The British School In The Netherlands

With our Under 11 team as a shining exception, our results may be disappointing at first glance, but preparation for this competition has been fraught with problems and our girls still stepped up to the occasion and gave it their all.

The Under 11 team (Year 6), including two girls promoted from the Under 10 (Year 5) squad, followed up their 4th place in the IAPS competition in November by holding on to 5th this time out. Sara Rey-Coquais (Y5) top scored in 8th, and the fact that four team members finished in the top 20 shows the all-round strength of the team.

The Under 13 result came as a shock to us, as we saw every one of the team show obvious signs of individual improvement from previous competitions. Our team was the strongest and most dependable we could have entered, but if the level of competition has gone through the roof in recent years, then heaven only knows where the level was this time – there were even two British Olympic selection squad members competing.  Results aside, a very special mention goes to Francesca Turner, who was unable to share the weekend with her team mates because of club demands back in Holland, but flew in just for the day she competed in order to represent the school.

The Over 13 team hoped for more than they achieved and Iona Cumming’s 10th place is extremely praiseworthy. Success in gymnastics is not however achieved purely on the day of competition, but from months of preparation. The Senior teams’ training this year has been disrupted and curtailed to the point where they would have needed a miracle to gain medals this weekend. They deserved much more than they received.

The young Under 10 team was picked for potential, not for winning medals this year and also included two Under 9s. No pressure on them, but the experience will have benefited each one of them and they will achieve in the future. They have old heads on young shoulders.

The squad supported each other throughout, in and out of the competition arena, and believe me, it is two very long days of competition to get through, and four days of hard work. It is difficult to understand the emotional extremes without experiencing it yourself – the parents who attended will testify for that.

Exciting changes for the club in the near future will hopefully lead to a settled training programme that can give us a chance of competing at our best once more and of keeping pace with the rising standards that we meet in the GISGA championships each year. We have to believe.