If you haven't had chance to look at the drawings of our new home at Goshen you can see them here. and here.

European Championship Mens Team announced
The 3rd Individual European Championships are to be held in Milan from 2nd - 5th April 2009.

The MAG gymnasts selected to represent Great Britain are named as follows:

Luke Folwell - Huntingdon OlympicGymnastics Club - Paul Hall
Daniel Keatings - Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastics Club - Paul Hall
Daniel Purvis - Southport YMCA - Jeff Brooks
Theo Seager - Bury Gymnastics Club - Paul Hockwart
Louis Smith - Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastivcs Club - Paul Hall
Kristian Thomas - Earls Gymnastics Club - Michelle Bradley
non travelling reserve - Danny Lawrence - South Essex Gymnastics Club - Scott Hann

The selection has been made following:
A non judged but 'present 1 exercise' on 31st Jan control and 2 control competitions held at Lilleshall - Feb 21st/22nd with full judging panels.
Following this control a meeting of National Coaches and all involved personal coaches took place.
Further competitions and results including the 2008 British Championships, World Cup Series/Final Oct-Dec 2008 and other International invitationals were taken into account.

In order for the gymnasts to prove their readiness to compete they will take part in the London Open - 21st March 2009. (Goresbrook Leisure Centre)
Due to the unique structure of the Individual European Championships, the provisional allocation of apparatus/all around will be determined following the London Open.
Finalised allocation of apparatus/all around will be determined following the podium control in Milan on1st April.

The staff selected to represent Great Britain MAG at the European Championships are named as follows:

Eddie Van Hoof - Team Manager
Andrei Popov - National Coach and Lead Coach
Paul Hall - Personal Coach
Paul Hockwart - Personal Coach
Colin Leigh - Judge
Nikki Hanley - Judge
Andrew Tombs has been invited as a UEG expert.

The selection of Nikki Hanley comes as a result of her fantastic achievement at the recent Brevet judging course where she recorded the highest marks in passing the exam. Nikki will become the first female judge to attend a European Championships in this capacity, with Britain leading the way in opening up opportunities for women in sport.

This will be the first major championship in the new Olympic cycle, providing a degree of uncertainty regarding the scoring and ranking of the countries and gymnasts participating. Names and reputations could be made or enhanced. For Great Britain this will be a chance to take the first steps towards the creation of a Team capable of achieving Olympic qualification.

Wow! What a year the Club has had in 2008 both on and off the apparatus.
At the beginning of 2008 the Club was still eagerly awaiting completion of our new, albeit temporary, facility at Bury Bridge and our gymnasts were still spread to the four winds training at various gyms throughout the north-west.
However, in February we moved into Bury Bridge and the Club has not looked back. The success of Theo Segar is covered in detail elsewhere in the Newsletter, as is the tremendous achievement of all our gymnasts throughout the year as the benefits from training altogether and within the wonderfully equipped gym is certainly paying dividends.
As a Club your committee have worked tirelessly and with unbounded enthusiasm to develop and progress in many ways and areas for the future. Below is a list of just some of the Club’s achievements during the year.
• Opened at Bury Bridge.
• Received £50,000 grant towards new equipment from Community Sports Fund.
. Developed strong partnership with Bury Council and other associated bodies.
• Officially opened Bury Bridge in the presence of the Major of Bury and invited guests from British Gymnastics and Sport England.
• In conjunction with Bury Council submitted planning application for new purpose built gymnastics facility at Goshen.• Achieved Gym Mark Status as a Club giving a clear indication as to the professional running and administration of the Club.
• Increased membership from 57 to 196 over the course of the year.
• Received award from Bury Council for Community Development throughout the area.
• Approached by Bury Council to enter into self management and take over the whole running of the Club.
• Achieved Planning Permission for new facility at Goshen overcoming objections from local residents and receiving wholehearted, positive support from local councillors over how the Club was developing, being run, what it was achieving and the wonderful asset it was to the town.
• Submitted application to Sport England for approximately £1 million grant towards the Goshen development.
• Received award from British Gymnastics for the Club’s contribution to the Junior Men’s European success.
• Obtained notification from Sport England that our grant application had been positively received and progressed to the next stage.
• Formed Bury Gymnastics Club Ltd and appointed the following Directors: Chairman – Mike Bird; Managing Director - Keith Waddington; Director/Company Secretary – Sarah Turner; Financial Director – Dave Bond; Director of Coaching – Paul Hockwart.

All in all a great base to build on, and to progress even further as we enter 2009 with the desire and belief that we can achieve all our goals for the benefit of our gymnasts, members and the local community.
To conclude, 2008 was challenging and 2009 will be even more so, but none of the above could be achieved without the total commitment, support and dedication, not only of the whole committee, but all parents, gymnasts, volunteers and helpers who with their enthusiasm make running the Club a delight for all.

Thank you and well done to everyone!

Keith Waddington