Date	Competition	Closing Date	Details
2012
14th Oct. '12	REGIONAL Grading H-D	TBA	Easton
30th Sept. '12	Brentwood OPEN	TBA	Brentwood
10th June '12	REGIONAL Grading H-D	TBA	Hitchin
25th March '12	REGIONAL Grading H-D	TBA	Saffron Walden
11th March. '12	GB Schools' NATIONAL Finals	(Through School)	Bristol
22nd Jan. '12	BRENTWOOD Grading H-D	TBA	Info Sheet
15th Jan. '12	GB Schools' ZONAL Finals	(Through School)	Results
2011
3rd Dec. '11	GB Schools' REGIONAL Finals	(Through School)	Results
30th Oct. '11	Brentwood Open	TBA	Results
16th Oct. '11	REGIONAL Grading G-D	TBA	Not entered
17th July '11	STORM ELITE CLUB COMP 2011	TBA	Results
22nd May '11	EASTON Invitational	TBA	Not entered
15th May '11	BRENTWOOD Grading H-D	TBA	Results
'Mid' Mar.'11	GB Schools' NATIONAL Finals	(Through School)	Birmingham
6th Mar.'11	SAFFRON WALDEN Grading H-D	TBA	Results
15/16th Feb. '11	HAVERING Schools Championships	(Through School)	Hall Mead
23rd Jan.'11	GB Schools' ZONAL Finals	(Through School)	Isle of Wight
16th Jan. '11	HITCHIN Grading G-D	Mon. 20th Dec.	Results
2010
5th Dec. '10	GB Schools' REGIONAL Finals	(Through School)	Results
17th Oct. '10	EASTON Grading G-D	TBA	Results
26th Sept. '10	Brentwood Open	Weds. 1st Sept.	Results
17th July '10	STORM ELITE CLUB COMP 2010	TBA	Results
6th Jun. '10	REGIONAL Grading G-D	Weds 28th April	Results
21st Mar. '10	SAFFRON WALDEN Grading G-D	TBA	Results
14th March. '10	British Schools National Final	(Through School)	Results
9th/10th Feb.'10	HAVERING Schools Championships	(Through School)	coming soon...
24th Jan. '10	British Schools Zonal Round	(Through School)	Results
24th Jan. '10	BRENTWOOD Grading G-D	Weds. 9th Dec.	Withdrawn
23rd Jan. '10	STORM ELITE CLUB COMP (2009)!	Up to the day!	Results
2009
6th Dec. '09	British Schools Regional Round	(Through School)	Results
11th Oct. '09	REGIONAL Grading G-D	Thurs. 17th Sept.	Not Entered
27th Sept. '09	Brentwood Open	Thurs. 10th Sept.	Results
18th July '09	STORM CLUB COMPETITION	TBA	POSTPONED
20th June '09	London Youth Games	TBA	Results
31st May '09	REGIONAL Grading G-D	TBA	Results
19th Apr. '09	'Friendly' Georgia's Appeal Open	TBA	Results
29th Mar. '09	HARLOW Grading (G-D)	TBA	Results
8th Mar. '09	British Schools National Final	(Through School)	Results
17th Jan. '09	British Schools Zonal Round	(Through School)	Results
11th Jan. '09	HITCHIN Grading (G-D)	TBA	Results
2008
7th Dec. '08	British Schools Regional Round	(Through School)	Results
2nd Nov. '08	Cambridge Cangaroos Open	POSTPONED!	Sawston
12th Oct. '08	IPSWICH Grading (G-D)	TBA	Results
28th Sept. '08	Brentwood Open	6 weeks hol	Results
21st Sept. '08	MK Synchro (Friendly)	6 weeks hol	Milton Keynes
6th Sept. '08	Storm Club Competition	6 weeks hol	Results
22nd Jun. '08	Harlow Grading (3-5)	TBA	Results
14th May '08	London Youth Games	N/A	Results
18th May '08	Milton Keynes Open	25th April '08	Results
23rd Mar. '08	Eastern Grading (3-6)	29th Feb. '08	Results
9th Mar. '08	British School National Final	(Through School)	Results
20th Jan. '08	British Schools Zonal Round	(Through School)	Results
13th Jan. '08	Eastern Grading (3-5)	6th Dec. '07	Not Entered
2007
2nd Dec. '07	British Schools Regional Round	(Through School)	Results
7th Oct. '07	Ipswich Grading (3-5)	24th August '07	Not Entered
23rd Sept. '07	Brentwood Open	24th August '07	Results
8th July '07	Storm Club Competition	TBA	Results
17th June '07	Harlow Grading (3-5)	TBA	Not Entered
27th May '07	Elite TC Open	30th March '07	Results
6th May '07	Milton Keynes Open	30th March '07	Results
1st April '07	Brentwood Grading (3-5)	TBA	Results
11th March '07	Ipswich Open	5th February	Not Entered
17th Feb. '07	British Schools National Final	(Through School)	Sunderland
21st Jan. '07	Hitchin Grading (3-5)	TBA	Results
20th Jan. '07	British School Zonal Round	(Through School)	Hampshire
2006
10th Dec. '06	Pheonix Friendly DMT & Synchro	TBA	Not Entered
3rd Dec. '06	British Schools Regional Round	(Through School)	Results
5th Nov. '06	Brentwood Open (1-6)	6th October	Results
8th Oct. '06	Ipswich Grading 3-5	14th September	Not entered
20th July '06	Storm Club Competition	20th July	Results
2nd July '06	Recoil Invitational (1-6)	15th May	Results
25th June '06	Pheonix Flyers Friendly (1-6)	15th May	Results
11th June '06	Harlow Grading 3-5	15th May	Results
14th May '06	Milton Keynes Open (1-6)	21st April	Not entered
26th Mar. '06	Brentwood Grading 3-5	27th February	Results
12th Mar. '06	British Schools National Final	N/A	Results
22nd Jan. '06	British Schools Zonal Round	N/A	Results
15th Jan. '06	Hitchin Grading 3-5	18th November	Results
2005
11th Dec. '05	Pheonix DMT & Synchro	18th November	Cancelled
4th Dec. '05	British Schools Regional Round	N/A	Results
Mid. Nov. '05	Colchester Open	23rd September	Cancelled
2nd Oct. '05	Grading 3-5 (Ipswich)	21st July	Results
25th Sept. '05	Brentwood Open	21st July	Results
21st July '05	Storm Club Comp.	N/A	Results to come
10th July '05	Recoil Invitational	18th April	Results
5th Jun. '05	Grading 3-5 (Harlow)	18th April	Results
22nd May '05	Milton Keynes Open	18th April	Results
3rd Apr. '05	Grading 3-5 (Brentwood)	11th March	Results
27th Mar. '05	Pheonix Open	11th March	Results
13th Mar. '05	British Schools National Final	N/A	Results
23rd Jan. '05	British Schools Zonal Round	N/A	Results
16th Jan. '05	Grading 3-4 (Laindon)	10th December	Results
2004
12th Dec. '04	Pheonix DMT & Synchro	19th November	Results to come
5th Dec. '04	British Schools Regional Round	N/A	Results
14th Nov. '04	Colchester Open	24th Sept. 04	Refused entry...
3rd October '04	Grading 3-5 (Ipswich)	31st July '04	Results
19th Sept. '04	Brentwood Open	31st July '04	Results
22nd July '04	Storm Club Comp	16th July '04	Results
11th July '04	Recoil Invitational	11th June '04	Results
30th May '04	Milton Keynes Open	7th May '04	Results

General Guidance and Information for Competition

The following information can be downloaded as a WORD file here

This is intended as a reference for performers and all parents accompanying their children to competitions.

Click here to jump to a particular section:

TYPES OF COMPETITION [Top]

• There are about 10 or 12 competitions a year. They break down into the following types:
  Open or Invitational. These are friendly competitions, organised by individual clubs, purely for fun and experience.
  Regional Grading. These are official competitions run under the guidance of British Gymnastics. There are 4 a year, and it is only at these competitions that performers may qualify to higher grades. (See below) These competitions are hosted within our home region.
  National Grading. These National competitions are for those who have successfully qualified through the regional gradings. There are approximately six competitions throughout the year and can be anywhere in Great Britain.
  Schools Championship. This is a National competition in which individual schools can enter teams based in academic year groups. There are qualifying rounds at a regional and zonal level before the National Finals.
  Synchro. This is sometimes found incorporated into Open’s, but can also be separate competitions. This is where 2 competitors complete the same routines on adjacent trampolines at the same time.

GRADES [Top]

Competitors are separated for competitions by age group and grade.

• Age group is determined by your AGE on the 31st December, in the year of the competition. For example, even if a competitor is 14 for 364 days of the year, but turns 15 on 31st December, they cannot be 'UNDER 15'. For official BG competitions, there are only 2 age groups, 'Under 15' and 'Over 15'. For open competitions, it's likely that the old age groups of U9, U13, U15, U17 and 17+ will be retained.
• Grades are from A to I, 'A' being for the most advanced, 'I' for beginners. 'I' and 'H' are for use within clubs only. 'D' to 'G' are competed in Regional Gradings (see above). 'A', 'B' and 'C' are National events. See the GRADING page for more information.

ROUTINES [Top]

For every competition, the competitor needs two 10-bounce routines memorised. The first is a SET routine; this is specific to the appropriate grade. Most grades have two routines that you can choose between. Everyone in the group will be doing one of the two. The routine must be performed exactly as prescribed with no extra bounces in between. All routines for the appropriate grade and age are available for reference on the Storm website. The other routine needed is the voluntary or VOL. This routine is designed in negotiation with the coach; every one can be different. It is normally more difficult than the SET as extra marks are given for difficulty (see scoring). Performers only get one chance to complete their routines and if they make a mistake they cannot try again. In higher grades, there is sometimes a third ‘Final’ round for the highest scoring competitors only. In this round, all previous scores are 'zeroed' and the VOL is performed again to decide the final standings.

STRUCTURE [Top]

When you arrive at the competition, a Storm coach should give a ‘Warm-Up Card’ to the performer. This allows the competitor to a minimum of 4 practices during the general warm-up, 2 for each routine. The competition programme should state whether they should be warming up just their ‘sets’ to start with, or ‘sets’ and ‘vols’. When their round is ready, competitors will have a choice of two adjacent trampolines. They should pick one and give their warm-up card to the bed marshall. The bed marshall will call out their name when it’s their turn. During warm-up, if the competitor doesn’t like the feel of the bed they have chosen, they can choose to try their next practice on the other one. To do this, they must collect their warm-up card and give it to the marshall on the other bed. Once they have had their allocated practice goes, they may be asked to stop and return to the competitors' area for that panel. Sometimes they can keep practising for longer if time allows. After general warm-up, the competition marshall for that panel will round-up the competitors and get them in order. At this point a ‘rolling’ or ‘five-up’ warm-up begins. This is one last chance to practise the relevant routine. The first 5 will do a routine each, then No.1 will COMPETE. Once No.1 has competed, No.6 will warm-up, No.2 competes and the pattern continues. If the groups are small, it is common for the ‘vol’ round to immediately follow the ‘set’. In bigger groups, a second round of general warm-up will begin for the ‘vol’.

ETIQUETTE [Top]

During competition, no-one must walk in between the judging panel and competing bed in case they are judging a routine. Whenever someone is bouncing, they must have spotters. When actually COMPETING, they must bring TWO spotters only, stood at the two open corners of the bed. Spotters cannot communicate with the competitor during their routine. When called to compete by the competition marshall, the competitor should mount the trampoline and sit neatly in the seat drop position on the cross. The chair of judges will then inform them that they may begin. At this point the competitor should neatly turn to face the judges and ‘present’ (Right arm for the boys, both arms for the girls). Then ¼ twist to face the direction they want to start when they bounce. At the end of the routine they should stop dead and stay still for 3 seconds to show they are under control. They should then turn and present again to the judges, they are then free to leave the bed. Sportsmanship and composure should be shown at all times.

SCORING [Top]

At all competitions, judging panels consist of: 5 form judges who judge the neatness of the routine, a chair of judges, who advises of deductions and makes important decisions with regards to disputes, and a tariff judge who checks that the routine is correct and calculates the difficulty score of a routine during the ‘vols’. As the routine is performed, the form judges are looking at every single move and deciding how close it was to perfect. This eventually equates to a score out of 10 for the routine. When the judges show their scores, to avoid any bias, the top and bottom scores are disregarded and the middle three are added together. In the ‘vol’ round, the tariff score is also added to make the total score for the routine. Following, are reasons why extra marks may be deducted from a routine:
· Instability at the end of a routine.
· More than 10 elements in the routine.
· Less than 10 elements in the routine.
· Communicating or being communicated-with during the routine.
· Taking too long to start the routine (more than 60 seconds)
These are reasons why the judging of a routine could be stopped before the end:
· Landing on one leg.
· Performing the incorrect move during a ‘set’.
· ‘Killing the bed’ during a routine.
· Landing-on any pads, mats or springs, or touching them with any part of your body or clothing. (This includes hair and hair ties!)
· Putting hands down, or landing on knees etc. during a routine.
Obviously, the competitor with the highest sub-total for both ‘set’ and ‘vol’ added together will be the winner.

CLOTHING [Top]

As a general rule, the clothing regulations are the same for all competitions. They are as follows:
· Boys should wear a sleeveless leotard and light-coloured or white gym stirrups with plain socks in white or in the same colour as the stirrups; or trampoline shoes.
· Girls should wear a leotard (long-sleeved, or sleeveless) with plain white socks or trampoline shoes. They MAY be able to wear hot-pants/shorties, depending on the competition, but they must match the colour and material of the leotard exactly.
· If the competitors are in a TEAM, all team members MUST be wearing identical kit.
· NO jewellery is allowed.
Although not an official rule, at Storm we hope that all competitors come to competitions in the club tracksuit and t-shirt and ideally compete in the club leotard. These can be lent-out as appropriate.

OFFICIALLING [Top]
At EVERY competition there is an obligation for competing clubs to provide competition officials. The number required is proportional to the number of club competitors entering.

As coaches, we feel that our time at competitions is best spent supporting and encouraging competitors. We too often end up needing to be officials instead though. We hope that parents will be willing to help us out in this regard so that we can be left to help the kids. There will be an opportunity on the termly costing sheets, to indicate if any help can be provided. Please think about volunteering, it would be a great help to the kids and the club. Officials (with the exception of warm-up marshalls) generally get a free lunch on the day, and cost of entry will be reduced for those who are willing to help. Below are descriptions of all the official positions:
FORM JUDGE
A form judge is someone who watches the competing routines and allocates scores for the neatness of the execution (form). To be a form judge, you must attend a 2-day training course, which Storm will happily fund if people are willing to volunteer for this role.
TARIFF JUDGE
A tariff judge is someone who watches the competing routines and checks that the set routine is correct, and for the vol, adds up the difficulty scores for the moves in the routine as they are performed. To be a tariff judge, you must also attend the BG judges course.
RECORDER
The recorder is an administrator who takes down judges scores and calculates totals as necessary. There are two types of recorder, and both are normally found working in parallel. One is a manual recorder who does everything on paper and uses a calculator. There is also a computer recorder who types in the scores into special scoring software and works everything out on computer. Neither position requires any qualifications as such, but experience would be essential. As such, if any parents are interested in gaining experience, I’m sure that you could sit in at a recorders station during future competitions to learn the job first hand.
COMPETITION MARSHALL
The competition marshal organises the traffic flow of competitors and warm-ups during competition. They check attendance and organise everyone into order after the general warm-up. They make sure that all competitors know when they are about to compete or warm-up. A good competition marshall ensures the quick and smooth running of a panel.
WARM-UP MARSHALL
This easy role is only required during the ‘general’ warm-up before the competing round starts. There are two per panel, one for each bed. The job involves collecting warm-up cards from competitors and ticking off the card as routines are practised. This ensures that everyone gets their fair share of practice and the warm-up process remains smooth and calm.