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History
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Diane and Nikki first opened the City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club on 14th September 2002 at Parkside Community College in Cambridge. Find out how we became Dynamics Gymnastics and how we progressed to where we are now ... September 2002: The
City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club opened with 80 members across 4
classes. Three General
Gymnastics classes ran from 10am – 1pm on Saturdays and a very small
Sports Acrobatics Squad (you could count the number of members on one
hand) trained on a Thursday and Friday evening. May
2003: By
its third term, all City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club classes, including
the Sports Acrobatics Squad were full.
Over 120 gymnasts were passing through the doors each week.
Spring
and Summer 2003: Following the success and rapid expansion of the City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club, plans were made to open a series of General Gymnastics Clubs around the Cambridge area. The possibility of starting a new club in Linton arose and Diane’s Saffron Walden Gymnastics club of many years was considered for a re-launch. The main problem encountered was finding a name. We wanted something to reflect our partnership but could only come up with Dianics Gymnastics (as in Di and Nick’s Gymnastics) but wide spread enthusiasm for this could not be mustered. Fortunately, a friend of a friend of a friend who works in Marketing came up with the idea of ‘Dynamics Gymnastics’. With a vague connection to our names intact and the addition of a movement connotation, the decision was made! September 2003: Dynamics
Gymnastics – Linton classes began running out of the Linton Village
College gymnasium on Monday evenings from 4.15 – 6.15pm. The Tuesday evening Saffron Walden Gymnastics Club underwent a re-launch to become Dynamics Gymnastics – Saffron Walden. By
this point membership of Diane and Nikki’s clubs had risen to 260
gymnasts. January
2004: Due
to the increasing length of our waiting lists, January saw the expansion
of the City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club from 4 classes to 6 classes a
week, including the launch of a new General Gymnastics competition
squad. The Thursday 5 –
7pm extra training session for the Sports Acrobatics Squad became a
recreational class for 5 – 8 year olds from 5 – 6pm and the 6 –
7pm slot became the General Gymnastics Squad training session.
Gymnasts for this squad were recruited from our recreational
gymnasts. With the new
classes, membership of our clubs had expanded to 320. March 2004: Diane and Nikki were recommended by the County PE Advisor to help a PE teacher reform his teaching of Gymnastics within the curriculum. As representatives of Dynamics Gymnastics, we visited Lady Adrian Special School to give the pupils a day-long Gymnastics workshop. July
2004: Trish Maude, Homerton College lecturer and Homerton Gymnastics Club coach (to mention but a few of many accolades), visited the General Gymnastics Squad session. Trish came to collect evidence in order to write Diane and Nikki a recommendation to British Gymnastics to be accepted into the next Tutor/Examiner course in November. She was very complimentary and we have since secured places on the course. With the ability to train and qualify coaches the expansion possibilities for Dynamics Gymnastics in the future are widely opened up. August
2004: A week long Dynamics Gymnastics Holiday Programme gave some current members the opportunity to further improve their gymnastics and trampolining skills whilst many waiting list gymnasts got the opportunity to meet Diane, Nikki and the coaches and to experience Dynamics Gymnastics before commencing regular classes. September
2004: Dynamics Gymnastics – Royston classes began running out of the Greneway School gymnasium on Saturdays from 10am – 1pm. This is the first club to be administered by Diane and Nikki but run by another coach. The City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club recreational classes underwent a re-launch to become Dynamics Gymnastics – Cambridge which took membership of Dynamics Gymnastics to more than 350 gymnasts. The General Gymnastics and Sports Acrobatics (to soon be known as Acrobatics Gymnastics) Squads alone now form the City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club. Gymnasts for both squads continue to be recruited from Dynamics Gymnastics classes. November 2004: Diane and Nikki attended a weekend long course at Lilleshall National Sports Centre to begin the process of becoming British Gymnastics Tutors and Examiners. A long mentoring process lays ahead but we hope to be tutoring General Gymnastics Assistant Coaches in the not too distant future. January 2005: Dynamics Gymnastics - Pre-School classes commenced at 9.30am on Saturday mornings at Parkside Community College in Cambridge. January 22nd 2005: Four of our trainee coaches became qualified at assistant level after a gruelling hour and a half practical exam. Diane and Nikki observed the examination as part of the mentoring process to become tutors and examiners. March 19th 2005: The City of Cambridge Acrobatics Gymnastics Squad came to an end marked by a display celebrating the success the Squad had over the two and a half years training. The most notable achievements during that time included becoming Eastern Counties Team Champions in 2004 and Hayley Plater, Vicky Way, Adam Williams, Harry Kitson, Matthew Dye, Robert Woolfe and Sophie Clark representing the club and Eastern Region in the National Sports Acrobatics Finals in 2004 with the highlight of Rob returning as National Level 3 Tumbling Champion (15+ years)! Unfortunately,
the judging criteria changes are putting Acrobatics Gymnastics somewhat
out of reach for a squad which trains for only two hours a week in a non
purpose built facility. We are extremely proud of all the
gymnasts and their amazing, unexpected achievements during their time as
Acro Squad members and now wish them continued success as they return to
General Gymnastics competitions! July 2005: The City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club and Dynamics Gymnastics Club were invited by the County PE Advisor Ann-Marie Latham to be involved in a video project. A selection of primary aged gymnasts were filmed performing conditioning phrases, progressions for the basic floor skills and core tasks. The recorded material will be edited to make a Gymnastics video resource to support primary school teachers in delivering the Key Stage 1 and 2 National Curriculum. September 2005: Changes to the Dynamics Gymnastics week see Rob Woolfe and Kayleigh Tucker take over the running of Dynamics Gymnastics Cambridge, Saffron Walden and Royston. A shuffling about of the current classes has made way for a new Dynamics Gymnastics - Cambridge session for 9+ year olds on a Thursday evening from 6 - 7pm. This new class will raise the number of Dynamics Gymnasts to over 400. November 2005: Diane and Nikki ran their first British Gymnastics General Gymnastics Assistant Coaching Course. Twelve trainee coaches from around the region attended the course and are currently involved in completing their mentored hours before the final examination in February. February 2006: City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club hosted the practical examination for the General Gymnastics Assistant Coaching Course held in November 2005. We are pleased to announce that all 12 trainee coaches passed the exam resulting in 5 newly qualified Dynamics Gymnastics coaches. July 2006: It was with regret that July saw the announcement that Dynamics Gymnastics - Royston was to close due to a staff shortage. With an abundance of coaching staff in Cambridge, however, plans for new Saturday afternoon classes commenced. September 2006: General Gymnastics Club Coach Kayleigh Tucker begins the role of Dynamics Gymnastics class manager leaving Diane and Nikki working behind the scenes. In addition to this, the Cambridge classes were expanded from 6 to 8 sessions per week with 2 new Saturday afternoon classes. Total membership of Dynamics Gymnastics and City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club is now over 475 gymnasts. November 2006: Further developments to Dynamics Gymnastics have been put on hold for a while due to the birth of Nikki's daughter Isla. July 2007: Our set of five trainee coaches from the past year all completed and passed the assistant coach examination, raising our number of qualified staff for the coming year to18. It is with regret that we have to announce, however, that Club coach and coach development officer Rob Woolfe will be leaving us to embark on entertaining holiday makers on a 7 month Caribbean Cruise having completed a very successful 3 years at Cambridge Performing Arts (we can't see why???). In addition to this, Club coach Aimee Clark will be heading off to university to study Law in Coventry. We wish both every success for the future and will warmly welcome both back to coach on the rare occasions they are back in town! Sept 2007: Diane and Nikki are celebrating five years of providing General Gymnastics classes as City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club and Dynamics Gymnastics. Please go to the Noticeboard link on the left hand side of the page to read the press release. October 2007: We extended our holiday programme provision to include 3 days at half term. After a successful few days, we aim to put on 3 day courses every half term from now. January 2008: With Kayleigh's commitments increasing as she begins her training to become a primary school teacher, the role of Head Coach will now be split between Kayleigh and Viktoria. Kayleigh will continue as Head Coach of Dynamics Gymnastics - Linton and Dynamics Gymnastics - Cambridge on a Saturday and City of Cambridge Gymnastics Club. Viktoria will take over as Head Coach of Dynamics Gymnastics - Saffron Walden and Dynamics Gymnastics - Cambridge on a Thursday. March 2008: When the summer term commences in April, Viktoria will take over as Dynamics Gymnastics Class Manager with her husband Tibor Vad as her assistant. Unfortunately, Kayleigh's teacher training commitments mean that she will no longer be able to coach regularly for us but we hope to see her in the gym when available and thank her for all her hard work. Rumour has it that Rob will be back home from the cruise ships during the summer term so we are excited by the possibility that he may be back in the gym soon if only in the short term.
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