Archive News 2009

Amy is English Beam Queen

British Espoir Bar Champion Amy Sharp is now also English Espoir Beam Champion. Amy won the title after taking part in the English Espoir Championships held in Leicester on 18th September 2009. Amy, who placed 4th in the overall standings was top scorer on the beam where she nailed her trademark free cartwheel-flick-layout combination and performed with rhythm & style.

Best in West

Our Junior Team brought back the trophy in the West Country League as Overall winners of the Division 2 ‘A’ League. Having already won their first two matches they finished the season off in style by winning the final match against teams from six counties. Emma Forsythe & Rowena Needham were 1st & 2nd respectively in the individual all around standings with Megan Soloman first on Vault, Emma first equal with Rowena on Bars and Rowena also first on beam. This is the first year we have entered teams in this event and it has proved to be a great success. The girls have put in a wonderful team effort all season and we hope to enter more teams next year.
Emma Forsythe; Susie Dobson; Daisy Dymond; Megan Soloman; Rosie Tuck-Hopes; Rowena Needham.

Regional Championships September 2009

The Daphnie Leeworthy Cup traditionally crowns the top gymnast of any age [usually 12yrs upwards] in the South West region.
13 year old Amy Sharp [Bristol Hawks] confirmed her place at the top of the regional rankings [she was also top scorer at the regional championships in May] by winning the competition with a clear margin over her nearest rival.
Following her team mate and showing great potential for the future was 12year old Claudia Fragapane who despite being the youngest competitor came 5th in the overall standings.
In the Age Group Competition’s Bristol Hawks gymnast Olivia Bloodworth put in a steady competition to take the bronze medal.

Gold, Silver & Bronze at UK School Games 2009

Bristol Hawks girls managed to collect a set of medals between them at the prestigous UK School Games held in Cardiff on the 5th & 6th September.
Shannon Lee [centre] helped a delighted Welsh Team to victory on home turf…..... .....with Amy Sharp [centre] helping the English team to Silver.
Amy also took home an individual bronze medal from the beam final.
It was a great experience for both girls competing in their first ever multi sport event with the athlete’s village giving them a taste of the atmosphere found at an Olympic Games. They had the opportunity to take part in a number of activities and meet Olympic medalists who were able to give them inspiration and advice which will stand them in good stead for the future.

Success for Stacey at Senior British

Stacey Godden was all smiles after achieving her best ever placing ,12th, at the Senior British Gymnastics Championships held in Guildford on 4th July. Stacey’s top apparatus was the floor where she combined Arabian choreography with well performed tumbles to produce a routine good enough for 9th place, just one place away from making the final. Stacey was also pleased with her straight yurchenko vault which was another ‘best ever’.

British Bars Champion 2009

13 year old Amy Sharp flew high to grap the title of British Espoir Bar Champion at the recent British Gymnastics Apparatus Championships held at the Guildford Spectrum on July 5th.
Amy included a new element in her already action packed routine.The double arabian dismount lifted the start value of her routine above that of her nearest rivals helping her to win gold. Amy was also a finalist on the beam where she just missed out on a medal by 0.1.
Bristol Hawks also had representation in the floor final. Shannon Lee qualified in 7th place but her rapid progress in training paid off as she climbed to 4th= in the final just 0.05 away from a medal.
Amy’s winning bar routine can be viewed on the Apparatus Final Highlights of BGTV’s coverage of the British Championships found on British Gymnastics website.

G.B. Juniors Win in Germany

Fantastic result for the GB team who beat both the Swiss & German teams in an International U’13yrs Match which took place in Spergau Germany on 27th June 09.
The British took 6 girls out to Germany including Bristol Hawks very own Amy Sharp. None of the girls had competed for G.B. before so this trip gave them valuable experience of the international scene which will stand them in good stead for the future.
The format of the competition was 5 in the team with all 5 gymnasts to go up on each apparatus and the best three scores on each apparatus to count towards the overall team total. However with a ‘no show’ from the French team Adrian Stan [G.B. technical director] took the decision to put up two teams thus ensuring all the girls could compete. This did put our teams at an disadvantage in this match, as we could not discard any of our scores, but the long term advantage out weighed any short term considerations and, as it was, our girls put out a great team performance.
Our ‘first’ team of Alex Cooper, Venus Romaeo & Amy Sharp WON with Switzerland in second and Germany third – tied in score with G.B. ‘2’ [Sophie Jameson, Billie MacKenzie & Angel Romaeo].
A great performance from Angel earned her the individual first place.
Great Britain 150.00
Switzerland 149.50
Germany 148.85
Great Britain 2 148.85

City Academy Boys Show Talent

Head Men’s Coach Sean Potter was very pleased with the focus and talent shown by boys from the local City Academy. The Year 9 boys took part in a series of gymnastic sessions held at Bristol Hawks. They made full use of the specalised facilities on offer and worked hard, achieving considerable progress on a number of the more advanced skills.

Bristol Hawks has longstanding links with the City Academy with our former National Gymnastic Champions Kelvin Williams & Ashleigh Ivey both pupils at the school.
The gallery below shows the Yr9 boys working on their tumbling skills

We hope to repeat the success of these sessions in the Autumn Term.

Amy selected to Compete for G.B.

Bristol Hawks gymnast Amy Sharp has had the call up to compete as part of the British Junior Team at an International in Germany.
Although Amy has been selected to represent G.B. at international training camps before, this will be her first competition experience as a member of the Great Britain Team.
The Junior British Team will compete against the German, French and Swiss national teams at the event which will be held in Spergau, Germany. The British delegation also includes our Bristol Hawks Coaching director Elaine May who will be one of the International Brevet Judges at the event. The G.B. Technical Director of Womens Artistic Gymnastics ~ Adrian Stan will also be accompanying the young team to monitor the progress of our girls as they learn to compete on the international stage.
Amy’s selection was as a result of her recent 3rd place at the British Championships.
Amy joins a long tradition of Hawks gymnasts who have achieved the honour of representing their country at international competitions.