Monday 14 September 2015
Chelmsford Gymnastics Club fought off stiff competition from gymnastics clubs up and down the country to win the second ‘Be Part Of It’ competition. The Essex based club got their groove on performing their version of the official 2015 World Gymnastics Championships dance routine, winning themselves a voucher for £1000 worth of Gymnova equipment and four tickets to the Championships courtesy of the event organisers.
The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships takes place in Glasgow from 23 October – 1 November 2015. The event will bring together a record 615 gymnasts from 91 countries around the world for ten days of top-class competition at the stunning SSE Hydro arena.
Supported by UK Sport as part of their National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio series, this year’s World Championships have the added significance of being a qualification event for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
In an innovative partnership between British Gymnastics and the World Gymnastics Championships organisers, gymnastics clubs affiliated to British or Scottish Gymnastics were encouraged to enter a series of competitions as part of British Gymnastics ‘Be Part Of It’ campaign. The campaign was designed to put clubs at the heart of the Championships, provide them unique experiences and opportunities to engage and interact with the event.
In the second in the series of four competitions, gymnastics clubs were asked to submit a video of their members performing the official 2015 Championships dance. The hard task of selecting the winner from all of the amazing entries was down to Great Britain’s Becky Downie, the 2014 European Bars Champion, who is hoping to compete in Glasgow next month.
The entry from Chelmsford Gymnastics Club caught the eye of Becky due to its originality and creativity and she said: “There were loads of incredible entries; it was really hard to choose. I loved the effort everyone went to, some had people dancing in fountains and others on a farm with cows! I chose Chelmsford Gymnastics Club in the end because you could see they’d put loads of effort into what they were wearing and the energy they put in was awesome. The first part of the video was really funny too with what seemed like hundreds of kids coming out of one taxi! I thought the whole piece was fun and original.”
Chelmsford GC started approximately 30 years ago and was based at Dovedale Sports Centre, before moving to a purpose built training centre on the Widford Industrial Estate in April 2012. They now have over 1,000 gymnasts training at the centre throughout the week.
Julie Belemore, Head Coach, took over the club in 1992 and spoke of the club’s delight at finding out Becky Downie had selected them as 2015 World Gymnastics Championships competition winners, saying: “Our gymnasts haven't stopped jumping for joy at the news. Having the World Championships in the UK means that we can watch with wonder and awe at all the amazing gymnasts competing and hope that by winning the ‘Be Part of it’ video competition we will emulate the gymnastics on show.
“We are so pleased and proud to ‘Be Part Of It’ and are happy to support British Gymnastics. To have won the competition is truly wonderful and such a thrilling and delightful result. This win shows that hard work and dedication by our coaches and gymnasts helped make the video so effective.
Julie added that the club has already set eyes on what Gymnova equipment they’ll purchase with their prize: “We are so delighted to win the £1,000 voucher from Gymnova. We have been saving up for an air track and this money will help pay for it. We want to improve our tumbling skills and an air track will prove to be an invaluable aid.”
In addition to the equipment voucher, four lucky club members will travel to Glasgow to take in some of the amazing gymnastics action on display during the Championships.
“The decision to who will get one of the Championship tickets that we have won will be decided by a draw from all the gymnasts and coaches involved in making the video,” said Julie.
You can watch all the entries including Chelmsford’s winning video here.
Tickets for the World Gymnastics Championships are selling fast with more than 40,000 snapped up already. There are still tickets available and these can be purchased here.
Image © Rabin Beeloo