Glory for Dynamic acrobats at Scottish Championships

The recent championships, staged at Dynamic’s Ravenscraig base, saw the following success for the Lanarkshire stars: Grade 1 pairs - silver medallists Gemma Grant and Isla Russell; Grade 3 trio - bronze medallists Evie Wise, Anya Stigwood and Katie McConville; Grade 3 pairs - gold medallists Carly Curran and Neive Grant; Grade 5 trio - gold medallists Amy Miller, Karla Hillcoat, Arianna Lawlor; FIG 11-16 yrs pair - gold medallists for both routines Emma McConville and Caris Smith; FIG 11-16 yrs pair - gold medallists balance routine Olivia Forsyth and Sophie Blood.

Suzy Miller, child protection officer for Dynamic Gymnastics Academy, was understandably proud of the girls’ efforts.

She said: “It was a fabulous achievement because we have only been doing acrobatics for two years.

“And the teams have only been training together for between six and 12 months.

“They were all just amazing. Their performances surpassed expectations.”

Dynamic members – girls aged between five and 14 – typically train for around 21 hours a week, split between four to five days.

When the girls perform routines these usually last for between two and three minutes.

Back flips, dancing, standing on each others’ shoulders and doing the splits are all common aspects of the routines.

Dynamic members’ next chance to shine will come at this Saturday’s Celtic Cup in Cardiff, when they will be representing Scotland alongside representatives from other Scots clubs.

Scotland have triumphed at this event in recent years and Suzy is confident that they can do so again.

“Scotland normally wins this competition and hopefully we can do it again,” she said.

The Scotland squad – who will be under the leadership of acrobatics coach Michelle Diniz – gather six times a year to practice routines and get valuable hints and tips.

Also on the horizon are the British Acrobatic Championships in Stoke-on-Trent on May 13, which some Dynamic members will be contesting.

Although the top Dynamic members train on four or five days a week, novices newly joining the club are initially put through their paces on just one to two days.

As their talent levels increase, so does the number of days that they train for.

Although there are currently no male Dynamic members, boys are welcome at the club and males from other clubs are regularly seen taking part in either boys teams or mixed pair competitions.

The youngest members at Dynamic or just five, but there is no upper age limit.

However, there can only be a maximum of three years between competing team-mates, so a 40-year-old couldn’t compete with a seven-year-old but could compete with a 37-year-old. Dynamic are currently looking for sponsorship. Please email [email protected] or [email protected]