Senior gymnasts report

There has been a lot of hard work put in by gymnasts and coaches alike.  2004 has been a very successful year for this area of the club with these gymnasts continuing to dominate in Canterbury competitions. 

The year started with a bang as New Zealand Gymnastics accepted an invitation for 3 teams to compete against Japan and Australia in July. This meant we needed to get straight into routines as trials were set for May and we had an excellent result with 5 of the Seniors making the 12 member team.  The girls competed well and gained from the experience of competing against gymnasts from other countries.  Kathryn Lewis was the top NZ performer in Level 9. 

After the excitement of overseas competition, enthusiasm was regenerated in the intermediate and senior gymnasts with the visit of Scott Baumann from the USA.  With his no nonsense, “get on with the job style” he encouraged the girls to believe in themselves and give new skills a try.  Those who took up the challenge certainly benefited and we were on a roll from there towards nationals. 

Our gymnastics enjoyed success in all competitions during the year with numerous levels winners and many place getters both in the all around competition and on individual apparatus and dominating the Canterbury Championships.  The high level of performance was recognized in team selection for the national championships where in each of Levels 5, 6 and 7, there were 3 CSG gymnasts in each team of 4, and in senior levels we had 7 of the 8 gymnasts.   The girls performed extremely well at nationals and were a credit to their club and region. 
 
There have been benefits in working the Level 6 and 7 gymnasts with the seniors in that they have had role models to look up to and to aspire to.  The buddy system, where a senior gymnast was allocated an intermediate gymnast to mentor has been very successful and has added to team building and a culture of cooperation and support amongst the girls.

All of the Level 9 and 10 gymnasts have undertaken training to gain either a judging or coaching qualification and it is a delight to see that their love for the sport extends to wanting to give something back – we will continue to encourage them to extend their skills in this area.