News & Trivia

In October 2008 the existing grade structure is to be scrapped and replaced by a new structure consisting of 9 standard levels. See the attached document (from now on all documents will be in Acrobat pdf format only). [Final Approved Version

Application form for the NW Club Judge Course [.pdf] [.doc]

Link to BBC trampoling guide which include a "Masterclass" video narrated by Kirsten Lawton.

<link to www.bbc.co.uk report>.

Link to BBC interview with Kirsten Lawton, Olympic trampoline finalist.

<link to www.bbc.co.uk report>.

Could trampolining be Britain's next suucess at the Olympics?

<link to www.bbc.co.uk report>.

"In the Northwest, all NWTTC sponsored events ( 3/4/5 Comps & the NW Closed) allow girls to wear shorts of the same colour / material as their leotard without penalty or prejudice."

This now means you have the choice to wear shorts in NW competitions. The decision was based upon equal opportunities/sex discrimination considerations.

Check out the new TOP 20 feature on the results page. Do you come in the top 20 for your grade and age? Would you like to see this extended to top 30 or 50 or 100? E-mail me and let me know.

This picture was taken at the lunch break and as you see we picked up some trophies in the morning. WVTC bouncers claimed a couple more trophies in the afternoon.

Can you spot the bees? They're the ones in yellow.

Full name - Irina Karavaeva Olympics - Gold medal at Sydney Olympics! DOB - 18 May 1975 Nationality - Russian Height - 162 cm Weight - 51 kgs Greatest achievement - Won the first ever gold medal awarded in trampoline at the Olympics.

Karavaeva of Russia wins trampoline gold - 22 September 2000

In its inaugural year as an Olympic event, the women's trampoline is won by Irina Karavaeva.

SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- World champion Irina Karavaeva of Russia easily won the gold medal in the inaugural Olympic women's trampoline on Friday, soaring as high as 25 feet in the air.

Karavaeva's appeared to be floating as she flew through the air. Oxana Tsyhuleva of Ukraine took the silver and Karen Cockburn of Canada won the bronze.

Karavaeva, 25, has been winning world championships since 1994. She won the individual event at the World Cup in Vienna this year, when she also finished second in the synchronised event.

Trampoline has been around since 1936 and by the early 1960s, it was a competitive sport, despite the critics. Enthusiasts insist it really is a sport, that it takes strength, skill and endurance to do those heart-stopping, high-flying flips.

"It's a viable sport with any other sport," said Judy Wills Cline, the first world champion. "This is much, much harder than it looks. They don't know us if they criticise us. Just like a lot of people criticise table tennis and synchronised swimming."

To be fair, the tricks the trampoline athletes do aren't easy or for the faint of heart. Karavaeva, the reigning world champion, looks almost like a diver as she flips and twists in the air.

Only she doesn't have a big pool of water underneath her, just a springy piece of canvas and the floor.

"She's doing the most difficulty I've ever seen,"' said American competitor Jennifer Parilla. "She jumps very high and I think she needs to because the more difficulty there is, the more skill you need."'

At any minute, disaster is just waiting to happen. Anna Dogonadze of Germany led after the qualification round, but she got too far back on one of her tricks and actually bounced off the mat, landing on the protective cushion behind the trampoline.

George Nissen, co-inventor of the trampoline, travelled to Sydney for the debut. The 86-year-old sat in one of the front rows, beaming as his creation got centre stage in sport's biggest showcase.

"We used to say, Are we going to get it to the Olympics?" he said. "And people would say it would be 2000 before that happens."