School sport: Future looking bright as Craigmount take the floor

MORE than 450 gymnasts from 70 schools up and down the country were involved recently in the pinnacle of the schools gymnastics calendar - the Floor and Vault National Championships in Perth.

Each team representing their school at the championships had qualified through regional events and there were some top-quality performances.

In the pre-level one event, Eastriggs Primary School, near Annan, were crowned champions ahead of McLean Primary School in second, with Clermiston Primary School and Walker Road Primary School tied in third.

Edinburgh's Corstorphine Primary School were primary level one champions, while the primary level two winners were local school Oakbank Primary School.

Edinburgh's Gylemuir Primary School dominated the primary level three competition with teams in first and second place ahead of Dyce Primary School in third.

In the secondary level events, Craigmount High School, from Edinburgh, were the top team, winning the level one tournament and the level three tournament. James Young High School, from Livingston, won the level two event, while Craigmount High School finished third.

It is perhaps not surprising that Craigmount did so well in Perth given that their team were on a high going into the event having returned from the Carita House British National Group Championships in Stoke with their best performance at the competition.

Competitors in the championships come from regional qualifiers from the home nations and 11 regions of England, who all compete in floor, vault and a group sequence.

The team from Craigmount, competing in the under-16 girls competition, finished in a highly-credible third place, just behind Tormead from South East England and Ivybridge from South West England.

All of which has left Scottish Gymnastics chairwoman of the school panel, Val Oswald, enthusiastic about the future.

She said: "Craigmount's performance down in Stoke really was superb and it is credit to the school and their coaches that they managed to finish third.

"That result made people sit up and take note of the improvements that are being made in gymnastics in Scottish schools and the national championships in Perth were another great occasion.

"To see so many children of all ages from throughout the country in the same location competing was brilliant, and the standard impressed me a lot. There is a lot of talent out there." Over the last few years, Oswald and others have been working hard to bring a structure to schools gymnastics and she believes that big strides are being made.

She added: "We have development officers and Active Schools coordinators working together all over Scotland and there are a lot of courses now being held to give teachers coaching qualifications and advice on how best to organise and run gymnastics classes and teams at their schools.

"All schools and regions now also work along similar lines, meaning that all competitions are run in the same way, and that is upping standards and leaving us with an exciting future."