South West Regional Grades 2010

Bristol Hawks girls showed great promise for the future at the South West Grades Competition on the 11th July. 15 clubs from through out the region competed, with over 150 gymnasts taking part all hoping to achieve the pass mark in their grade.
ALL our gymnasts passed at the highest level:~ DISTINCTION.
In Grade 14 ~
KAYLEY SHARP produced an outstanding performance to be the top overall scorer out of the 55 girls taking part in this grade. She also topped the rankings in the very important range & conditioning exercise [here the girls are tested on a number of flexibility & strength moves that are important for the future development of more advanced skills].
ELLIE CLEMENTS was 6th overall and demonstrated her strength on the bars where she came 3rd.
ISABELLE DAVIS was 13th overall. She flew high on her vault to place 2nd & was also 3rd= on range & conditioning.
CAMERON RODGERS was 14th overall and kept the Hawks tradition of strong bar workers alive by achieving the top score on this apparatus.
In Grade 12 ~
CHLOE REED was 4th overall and excelled on the floor achieving 2nd place.
LUCY KENDLE was 12th overall her top placing was on bars where she was 9th.
SOPHIE CLEMENTS was 19th overall and showed her power on the vault where she placed 5th.
In Grade 11 ~
SUSIE DOBSON was 8th overall. She shone on beam to place 2nd and swung well on bars to rank 3rd on this apparatus.
With quality work across the board our girls looked great especially in their new club kit.
WELL DONE EVERYONE!!

Rowena carries the Olympic Torch at National School Sports Week

OLYMPIC SILVER medallist Gail Emms ensured Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week kicked off in style at The City Academy in Bristol on Monday 28th June.
Badminton player Emms – who was on the podium at the 2004 Games in Athens – was on hand to put 400 children through their paces at the Olympic-themed multi-sport event.
Bristol Hawks gymnast, 9yr old Rowena Needham was one of the stars of the show. She put on an individual gymnastic display which wowed both officials and school children alike. So much so that she was entrusted to hold the original Olympic Torch from the London 1948 Olympic Games. Rowena, who holds Olympic aspirations of her own, stayed on after her display to help Bristol Hawks Development Coach Rory Weavers deliver coaching sessions to the local youngsters at the event. Rowena with Olympic Torch Go to the National School Sports Web Site to see video of the event which has two fleeting glimpses of Rowena. See the torch Rowena held, in action at the 1948 Games below:

South West Challenge Cup 2010

Bristol Hawks Holly Downey & Lauren Gore were 4th & 5th respectively in the South West Regional Espoir Challenge Cup held in Melksham on 20th June. Particularly pleasing was Holly’s beam routine where she achieved her main personal target of no falls. She was not so happy with her floor where a fall on her last tumble put her out of the medals this time. Lauren with her new floor routine was the top scorer on this apparatus and was also 1st equal on the bars, an apparatus where she has made rapid progress recently. For Lauren beam was her downfall with 2 falls taking her out of the medals on this occasion. With both girls working hard to improve the difficulty of their routines we look forward to the Summer sessions where new elements can be developed ready for the Autumn competition season.

Boy's in Baskervilles Cup

Bristol Hawks Junior Boy’s took part in the recent Baskervilles Cup held in Bath on 20th June. The competition attracts a large entry from clubs from the South, West Midlands and the South West Regions of England. Jamie Lugton placed 16th overall and Matty Griffiths 15th overall in their respective age groups. Sam Haberfield competed with no major errors to place 5th overall with his best apparatus being the rings where he was 3rd.

County Team Members 2010

Four Bristol Hawks girls competed for the Bristol County Team at the South West Region’s Inter County Competition held on the 13th June. Paisley Boyce was part of the U’12 2-piece team that took the bronze medals in this section. Zoe Potter & Lauren Gore were part of the fourth placed O’12 2-piece team, with Lauren placing first individually on the floor exercises. Holly Downey was part of a young 4-piece team who also took 4th place despite having only 4 in the team so every routine had to count for the overall team score.
Particularly pleasing for the Bristol Hawks Coaching Team is the fact that already this year we have already managed to compete gymnasts at all levels of competition:
CLUB ~ West Country League
COUNTY ~ Inter Counties
REGIONAL ~ South West National & Compulsory Grades & S.W. Challenge Cup
NATIONAL ~ British Schools Apparatus Championships;English Championships;Compulsory Level 4 National Finals & National Grade 8
INTERNATIONAL ~ G.B. v France & Romania & Celtic Cup
We are continuing to expand our programme and aim to provide more opportunities to an increasing number of gymnasts in the future.
Holly in action at the Inter Counties 2010

Robyn & Rowena in National Finals

On May 15th Bristol Hawks 9 yr old gymnasts Robyn Lacey & Rowena Needham took part in the top competition for their age group in the country, the National Finals of the Compulsory Level 4 Grade. This competition is designed to prepare the best girls in G.B. for eventual entry into the British Championships and the girls have to qualify through their regional championships in order to take part.
Rowena competed as part of the South West regional team as she had won the regional qualifying competition. She competed well and was placed 14th overall in G.B. She produced outstanding routines on both bars & beam where she placed 5th & 4th respectively.
Robyn was first reserve for the SW team and at the regional competition she achieved the qualifying score needed to compete in her own right at the National finals. The team did not need her on this occasion, however she competed well as an individual and gained valuable experience of this high level of competition.

Historic Result for Great Britain at Europeans

The British Men & Women Team’s had their best ever results at the 2010 European Gymnastic Championships held in Birmingham. Together the teams amassed 8 Gold 4 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.This is a phenominal result and underlines our recent rise in the World rankings. Well Done to everyone!!
Bristol Hawks James May in action judging at the 2010 European Championships
Bristol Hawks gymnast Jamie with European Gold medalist Daniel Keatings.

Paisley wins Medal at National Grade 8

Bristol Hawks gymnast Paisley Boyce was the individual bronze medalist at the National finals of Grade 8 held on 24th April. Twelve teams from across the country compete for the team title and Paisley was the top scorer in the South West team helping the team to a sixth place finish. Paisley placed 1st on beam and 3rd on bars on the way to achieving her third place out of the 49 girls competing. Well Done Paisley!

Join our Coaching Team

Bristol Hawks currently has a vacancy for a coach to assist at our British Gymnastic Badge classes on Monday 4-6.15pm; Wednesday 4-8pm [or 6.30-8pm];Thursday 4-5.30pm and Saturday 10-11.30am. Candidates need to hold a current British Gymnastic Qualification and appropriate CRB certificate. Please apply to Elaine May at HJMBristolHawks@aol.com.

West Country League 2010

Following our success in the West Country League last year we decided to enter two teams this year, the younger team in the ‘A’ league & the older team in the ‘B’ league, both in Division 1.
The first match of the year took place in Swansea on April 18th.

Our ‘B’ league team competed first & won first place. They put in an outstanding team effort to win comfortably over teams from across the South West Region. The Bristol Hawks girls also topped the rankings in the individual honours with Paisy Boyce 1st & Holly Downey 2nd in the overall standings; Holly Downey & Zoe Potter 2nd & 3rd on bars; Paisley Boyce and Emma Forsythe 1st & 2nd on beam and Holly Downie & Paisley Boyce 1st= on floor. Susie Dobson competing for the first time at this level acquitted herself well and gained valuable experience in preparation for the next match which takes place in October.

Our ‘A’ leaguers competed in the afternoon and were also medal winners gaining a creditable third place in the team event. With less than one mark separating the top three teams it was a few costly errors on the floor exercises that made the difference. Our Bristol Hawks girls were the top scoring team on both the Bars & Beam and our girls also topped the individual rankings with Rowena Needham 1st and Robyn Lacey 2nd in the overall standings.