1915-2015 – 100 YEARS THE SOUTHPORT SCHOOL GYMNASTICS
One hundred years of Gymnastics at TSS. What an achievement. The Awards Dinner was an acknowledgment of those past years, with Old Boys attending to celebrate this wonderful occasion.
The Vault Horse was a sectioned wooden contraption with a padded top. To vault on this you needed to get your hands in the right place. Now it’s called a Vaulting Table, wide enough to do the most complex and difficult vaults.
There were photos of gymnasts and events from the Archive Department, which drew a lot of interest from those present. A video circa 1950s was shown with the gymnasts from that era displaying skills that are recognisable today, with some not so recognisable. The Floor was a strip of canvas mats filled with horsehair. Not the softest landings for the gymnasts of yesteryear. Today it is a 12 m x 12m sprung floor consisting of floor sections butted together and covered by dense foam matting.
GEORGE JONES
Director of Gymnastics
This insight into the heritage of Gymnastics at TSS was an interesting feature of the evening for the boys. Apparatus from the ’50s and ’60s is nothing like the equipment of today. In those days it was Swinging Rings. You could fly like a bird as you released into a back somersault dismount, hoping you had placed the landing mat at the appropriate distance.
Gymnasts train hard, physically and mentally. They are dedicated to their sport and compete with a fierce desire to succeed. The past and the present are joined by these same traits as gymnasts from all eras display these same qualities. Although the years may separate the present from the past, gymnastics will always hold a special place in the sporting history of TSS.
High Bars were inflexible, solid metal bars with no give or bend. Not like the bars of today, with their high-tensile steel and the ability to bend as you release into that important dismount.
GPS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Parallel Bars had wooden rails. Unforgiving if you managed to get things wrong.
288
THE SOUTHPORT SCHOOL SOUTHPORTONIAN 2015
The GPS Gymnastics Championships were once again held in the Centenary Centre. This is an excellent venue for Gymnastics with the crowds close to the action, ready to give vocal support to their respective schools.
