Recreational Gymnastics Committee | Wendy Lucas and Hazel Ardern
Two Scottish Gymnastics members have been selected to the new British Gymnastics Recreational Gymnastics committee.
Congratulations to Wendy Lucas (Hamilton Gymnastics Club) and Hazel Ardern (Inverness Gymnastics Club) for becoming part of the 12-strong committee. They were carefully selected from 191 applicants during the recruitment process.
Scottish Gymnastics’ development and experience lead manager Sarah Logan co-chairs the committee with Sarah Parker, gymnast experience manager at British Gymnastics. Polly Hucker, the recreational competitions & festivals partner at British Gymnastics will act as secretary.
The committee acts as a voice for the recreational gymnastics community across the UK. Members will work together to ensure the voices of recreational gymnastics gymnasts, parents, coaches and volunteers are heard and their needs met.
Wendy said:
“I’m really excited about it. I have been involved in general gymnastics for a long time and I used to sit on the Gymnastics for All Committee for British Gymnastics. I’ve got a lot of passion for recreational gymnastics, and I’d love for it to have more recognition within the sport. The high-profile side of the sport gets focused on a lot, but clubs require their general gymnastics side to be good to allow them to grow. The only reason Hamilton is the size it is, is because of our general gymnastics members. They’re what keep the clubs growing. I am hoping this committee will allow recreational gymnastics to get the recognition it deserves.
“The main reason I wanted to be on the committee was so could spread how much I love recreational gymnastics because it has done so much for me in my life, and I would love for it do more for more people.”
Hazel said:
“It’s really quite exciting, coming not just from Scotland but the north of Scotland that I’ve got a chance to share our slightly different geographical situation and have an impact on what kind of things can be offered to the recreational gymnastics community.
“I think it’s very important this committee has been created because if you don’t have a huge number of recreational gymnasts who are interested in the sport then you are not going to get gymnasts feeding through to the top of the sport.
“I’ve had so much out of gymnastics. I started when I was six and I still compete. I was a gymnast at World Gymnaestrada last year, I take part in Gymfest, I’m a parent of gymnasts, I coach gymnastics to 400 kids a week. So, it will be great to be able to create lots of different opportunities that suit different people because I think everyone gets something different out of gymnastics.”
Sarah Logan added: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to work closely with key people from the gymnastics community who live and breathe the wonders of recreational gymnastics day in and day out. Their valuable lived experiences will contribute to and shape important projects for the recreational gymnastics community. I am delighted to be part of the group and can’t wait to get started.
We wish Wendy and Hazel all the best in their new roles. The committee will meet soon and you can read updates on the British Gymnastics and Scottish Gymnastics websites.
| Name | Organisation |
| Gemma Barton | FIG GfA committee member |
| Aisha Walters | Benchmark Gymnastics Club |
| Grant Christie | Orchards Junior School |
| Erin Madden | Jolly Gymnastics |
| Wendy Lucas | Hamilton Gymnastics Club |
| Rachael Irvine | City of Lisburn Salto Gymnastics Centre |
| Holly Banks | Southampton Gymnastics Club |
| Laura Angel | Hadleigh Community Primary School & Hadleigh Stars Gymnastics |
| Carina Brown | Prime Acrobatics |
| Lewis Gray | Rugby Gymnastics Club |
| Hazel Ardern | Inverness Gymnastics Club |
| Samantha Harding | Wyre Forest Gymnastic School |
| Charlotte Gurr | Oadby and Leicester Gymnastics Club & Midlands Gymnastics Academy |