Glory for Gymstars
Club triumphant in the National Sports Arena in Dublin
WELL done to all the gymnasts from Gymstars Gymnastic Club who were triumphant at the recent Acrobatic Team Trophy competition which was held in the National Sports Arena, Dublin recently.
The club won the overall NDP Acrobatic team trophy, sharing it with Ballincollig Gym Club as both clubs had the most overall points for medals won.
The acrobatic team trophy is one of the two main competitions in the acrobatic calendar and its All-Ireland medals are hard won. This is a team competition where teams from all over Ireland compete for the overall trophy; receiving three points for gold medals, two for silver medals and one for bronze medals.
Gymstars had seven teams competing and stole the show by winning medals in every category they entered into.
This is a fantastic achievement for the club as the standard in Ireland is now at an all time high and shows what a fantastic standard the club has achieved over the years and this is all down to the club’s fantastic gymnasts and its dedicated coaches.
On day one of the competition, the Level 1, 2 and 3 gymnasts competed. In Level 1, Gymstars had three different groups in the team: Alannah Cummins, Samatha Quirke, Layla Stafford, Robyn Wiggins, Emma Walsh and Orla Kehoe.
Some of these gymnasts had never competed at such a big event before and they were all fantastic, winning the silver All-Ireland medals.
In Level 2, Gymstars team was made up of Mairead Mulally, Julieanne Purcell, Katie Moran, Lily McLoughlin, Lucy Roche, Aela Bowe and Lara Butler.
Most of these gymnasts had competed at this level at least once before and their experience shone through with the team winning the silver All-Ireland medals.
In Level 3, Gymstars had a full team of three groups: Ava Gahan, Aoibheann Ryan, Anna Walsh, Issy Wilde, Sarah Murphy, Issy Kavanagh and Amber Shaw.
This was a very well rehearsed team and all three groups delivered fantastic routines, winning bronze All-Ireland medals even though this section had the most number of teams for the whole competition. Well done, girls.
In Level 4, Gymstars also had a very strong team. They were Jessica Durkovicova, Sophie Chapman, Ashley Bolger, Charlie Buckley, Aoibhe Ormonde, Isabella Gainford and Katie Nolan.
This group were also up against very stiff opposition but all the very hard work they all put in paid off as they performed brilliantly and received very high scores which secured the gold All-Ireland medals.
Level 5 was a very competitive and high-level group, but Gymstars had a very talented group of gymnasts in this section.
They were Clara O’Doherty, Shauna Dunne, Nessa Carthy, Gabrielle Kubuliute, Shonagh McCourt and Isabella Booth. These two groups were well prepared for this high standard and the girls won the bronze All-Ireland medals.
In the IDP section, Gymstars had a very talented groups of gymnasts: Aoife Prunty, Alison Doyle, Eve Kinsella, Sadhbh O’Flaherty, Katelyn Bailey and Ellen O’Brien.
Both these groups have only being working together for a short while and all had great performances which won them the silver All-Ireland medals. Aoife, Alison and Eve will be flying to Scotland in January to compete at the Scottish International competition, we wish them the best of luck.
In the very high standard 11-16 section, Gymstars had one group competing their two routines.
They were Abby Mulligan and Mair Williams. This pair have been working together for a while and the experience paid off when the pair not only won the gold All-Ireland medals but also won the overall FIG Trophy for the highest artistic score of the competition plus they won the trophy for the highest FIG technical score.
This is a massive achievement for the girls and we wish them all the best when they travel to Scotland in January for the Scottish International competition plus this pair will be working hard for the trials for the World Championships in 2018.
Congratulations to all gymnasts who competed, you did yourself and your club proud.