Gymnastics

GEORGE JONES

Director of Gymnastics

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.

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.

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. 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.

Parallel Bars had wooden rails. Unforgiving if you managed to get things wrong. 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.

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. 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.

GPS CHAMPIONSHIPS 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.

Division 3 The day started with the Division 3 teams, two teams represented the School – the A and B team. This is the first time there has been two teams in the division. The A Team was: Andre Foster, Oscar Churchill, Joel Gray, Kiamana Barry, Tyler Vandenberg and Jesse Meo. The B Team comprised of Jake Scott, Saxon Thomas, Lachlan Free and Harrison Tzannes.

Both teams showed tremendous improvement over the year and were very competitive. However, BGS won on the day. Kaimana Barry gave an outstanding display of allround gymnastics, finishing second overall in the individual rankings.

Division 2 This was a tough competition, competing against a very strong BGS team. The team was Cody Corbett, Tom Meo, JI Rogelja, Ryven Ewing, Josh Agnew and Cody Wood. The boys battled all the way trying to drag out that little bit extra to get ahead. However, it was BGS who took out Division 2 with TSS a gallant second. The outstanding performance from the team was Cody Corbett, who was second overall, and completed a fantastic Vault with only 00.10 deductions out of 10.00. Division 1 In the premier Session of the day the Senior Team took to the floor in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The team was: Christian Behn-Katz, David Makaryan (Co-Captains of Gymnastics), Finlay Kroon, Taylor Moss, Kiarn Barry, Couper Baskus, Cameron Scott and Cy Dacey. This was always going to be tight competition between TSS and BGS. Both teams included Gymnasts who were selected to represent Australia in Austria in two weeks, as well as seasoned campaigners who had achieved State Representation. The competition ebbed and flowed throughout, with BGS finishing on top and TSS 2nd. Finlay Kroon competed an outstanding performance finishing second in the individual rankings

JIM YOUNG TROPHY The overall points for the trophy are decided by the aggregate points over the three divisions. TSS finished second to BGS with a consistent performances from all teams throughout the Championships.

RECREATION GYMNASTICS Once again, Recreation Gymnastics enjoyed a busy year. A record number of enrolments from the Prep School and Year 7 boys ensured the Gymnastics Centre was full to capacity. The program taught the boys gymnastics skills and routines.

The boys competed in a fun competition on the day prior to the GPS Championships. This was the first competition for many of the boys. They competed with skill and enthusiasm with good-quality gymnastics.

The results were:

Gym Fun 1st ..................................................................................... Peter Sa 2nd ................................................................................Charlie Ell 3rd ............................................................................... Raury Wan

Gym Skills 1st ........................................................................ Dominic Burns 2nd ......................................... Etienne Chabert, Tommy Skubris 3rd ..............................................................................Jack Bender

Junior 1st .......................................................................... Heanen Smith 2nd ................................................................................Willie Nye 3rd ....................................................................Matthew Fletcher

Senior Development 1st .......................................................................Nicholis Brown 2nd ...........................................................................Tim Jacobsen 3rd ..........................................................................Saxon Gemeri

We look forward to another successful year in 2016.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Congratulations to the following:

Finlay Kroon 1st overall Level 9 under, 1st on Pommel Horse, Rings, 2nd Parallel Bars, 3rd High Bar Queensland State Championships. Queensland Team to compete at the National Championships. Australian Team, to compete in the Futures Youth Cup, Austria.

Christian Behn-Katz Level 8, 1st Vault, Queensland State Championships. Queensland Team to compete at the National Championships

David Makaryan Level 7, 1st on Rings, Queensland State Championships.

Cody Corbett Level 5, 1st on Rings, Queensland Junior State Championships. Gold Coast Team, to compete in the Regional Challenge Championships.

Although Gymnastics is an individual sport, the club over the years has developed a culture of ‘Family’. The boys train hard together, support each other and enjoy one another’s company. This is developed through a dedicated team of coaches and the leadership of the Gymnastics Captains for 2015, Christian Behn-Katz and David Makaryan. To all our leadership groups a thank you from the boys. May we all enjoy the next 100 years.