotting platform, starting on

Aidan Mooney has man-

aged to get enough volun-

teers from within the club

to complete the work in a

relatively short space of

time. Great bonding, good

team work and an impres-

sive set of DIY skills and

equipment. Many thanks.

The ‘modules’ were as-

sembled in the dance stu-

dio to minimise disruption to

the gym operation and stored

all over the place. All was car-

ried through after the have a

go session and assembled in

approx. 10 hours over the

Christmas period.

Buoyed up by the experience,

Aidan is keen to continue and

get the tumble track structure

in place very soon.

Stockport School of Gymnastics

Club and Group Photos

There never seems to be a

time when we are all to-

gether and that proved to

be the situation for the

We have left the trials as

late as possible to give all

gymnasts the best chance of

getting their moves in and

the target scores. The com-

petition will be in our gym

on the 12th January and will

be joint with Manchester

South. It is a 9.30 start.

The entries need to be in

the next day so there will be

little time for retakes, so get

it right on the day.

Gymnasts should bring their

payment of £20 to enter the

Grades with them on the

day of the trial. They will

also need to upgrade their

membership from Bronze to

Silver, which is a further

£24.

The target score is 55.00 for

Grades 14 & 13 and 44.00

for Grades 12 to 9. We do

2013 club photo. Slightly

worse this year as we have

a number of new members

and are changing the club

2014 Regional Grades Trials

allow a retake if a gymnast

falls on the beam on that

piece only.

The last sessions of the Au-

tumn Recreational term

completed with a display

and the presentation of the

BG Proficiency award

scheme badges that had

completed by the gymnasts

earlier in the term.

The rec sessions continue to

be popular and there are

very few vacancies in both

the Offerton and Newby Rd.

Centres. The demand for

leotard so the gymnasts

that were there didn’t all

match. Not too worry, we’ll

try again in 2014 around

Grades time. We also took

the opportunity to get

group pictures that are

scattered through all pages.

classes is likely to become

higher as the new Pre-

School classes start to feed

into the rec classes as the

gymnasts get to the right

age.

Don’t give up if you are on

the waiting list as we do

have some vacancies when

gymnasts move. Be flexible

on the session times as this

can also help move you up

the list.

Autumn Rec Term finishes

Our GOTM for November

was Kate Martin. As well as

winning a medal at the NW

4 Piece Championship, Kate

was gymnast of the session

on 10 occasions. Well done!

GOTM Nov

Page 4 Stockport School of Gymnastics Page 4

The Club Christmas Party

took place on the evening of

21st December in the

church hall at St Saviour's.

Good turn out, lots of food,

all gymnasts and parents up

dancing to the music provid-

ed by DJ Mike Dooley. A big

thanks to Dave and Tracy for

making the arrangements.

Sorry, no photos available.

Congratulations to Jamie

Robinson, Lisa Marshall,

Georgia Hewitt, Clare Paolo

and Kath Hewitt who are

now Club Judges.

The club visit to the ice

skating rink at Altrincham

went very well. 45 parents

and gymnasts took to the ice

with more parents spec-

tating. Berenice got us a

great deal for the entrance

and skate hire.

There were a few photos,

which can be viewed on the

website, but sorry, all a bit

blurred.

The coaches Christmas night

out was a quiet curry in

Offerton. Definitely no pho-

tos at this event.

We welcome Caitlin Crews to

the club, training with Mike’s

group. Caitlin was on the

national grades route and

then swapped disciplines to

tumbling where she rose to

National Champion. She has

now started back in gymnas-

tics and is getting all the for-

Page 4

Other News

gotten moves back that she

used to do. Caitlin’s dad,

Steve will also join the

coaching team and has

already been recruited to

the pits construction team.

A number of SSoG gym-

nasts were invited to use

the pits at Manchester

South to work on moves

that are best done in a

‘deep foam’ environment.

Thanks to Sarah Warburton

and Trevor Pugh for letting

us train.

The picture is Susan com-

pleting a double back.

The dance studio will be

delayed a bit further as we

are going to start con-

structing the wooden

frames for the tumble track

in there. The tumble track

will be about the same

length as our ski-run and

will be raised to enter the

bars pit. Initially we will use

our ski-run until we have

saved up the money for a

new carbon fibre track.

Development Group 2013

‘Grade 14’ Group 2013

Senior Group 2013

Bev’s Group 2013

Page 5 Stockport School of Gymnastics Page 5 Page 5

Christmas Walk

The annual act of lunacy by

the parents, having a go at

the moves that their daugh-

ters have been making look

easy all through the year.

There were some less than

flexible bridges and splits in

the conditioning set competi-

tion for the Mums and Carrie

Mather was adjudged best to

win a bottle of wine. For the

Parents Have a Go Session

men there was a combined

leg lift and chins competition,

narrowly won by Liam An-

drew.

The floor routines were good

(ish) and there were some

very passable flatbacks.

Didn’t here much moaning

about aches the next day, but

I’m sure there were.

Mike’s Group 2013

Group 5 2013

Dave’s Group 2013

The weather was much better

for our walk this year, but

there was still plenty of mud

to wade through along the

route. Mike and Karen Dooley

were the hosts this year and

took us on a 5 mile stroll

along the canal and back

through the Roman Lakes and

over the Roman bridge.

The dogs were on the whole

well behaved, despite Bailey

taking an unexpected swim in

the Goyt and over a weir.

Afterward refreshments back

at the house. Hopefully see a

few more out next year.

Page 6 Stockport School of Gymnastics

A big thanks to all those who helped with the Christmas Raffle organised by Julie Fletcher. It was a first off for us and raised an

excellent total of £225, which will be added to club funds. We had a large number of excellent prizes donated, all presented

and wrapped beautifully. All winners should have been contacted on the phone number they provided.

Name Ticket Prize

Nikki H Pink 917 Hamper

Adrian Pink 913 Candle Set

Annabelle Clarke Pink 939 Penguin Biscuits (lots of)

Damian Hewitt White 127 Champagne

Bev Pink 784 Soreen Hamper

David Pink 895 Chocolates

Isabella White 490 Cat in The Hat Game

Natalie Turner Pink 963 Photo Albums

Ruby Hewitt White 3 Phone Set

Carrie Mather Pink 475 Champagne

Sarah Green 964 Candle Sticks

Georgia Hewitt Pink 385 Meal For 2 Beluga

Millie Martin Green 66 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Victoria Pink 481 Month Gym Pass at Village Hotel Cheadle

Sophie Pink 452 Champagne

Jessica Ralph Pink 970 Wine

Sarah Jackson White 956 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Mullaney Pink 445 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Libby Coffey White 225 Red Wine

Ruby Pink 459 Jaffa Cakes

Olivia White 985 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Bev Pink 785 Perfume

L Harper White 91 DVD

Morris 191 Red Wine

Tony Kershaw White 120 Nintendo Game

Charlotte Cleave Blue 41 Lego game

Matt Pink 353 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Grace Roberts White 210 Beer

Cathy Healy 143 Recipe Books

Erin Kearsley White 10 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Catherine White 52 Soreen Hamper

Phoebe Fletcher Pink 805 Champagne

Karen Waite White 98 Champagne

Elyse Pink 981 Toiletries

Morris White 192 Wine

Vicky Andrews White 16 Champagne

Helen McLeod Pink 497 Wine

L Harper Pink 815 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Evie White 231 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Emma Shard Pink 769 Jigsaw

Zoe 480 Gym Passes for Village Hotel Cheadle

Chris White 205 Soreen Hamper

Georgia Hewitt White 46 Toiletries

Page 6 Page 6

Christmas Raffle