Celebration of Gymnastics
02/07/12 |
Erin and Rebecca of Acrobay
The 19th of June was a historic day in the history of not just Scottish Gymnastics but the Scottish Parliament. Scottish Gymnastics were invited by sponsoring MSP Alex Johnstone to celebrate everything that is good about our sport, and to celebrate the hard work of our coaches, clubs and members.
The first event of its type to be held at Parliament this event was truly like no other held at the parliament before. The event started with a speech and introduction from Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick.Our president Lynn Milne then spoke about Gymnastics in Scotland and what gymnastics is doing to achieve a "Healthier, Active, Ambitious Scotland"
Gordon Arthur, Marketing and Communications Director at Glasgow 2014 also spoke about the Commonwealth Games and the legacy that will be left behind.
Then came the highlight of the night; gymnastics performances within the parliament building. These were started in wonderful fashion by 13 Year Old Lauren Brash who completed her rhythmic routine (on the famous stairs often seen on the news).
Then we had performances from our little pre-school gymnasts of Edinburgh Leisure with their performance to music and with hand apparatus, this routine ensured a lot of "awwwwws" from the large crowd.
Pretoria Drever and Lucy Orr then gave a Women's Artistic conditioning routine. The girls were followed by members of Glasgow GMPD who performed three displays: Men's Artistic Jonathon Mackie, Women's Artistic Georgia Carslaw and a Rhythmic display from Alison Mackenzie.
Men's Artistic Davie Weir and Lukas Thompson showed off some fantastic skills with a wonderful Men's Artistic routine including the use of the "mushroom".
These displays were finished in style by Erin and Rebecca of Acrobay with their Acrobatic routine. This visually spectacular routine ensured a massive round of applause and a few open mouths at the magnificent skills displayed by both girls completing a fantastic routine.
As this event was a "Celebration of Gymnastics" it was only right that we should recognise some Gymnasts who have achieved successes in the past year in a "roll of honour".
First to be recognised was Pamela Clark who has excelled in trampolining 2011 World Age Groups (15-16) Silver Medal, 2011 Scottish & British FIG B U19 Champion, 2011 British Synchro Junior Champion, 2012 European Championships Team Bronze Medal, 2016 and an Olympic GB World Class Programme Member.Pamela was followed by schools champions Craigmount High in Edinburgh, who won the Carita House Championships in March, then won Bronze in the British Schools Floor and Vault competition.
Glasgow GMPD were also recognised for those who were part of the British Squad who took part in the Special Olympics 2011 including Jonathon Mackie who won 6 Gold and 1 Silver at this competition.
Erin McInroy and Rebecca Stewart still out of breath from their fantastic acrobatic display were also recognised for winning a Silver medal at British Championships 2012.
As this event was looking towards and beyond Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Jim Holt National Men's Coach spoke about what Scotland and Scottish Gymnastics can hope to achieve towards Glasgow 2014 and after the world Gymnastics Championships in 2015. He spoke of his hopes for a future Scottish Champion and offered a rallying call to get behind Scottish Gymnastics. He then introduced Scotland's 2014 squads and medal hopes to rapturous applause from the crowd.
With the event nearing a close, our President Lynn Milne again took to the floor to thank all the honoured guests, clubs and coaches for attending the event. With reference to the Legacy of the Commonwealth Games and beyond and with Scottish Gymnastics’ vision of a "Healthier, Active, Ambitious Scotland" Lynn presented the crowd with Scotland's future legacy. Those children in the potentials and development squads will be our medal hopes and Scotland's future heroes beyond 2015.
At this point there was a chance to network and chat about how fantastic the night had been. Some comments since had been that the event had been unlike any the parliament had seen in its fourteen year history. The smiles on the faces of the MSPs, coaches and gymnasts went a long way to proving this, the night was a fantastic success enjoyed by all and highlighted the good work Scottish Gymnastics are doing in Scotland and continue to do so to help create a better Scotland.
It will surely be a long time before any event and a spectacle such as this is held in parliament again.
We will have a video of the event available soon, for those who were unable to attend. In the meantime, you can see more photos from the event by checking our FaceBook page. www.facebook.com/scottishgymnastics
