Released
7 March 2006
Top
gymnasts, top coach and maximum safety, is the key to
success!
Top
Swindon club, The Esprit Academy of Gymnastics and Trampoline
has had some incredible success since opening in 2004.
With many medal winners at regional, national and even
International gymnastic competitions, they have quickly
become established as one of the top gymnastic clubs in
the country.
But
now the children have met their match, with the clubs
head artistic gymnastic coach Katy Smith, being groomed
to become one of the country’s top judges. She recently
took her National Judging award and passed the extremely
difficult exams with well over 90%, putting her in the
top 10% in the country, making her eligible to be invited
to become an International ‘Brevet’ judge.
“To
become a Brevet judge means you have to be of an exceptional
standard”, said Esprit Chairman, Mark Hows, “and
Katy is certainly that. She currently trains some of the
best gymnasts in the region and is already a respected
judge. She is also studying to become a High Performance
coach, meaning she will be able to take her gymnasts on
to an Olympic standard and becoming a Brevet is just rewards
for her all of her hard work and dedication to the sport
she loves.
“She
gives up a great deal of her spare time travelling around
the country with her gymnasts, judging at regional and
national competitions”, Hows continued. “And
once she is accepted as a fully qualified Brevet judge
she will be eligible for International competitions, meaning
she will be able to judge the worlds best gymnasts at
top International competitions like the Commonwealth games
and Olympics”.
“Who
knows Esprit may have Gymnasts AND judges representing
Swindon at the London Olympics in 2012”, he concluded.
But
being one of the country’s top judges didn’t
stop Katy joining in with the clubs other coaches who
were hard at work taking exams of their own – in
First Aid. Seventeen of the clubs coaches sat through
two complete weekends of instruction in all forms of first
aid including Paediatric care. This included everything
required to deal with all forms of potential accident
that may occur in gymnastics, from simple muscle strains
and blisters through to broken bones, cuts and abrasions.
Club
welfare officer, Deb Hows said, “accidents of any
type are extremely rare in gymnastics, and we already
have lots of our coaches qualified in first aid. But we
do take the safety of children in our care very seriously
indeed and these additional first aid courses now mean
we are even more prepared for all eventualities. Every
coach gave up their free time willingly to ensure the
Esprit Academy is one of the safest places any child can
enjoy their sport. Having so many coaches qualified in
first aid and some of the best gymnastic equipment available
means gymnastics in Swindon is one of the safest sports
a child can participate in”, she said.
