"NEWSFLASH"

**We Are Staying Putt**

Contrary to popular belief, Link4Life, who manage the Golf course on the council’s behalf, are not going to drive us away.

We have been given assurances that Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club has a part to play in any future development or refurbishment of The Stables and our tenancy is not in question.

 Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone that suggests otherwise or has doubts about joining the club because of these rumours.

 

	NOVEMBER NWGA PRE-NOVICE, NOVICE, LEVEL 4 OUT OF AGE INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS........ 34 MEDALS, 2 NORTH WEST INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES AND 8 APPARATUS TITLES.... The final competitive event of 2008 saw just 15 gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club travel to the Birchwood Leisure Complex in Warrington to compete in the North West Gymnastics Association Pre-Novice, Novice and Level 4 Out of Age Individual Championships, 2008.  Probably the toughest competition of the year with over 270 competitors across all the various categories the girls did the club proud. The final competitive event of 2008 saw just 15 gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club travel to the Birchwood Leisure Complex in Warrington to compete in the North West Gymnastics Association Pre-Novice, Novice and Level 4 Out of Age Individual Championships, 2008.  Probably the toughest competition of the year with over 270 competitors across all the various categories the girls did the club proud. The first day of competition brought huge success with every Rochdale OGC gymnast finishing in top 7 positions in the events they were entered into and all of them returned home with medals hung proudly round their necks. Kirsty Armitage commenced the weekend in the Pre-Novice Under 8 section with her best all round performance to date finishing in 2nd place overall with a combined score of 49.316 marks.  A marvellous all round event saw Kirsty take silver medal positions on Vault (11.40), Bars (12.50) and Floor (13.466). Mercedes Miladinovic competed in her first ever 4 piece apparatus event and earned a very creditable 6th position overall (48.266) in the Pre-Novice Under 9 section.  This position was aided by 3rd place on Vault (11.35), and 2nd place on Floor (13.366). Eleanor Briggs 6th (51.90), and Fiona Payton 7th (51.783) tackled the Novice Under 10 section of the competition and competed superbly.  Eleanor picked up 2nd place on floor (14.40).  Fiona was crowned the North West Champion on both Vault (11.80) and Floor (14.533) collecting gold medals on both pieces of apparatus, along with a silver medal for Bars (12.90). Molly Simpson competed in her first competition for Rochdale OGC and earned 6th place in the Pre-Novice Under 11 event (49.033).  Following excellent improvements in training Molly earned the title of North West Bars Champion as she took first place with a score of 12.45, and also collected a medal for her performance on the Floor where she took 3rd place (13.133). Eleysha Jackson earned 2nd place on Floor (13.333) in the Pre-Novice Under 12 event, where she eventually finished just outside the overall medal positions in 4th place (48.133). The Novice Under 12 event rounded off the 1st day of competition where Gabrielle Southern and Danielle Parkinson performed some terrific routines to finish in 2nd (53.683) and 3rd (53.383) places respectively.  Gabrielle took away 3 medal positions finishing 2nd Vault (11.75), 3rd Bars (13.15), and 3rd Floor (14.233).  Meanwhile Danielle was crowned the North West Champion on Vault (11.90) and Bars (13.75) finishing in gold medal position on both pieces of apparatus, and shared the bronze medal position on floor with Gabrielle. Day 2 of competition saw even more successes to round off the year for Rochdale OGC.  Sophie Lomax and Ashleigh Farrell competed in the Pre-Novice Over 12 event.  Sophie became the North West Overall Individual Champion as she amassed a total score of 48.566 to take the overall title in 1st place.  She also took the North West title on Bars (11.80) taking 1st place, and collected 2 silver medal positions on Vault (11.30) and Floor (13.00).  Ashleigh eventually finished in 8th position overall (45.482), and collected her first 4 piece apparatus medal on Bars where she finished 3rd (10.966). And to finish on a high the Level 4 Senior girls did not disappoint as Sabrina Birchenough was crowned the North West Overall Individual Champion with a score of 48.85, closely followed by Georgia Hall in 2nd place (47.882), Elyse Murray 5th (46.683), Mary Elcock 14th (44.515), and Emma Holmes 19th (43.432).  Sabrina’s title was aided by an exceptional performance on Beam to finish the North West Champion and take the title in 1st place (12.70), along with 2nd places on Bars (12.00) and Floor (12.65).  Georgia took the North West title on Bars for a great routine for 1st place (12.433), along with the bronze medal for Floor (12.55).  Elyse shared a well deserved silver medal position on Floor where she finished joint 2nd with Sabrina (12.65). Some superb performances to round off another successful year for Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club and it’s members.

	OCTOBER MORE QUALIFIED COACHES FOR THE CLUB ........ On Sunday 26th October, Rachel Hall, Faye Padden and Jade Scrivner travelled to Robyn Park Arena, the home of Wigan Gymnastics Club to take their Womens Artistic Level 1 Coaching examinations.  Log books completed and a practice examination carried out in the gym all 3 coaches were ready to take on their task.  And at the end of the day Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club now has 3 more qualified coaches in the team as they all passed with flying colours. Well done to you all.  And a great big thanks to all the gymnasts who accompanied the coaches to their examination.  Kirsty Armitage, Mercedes Miladinovic, Fiona Payton, Leah Regan, Sian Hall, Elizabeth Brown, Laura Brown, Claire Brown and Courtney Smith all did a grand job to aid the coaches in their task.  Thank you girls and well done.

	OCTOBER THE ROCHDALE OGC INVITATIONAL FLOOR & VAULT CHAMPIONSHIPS........ Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club returned back to where the club was first formed back in 1973 this month as the club held its Annual Invitational Floor and Vault Championships for 2008 at Matthew Moss High School. With 250 competitors over a 2 day event, participants arrived from Bury, Salford, Middleton, Rochdale OGC, St Helens, Crewe & Nantwich, Hartford, Flic Flac, Wirral, Tameside, Blackpool, and Stockport Gymnastics Clubs to take part in the event which has now been running for the last 5 years. The most entrants came from the home club as Rochdale OGC entered 54 gymnasts across various age groups in the Pre-Novice, Novice and Intermediate levels of competition.  The girls did not disappoint as they were credited with 35 medals, 4 individual overall titles and after losing the team trophy last year to the gymnasts from Salford regained it this year to take the championship in fine style. Philee Ang-Chen, Sophie Lomax, Mercedes Miladinovic and Kirsty Armitage all performed superbly to take the overall individual titles in their respective age groups.  Philee was crowned the champion in the Novice Under 11 Section with a fantastic score of 25.05 across the two pieces of apparatus.  Sophie lifted the Intermediate Under 13 trophy with a total tally of 26.05, and Kirsty took the Intermediate Under 11 Title with a score of 25.40.  Mercedes was crowned the overall champion in the Novice Under 9 event with a score of 24.85 marks. Many of the gymnasts produced some fabulous routines which in turn earned them some remarkable results. PRE-NOVICE UNDER 6 – Grace Elcock 3rd Floor (11.25) PRE-NOVICE OVER 11 – Emma Tetlow 3rd Vault (10.7), Bethan Brady 3rd Flooor (11.50) NOVICE UNDER 9 – Mercedes Miladinovic 1st Floor (13.55), 3rd Vault (11.30), 1st Overall (24.85), Elizabeth Brown 3rd Floor (13.25), 3rd Overall (24.50) NOVICE UNDER 10 – Melissa Collins 3rd Floor (13.35), 2nd Overall (24.05), Sian Hall 1st Floor (13.50), 2nd Overall (24.05). NOVICE UNDER 11 -  Philee Ang-Chen 1st Floor (13.5), 2nd Vault (11.55), 1st Overall,  Leah Regan 3rd Floor (13.30), 3rd Vault (11.45), 2nd Overall (24.75), (25.05), Sarah Buckley 2nd Floor (13.45) NOVICE OVER 11 – Emma Hayden 2nd Floor (13.30), 3rd Overall (24.00) INTERMEDIATE UNDER 11 – Kirsty Armitage 1st Floor (14.15), 1st Overall (25.40). Lucy Vernon 3rd Floor (13.55), 1st Vault (11.40), 2nd Overall (24.95) INTERMEDIATE UNDER 13 – Sophie Lomax 1st Floor (14.35), 1st Vault (11.7), 1st Overall (26.05),  Alexandra Rees 2nd Floor (14.25), 2nd Vault (11.55), 3rd Overall (25.80) INTERMEDIATE OVER 13 – Ashleigh Farrell 2nd Floor (13.95), 2nd Vault (10.90), 3rd Overall (24.85) And finally at the end of an enjoyable 2 days of competition the team trophy was up for grabs.  Taking the top 10 scores from each club from the Pre-Novice and Novice Competitions, Philee Ang-Chen ( 25.05), Mercedes Miladinovic (24.85), Leah Regan (24.75), Elizabeth Brown (24.50), Sarah Buckley (24.45),  Sophie Wells, (24.40), Charlotte Lomax (24.30), Melissa Collins (24.05), Sian Hall (24.05), Emma Hayden (24.00), amassed a tremendous team score of 244.40 marks to take the trophy home over 4  marks ahead of 2nd placed gymnasts from Stockport.  Last years winners Salford finished in 3rd place. Other Rochdale OGC competitors were:- Ellie Bradley, Sophie Weight, Caitlan Dolan, Charlotte Nuttall, Hannah Riley, Rose Connor, Amelia Banner, Claire Brown, Danielle Southern, Kaia Yeomans, Laura Brown, Lauren Brierley, Lauren Lee-Cheoung, Lucy Slater, Sian Ashworth, Abigail Templin, Grace Pauline, Eleysha Jackson, Megan O’Shea, Charlotte Loftus, Katy Sanderson, Marisa Holt, Sarah Bolton, Lily Bolton-Riley, Charlotte Lomax, Lucy Byrne, Sophie Wells, Aimee Hussey, Niamh Gillan, Chloe Fleming, Natalia Mills, Rebecca Hilton, Sarah Walmsley, Charlene Loader, Jessica Hogan.

	SEPTEMBER THE NORTH WEST TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS........ Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics club entered 4 teams of gymnasts, across three different levels, in the North West Team Championships held at Birchwood Leisure Centre, Warrington. The girls had a fantastic day out and came away with 2nd placings in the Pre-Novice, Novice and Level 4 events of the weekend. Up against 14 teams the 2nd placed Pre-Novice Team of Merecedes Miladinovic, Alexandra Rees, Sophie Lomax, Kirsty Armitage and Megan O’Shea put on a great team performance to take the silver medal position on the podium with a team score of 150.95 marks, made up of 34.05 on Vault (3rd), 37.65 on Bars (1st), 40.30 on Beam (1st) and 38.95 on Floor (2nd).  ROGC entered another pre-novice team of very inexperienced 4 piece apparatus competitors.  However, the team of Ashleigh Farrell, Lucy Vernon, Eleysha Jackson, Melissa Collins and Philee Ang-Chen held together a great performance to take a very creditable 8th position with a combined team tally of 141.05 marks, aided by scores of 33.85 on Vault, 34.05 on Bars, 36.30 on Beam and 36.85 on Floor. Individually Kirsty Armitage took 1st place on Bars (12.75), and 2nd place on Beam (13.60).  Sophie Lomax took 3rd place on Beam (13.40), and Alexandra Rees took 4th place overall (49.65). The highest entry of the weekend came in the Novice Team Championships where 21 teams contested the title.  The Rochdale girls, hampered by a team member pulling out the very morning of the competition, gave some incredible performances to take another 2nd place position on the podium.  The team of Danielle Parkinson, Fiona Payton, Gabrielle Southern and Emily Slide clubbed together and fought their way round the apparatus to finish on a team score of 156.999 marks for a well deserved silver medal. This team tally was made up on apparatus scores of 35.25 on Vault (2nd), 38.499 on Bars (2nd), 41.350 on Beam (2nd) and 41.90 on Floor. Individually Danielle Parkinson took top spot on Bars (13.80), and also top spot in the overall individual standings (53.90). The Level 4 Team of Georgia Hall, Sabrina Birchenough, Elyse Murray, Mary Elcock and Emma Holmes, all having been hampered by injuries leading upto this event, performed admirably to take another silver medal position on the podium with scores of 36.25 on Vault (2nd), 35.75 on Bars (1st), 33.15 on Beam (3rd) and 35.60 on Floor (3rd) amassing a team tally of 140.75 marks. Individually Georgia Hall took 2nd place on Vault (12.20), Sabrina Birchenough took 1st places on Bars (12.35) and Floor (12.40), and 2nd place in the overall individual standings (47.40).

	SEPTEMBER THE ALPHA FACTOR UK INVITATIONAL........ 5 gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club travelled to Melksham in Wiltshire to participate in the annual Alpha Factor UK Invitational 2008 held at Wiltshire School of Gymnastics. All the girls took part in the Level 4 12+ event with successes across all pieces of apparatus and in the individual standings with Sabrina Birchenough finishing in 3rd place overall (44.425), Georgia Hall 8th (43.75), Mary Elcock 9th (43.55), Elyse Murray 13th (42.85) and Emma Holmes 15th (42.40). Elyse earned 3rd place on Vault (11.25), just behind Mary Elcock and Georgia whom the judges could not separate finishing in 2nd, both gymnasts with scores of 11.35.  Georgia Hall and Sabrina Birchenough just missed out on the medal standings on bars finishing in joint 4th place with scores of 11.30.  Mary took yet another podium position for her beam routine finishing in 3rd (11.2), and Sabrina went one better on floor where she earned 2nd place with a score of 12.025 All the girls will now compete together as a team in next weekends North West Team Championships where they are hoping to repeat this performance.

	SEPTEMBER ROGC'S DAY OUT AT LILLESHALL ........ A coach load of gymnasts and coaches left for Lilleshall National Sports Centre all smartly dressed with everyone in club tracksuits and t-shirts. A wee bit of serious training at first and then a little play time and a grand day was had by all who attended...........PHOTOS IN THE PHOTO GALLERY...........

	AUGUST ROCHDALE OGC JOIN TESCO SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS & CLUBS AND NESTLE GOR FOR FREE SPORTS PROMOTION........ ROCHDALE OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS CLUB are registered with Tesco Sport.  We have been taking part in this for a couple of years now.  However, last year we didn’t need to spend all the vouchers that you all so kindly collected for us so we banked them to spend at a later date.  We have 8565 vouchers to spend for use in the next scheme which is due to commence early in 2009.  Hopefully we will be adding a few more to this total and we will have a browse through the catalogue to see what we can buy. Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club have registered with the NESTLE “GO FREE” SPORTS PROMOTION. By collecting vouchers from promotional Nestle packs kids are entitled to a free session / lesson from a range of activities, which include:- Swimming, Tennis, Badminton, Squash, Dance, Exercise Class, Golf, Martial Arts, Gym Session, Gymnastics, Ice Skating.  The campaign went live on 1st June and is being promoted on over 50 million Nestle Products throughout the UK and Ireland.  The campaign is supported by television and radio advertisements and the Nestle Promotional website, which offers a great opportunity for free advertising. Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club is featured in the campaign and we have already had some budding gymnasts visiting the Beginners Classes to have a go for free !!

	JUNE FRANCESCA PASSES WOMEN'S ARTISTIC LEVEL 4 COACHING EXAMINATION IN FINE STYLE ........ FRANCESCA GORDON Francesca Gordon travelled to Lilleshall to take her Women's Artistic Level 4 Coaching Examination and at the end of a hard day's work passed the qualification in fine style. Thanks must go to the gymnasts who accompanied Francesca in her task - Rochdale OGC's  very own Georgia Hall, and to Natasha Law and Nina Dearman of Vernon Park.  A huge thank you must also go to Barry McLaughlin of Vernon Park who put in many hours with Frankie to successfully complete all her mentoring needed for the examination, and allowed us to borrow two of his gymnasts on the day of the examination. Well done to all.  Another great job done. Altogether so far this year that makes 12 new coaching qualifications for the team at the club - 8 Women's Artistic Level 1, 2 Women's Artistic Level 2, 1 Women's Artistic Level 4 and 1 Pre-School qualification to add to the strength of the growing coaching experience within the club, with another 3 coaches awaiting Women's Artistic Level 1 examinations later in the year.

	JUNE THE GREATER MANCHESTER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS........ 2 GM OPEN CHAMPIONS.......... The final event of the first half of the year, Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club attended the Greater Manchester Open Championships, 2008, a championships that was run for the first time ever by the Greater Manchester County intended to become an annual event. Every ROGC gymnast entered performed superbly with some very steady performances across all 4 pieces of apparatus and they were rewarded with some well deserved medal positions and championship titles.   The first day of the event saw the Level 4, Level 3 and Novice Under 10 competitors in action. Nicola Bridge performed a clean set of routines across all events in the Level 3 section of the competition and was justifiably rewarded with 3rd on Vault (11.05), 3rd on Bars (9.9), 2nd on Beam (10.35), and 1st on Floor (12.65), giving her a total combined score of 43.950 marks to earn 2nd position overall on the podium for her impressive performance. In the Level 4 Senior event Georgia Hall stormed to victory in the race for the overall championship finishing in 1st place overall with a score of 47.950, followed by Mary Elcock 5th (45.25), Sabrina Birchenough 6th (44.70), and Elyse Murray 11th (40.55).  Georgia’s championship title and her consistent achievement was honoured when she received top 3 positions across all events as she finished 1st on Vault (12.75), 3rd on Bars (11.30), 3rd on Beam (11.45), and 2nd on Floor (12.45).  Mary took the beam title finishing in 1st place (11.75), and Sabrina took the bronze medal position on Floor (12.05). Making her debut at Novice Level, Fiona Payton competed admirably in the Under 10 section  taking 1st place on Vault (11.65), 2nd Place on Bars (12.50), and a superb 1st place on Floor (14.55), eventually finishing with a combined score of 51.45 for 2nd place overall.   Competition day 2 saw the Level 2 and Novice Under 12 gymnasts performing. Robyn Carter competed at Level 2 for the first time and walked away with the championship title in 1st place overall when she achieved individual victory with a total score of 44.425.  Tremendous wins on Vault (12.575), and Bars (10.00), along with 3rd on Beam (10.00), and 2nd on Floor (11.85) helped her to the title victory.  First time novice entrants Danielle Parkinson, Gabrielle Southern and Emily Slide, along with Gabriella Wright competed in the Novice Under 12 section of the weekend.  After some remarkable individual achievements Danielle took 2nd place overall (52.10), Gabrielle 3rd (51.35), Gabriella 6th (48.35), and Emily 8th (46.95).  The girls took a clean sweep of the bar medals on offer where Danielle finished in 1st (13.70), Gabrielle in 2nd (12.45), and Gabriella in 3rd (12.15).  Gabrielle took another 2nd place for a clean performance on the beam (13.70), and Emily took 2nd place on Vault (11.95). These fantastic results are testament to the amount of commitment and hard work demonstrated by coaches and gymnasts alike, and is thoroughly well deserved.

	MAY 3 NORTH WEST FLOOR & VAULT CHAMPIONS ........ The floor and vault competitors from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club descended upon Birchwood Leisure Complex, Warrington to compete in the 2008 North West Floor and Vault Championships. The club now boasts 3 newly crowned North West Floor and Vault Champions with Charlotte Loftus, Robin Casey and Melissa Collins all winning their respective levels of competition. In the Pre-Novice Under 6 section Grace Elcock narrowly missed out on overall title finishing in 2nd place overall (21.9), and also collected 2nd place on Vault (11.05). In the Pre-Novice Under 7 Section Charlotte Loftus reigned supreme being crowned the Overall Individual Champion finishing in 1st place overall (23.10).  Also in this section of the event were Courtney Smith 6th (21.70), Sarah Bolton 8th (20.75), and Taylor Hall 9th (20.60).  Charlottes winning performance was aided by a 3rd place on Floor (11.80), and 2nd place on Vault (11.30). The two youngest competitors of the weekend Robin Casey and Ellie Stokes tacked the Pre-Novice Under 5 event.  Robin Casey took 1st place on Floor (10.55), and 1st place on Vault (9.733), therefore taking the overall crown in 1st place overall (20.283).  Ellie followed behind Robin with 2nd place on floor (10.25), 2nd place on Vault (8.80), and 2nd place overall (19.05). In the Pre-Novice Under 8 section Laura Brown had her best competition to date finishing in 2nd place overall (22.53), followed by Claire Brown 7th (22.30), Abigail Templin 9th (21.883), Sian Ashworth 12th (21.466), and Amelia Banner 16th (20.066).  Laura stormed to victory on the vault to take the gold medal position on the podium in 1st place (10.933). Sophie Weight finished in 2nd place overall (22.90) in the Pre-Novice Under 9 competition followed by Charlotte Nuttall 4th (22.80), Caitlan Dolan 11th (20.95), and Leonah Ellis 13th (20.55).  Sophie was crowned the vault champion in 1st place (11.10), just ahead of Charlotte in 2nd place (11.05). Sarah Walmsley 5th (22.30), and Chloe Fleming 6th (22.15) both were awarded their first ever medals in the Pre-Novice Under 10 competition.  Both on Vault Sarah took 1st place (11.10), and Chloe took 2nd place (11.00). Elizabeth Brown and Mercedes Miladinovic competed in the Novice Under 9 section and the judges couldn't separate them in the overall positions as they shared 6th position both finishing with a total score of 24.10 marks. In the Pre-Novice Under 11 event Jessica Hogan finished in 7th place overall (21.60). Leah Regan 6th (24.40), Philee Ang-Chen 8th (24.216), Fern Williams 10th (24.066), Sophie Wells 11th (24.033), and Aimee Hussey 13th (28.833) all competed well to earn their positions in a tough field in the Novice Under 11 event. Ashleigh Farrell and Bethan Brady took on the Pre-Novice Over 13 event of the competition.  Ashleigh eventually took 2nd place overall (23.65), followed by Bethan in 3rd place overall (23.20).  Ashleigh was crowned the vault champion in 1st place (11.35), and also collected 3rd place on floor (12.30).  Bethan went one better on floor taking 2nd place (12.40). Sophie Fenton earned a 3rd place on floor (12.95), in the Novice Over 12 competition finishing in 4th place overall (23.60). Leona O'Neill competed in the Intermediate Over 13 section of the event and earned a well deserved bronze medal for her performance on the floor taking 3rd place (14.00).  She eventually finished in 5th place overall (25.15). In the Pre-Novice Under 12 event Emma Tetlow picked up a 2nd place on Vault (11.25), finishing in 5th position overall (22.90). The Novice Under 12 round saw Emma Hayden take the vault title in 1st place (11.50), aiding her to 3rd place overall (24.90).  Grace Pauline tackled the Intermediate competiton for the first time in the Under 11's eventually finishing in 6th place overall (24.40). Melissa Collins rounded off another successful day for the club as she stormed to victory in the Novice Under 10 event taking 1st place overall (25.40), followed by Sian Hall in 2nd (24.60), Remi Kelly 8th (23.50), and Taylor Wilcock 9th (23.30). Melissa's performance was outstanding on both pieces of apparatus taking 1st place on floor (13.85), and 1st place on vault (11.55).  Sian performed an excellent floor routine to take the silver medal position (13.70).

	MAY ROGC GYMNASTS ENTERTAIN THE DINERS AT "THE INDIA LOUNGE" ........ On Tuesday 27th May, 2008, Ray launched the official opening night of the newest Indian Restaurant in Town. The INDIA LOUNGE on Spotland Road.  A few weeks prior he requested the presence of some of our girls to entertain the diners at the official opening and charity night.  So we went along to check the place out.  The restaurant has had a major re-vamp and upon arrival, the space that the girls had to perform in had been dramatically reduced compared to the last time we visited. So we asked 4 of our smaller guests if they would like to do it.  Mercedes Miladinovic, Eleanor Briggs, Fiona Payton and Kirsty Armitage put on a great show and even managed to somehow perform their floor routines in a space about 1 ½ metres square !!!  Afterwards the girls tucked into the food that was on offer and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  And so did we………… ………the next act on the entertainment bill was a Hypnotist………………..and we very kindly volunteered Frankie’s services as a guinea pig !!!! What a great night was had by all.  The night was arranged as a Charity Night in aid of people from Rochdale serving in the armed forces and a grand total of £1,100 was raised. Wow for the generous people of Rochdale who raised this fantastic amount of money for some of the most important forgotten heroes.  Our salute  to them !!

	MAY CASSANDRA LEAVES US TO RETURN TO THE STATES ........ Cassandra Iberson joined Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club back in 2004, as the family decided to move from the United States of America to the United Kingdom !!!  She has trained with the club since then and has had numerous successes as she has progressed through to 4 piece competitive events.  Cassandra's mum, Lisa, was also quite involved with the club and one of our many Fund Raising Volunteers on "Springboard" putting in many hours of work at our social and fund raising events.   Sadly, they have decided they have had enough of the UK and will be returning back to USA in August. The club wishes Cassandra, Lisa and the rest of their family the best of luck with their move, and hope they all continue with the sport back in their native homeland.  Cassandra and her list of achievements are shown below. 2004 - Wingates – 10th Overall 2004 - Moved to Level 2 July 2004 - Gymnast of the Month for July 2005 - GMGA Club Grade 6 – 21st Overall, Pass 2005 - Phil Tighe – 6th Overall 2005 - Tessaro 9th Overall 2005 - GMGA Floor & Vault 9th Overall 2005 - NWAGA Floor & Vault  11th Overall 2005 - Wingates 7th Overall, Most Artistic Floor Routine 2005 - Westview Floor & Vault 7th Overall 2005 - Group Gymnast of The Year 2005 - Junior Club Gymnast of the Year 2006 - GMGA Grade 5 - 25th Overall, Pass 2006 - Phil Tighe Floor & Vault - 5th Overall 2006 - GMGA Floor & Vault - 2nd Floor, 2nd Vault, 2nd Overall 2006 - Wingates - 1st Vault, 1st Floor, 1st Overall, 1st Team 2006 - Westview - 2nd Floor, 3rd Vault, 2nd Overall 2006 - Most Improved Junior Gymnast of the Year on Vault 2007 - GMGA Club Grade 4 - 29th Overall 2007 - Stockport Pre-Novice 2nd Floor, 1st Bars, 1st Overall, 1st Team 2007 - GMGA 4 Piece 2nd Bars, 1st Floor, 4th Overall 2007 - Kent Team Comp 9th Team, 14th Overall 2007 - NWGA Team Comp 1st Team, 3rd Bars, 2nd Beam 2007 - NWGA Pre-Novice 1st Bars, 5th Overall 2008 - Bolton Floor & Vault 9th Overall 2008 - Stockport Easter Competition 3rd Bars, 3rd Overall, 1st Team GOOD LUCK FROM ALL AT R.O.G.C.

	MAY THE GREATER MANCHESTER FLOOR & VAULT AND 4 PIECE APPARATUS CHAMPIONSHIPS ........ 60 MEDALS, 20 GOLD, 23 SILVER, 17 BRONZE, 5 OVERALL INDIVIDUAL G.M. CHAMPIONS & 15 APPARATUS G.M. CHAMPIONS............ A thriving squad of gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club travelled to Fit City, Ordsall, home of Salford Gymnastics Club, to compete against the best gymnasts from around the County, in the annual Greater Manchester Gymnastics Floor and Vault, and 4 Piece Apparatus Championships for 2008.  At the conclusion of the weekend, and following some remarkable individual performances there were 20 gold medallists, 23 silver medallists and 17 bronze medallists. The club now boasts five newly crowned Greater Manchester Overall Individual Champions as Ashleigh Farrell, Philee Ang-Chen, Melissa Collins, Fiona Payton and Gabrielle Southern all triumphed winning their respective events.  In addition to this 15 apparatus titles were all well deserved from Nicola Bridge, Fiona Payton, Gabrielle Southern, Philee Ang-Chen, Hannah Riley, Claire Brown, Ashleigh Farrell, Eleanor Briggs, Mary Elcock and Alexandra Rees. The first day of competition saw a field of over 240 gymnasts contesting the Floor and Vault Championships. Ashleigh Farrell commenced the weekend with a fantastic victory in the Pre-Novice Over 12 section picking up gold medal positions on both Floor (12.133) and Vault (11.45), to take the overall individual title with a combined score of 23.583. Mercedes Miladinovic earned 3rd position overall (24.450) in the Novice Under 9 event, finishing in 4th place on both floor and vault. In the Pre-Novice Under 7 event Charlotte Loftus vaulted to the bronze medal for 3rd place (11.00). The 2nd Champion of the weekend was crowned in the Novice Under 11 event where Philee Ang-Chen performed to her usual standard to take the overall title in 1st place overall (25.066), aided by 1st place on floor (13.50), and 2nd place on Vault (11.566).  The Rochdale OGC girls took a clean sweep of the floor medals on offer in this age group as Sarah Buckley took 2nd place (13.466), and Sophie Wells earned 3rd place (13.433). Grace Elcock took the bronze medal position on Vault (10.75) in the Pre-Novice Under 6 round. A close fought contest in the Pre-Novice Under 8 section saw the ROGC girls perform extremely well and collect a few well earned positions with Kaia Yeomans taking 2nd place on Floor (11.833), closely followed by Sian Ashworth and Laura Brown who shared 3rd place (11.766).  Kaia also collected 3rd place on Vault (10.933).  Claire Brown took the Vault title in 1st place (11.20), and earned a silver medal position overall on the podium (22.833). Ever improving Emma Hayden finished 2nd Overall in the Novice Under 12 event (24.016), boosted by a 3rd place on Floor (12.566), and 2nd on Vault (11.450). Melissa Collins enjoyed her best competition to date reigning supreme in the Novice Under 10's as she took the overall crown with a combined score of 24.532, a fantastic result from finishing 2nd on Floor (13.266), and 2nd on Vault (11.266).  Hannah Riley was crowned the champion on floor in 1st place (13.366), and she finished close behind Melissa in 2nd place overall (24.132). Other competitors in the Floor and Vault Championships were:- Bethan Brady, Emily Carter, Dayna Hesketh, Grace Pauline, Chloe Fleming, Natalia Mills, Rebecca Hilton, Sarah Walmsley, Jessica Hogan, Emma Tetlow, Sophie Weight, Leonah Ellis, Ellie Bradley, Caitlan Dolan, Charlotte Nuttall, Georgia Howrth, Alisha Whitehead, Katy Senderson, Courtney Smith, Jessica Connor, Lily Bolton-Riley, Aimee Hussey, Niamh Gillan, Leah Regan, Ellie Stokes, Robin Casey, Amelia Banner, Abigail Templin, Maddie Howley, Danielle Southern. The second day of competition saw the 4 piece gymnasts in action. Gabriella Wright and Eleanor Briggs kicked off the day both competing in the Novice Level.  Gabriella in the Under 12's earned a bronze medal for her performance on the bars  (12.85), and Eleanor in the Under 10's was crowned the floor champion in 1st place (14.75), and also collected 2nd position on bars (13.05). The Level 4 Senior event saw Mary Elcock sweep to victory with two apparatus titles on Vault (12.65), and Beam (13.35).  Georgia Hall earned 2nd place on Vault (12.30), Jessica Gilchrist earned 2nd place on Bars (12.133), and Sabrina Birchenough collected 3rd place on Floor (12.75). Charlotte Wood earned a well deserved bronze medal for her bar routine in the Novice 12 & Over event with a score of 12.95. Alexandra Rees competed in her 1st 4 piece voluntary competition and made a great start in this venture, finishing in 2nd place overall in the Pre-Novice 12 and Over contest with a combined score of (48.55), aided by 1st place on Bars (12.40), and 2nd place on Beam (11.65). Kirsty Armitage finished in 3rd place overall (48.95), in the Pre-Novice Under 8 section of the weekend, picking up positions of 2nd on Vault (11.00), 2nd Bars (12.75), 3rd Beam (11.35), and 2nd Floor (13.85). Fiona Payton and Gabrielle Southern rounded off another fantastic weekend for the club with their usual consistent high level of achievements, both earning tiles of Greater Manchester Overall Individual Champions.  Fiona ruled the Pre-Novice Under 10's with apparatus scores of 1st on Vault (11.50), 2nd on Bars (11.85), 2nd Beam (12.65), 1st Floor (13.80), giving her an overall score of 49.800 to take the title. Gabrielle Southern took the title in the Pre-Novice Under 12 round and also earned a medal on each piece of apparatus with 1st on Vault (11.70), 1st on Bars (13.40), 3rd on Beam (13.20), and 3rd on Floor (13.70), totalling a massive 52.00 marks for the overall crown and top spot on the podium.  In the same age group Danielle Parkinson finished close behind Gabrielle in 2nd place overall (51.30), also with 4 apparatus positions finishing 2nd on Vault (11.45), 2nd Bars (12.90), 3rd Beam (13.20), and 2nd on Floor (13.75).  Megan O'Shea shared 3rd place on Floor with a 13.70 score. Nicola Bridge rounded off the weekend in the Level 3 event with an outstanding routine as she performed a truly inspirational floor exercise taking the floor title with an impressive 13.20 score.  Nicola also earned the bronze medal for her bar routine (10.25) Other competitors in the 4 Piece Championships were Elyse Murray, Zoe Blackstone and Jessica Wood.

	MAY 8 MORE QUALIFIED COACHES FOR ROGC ........ ROBYN CARTER JOANNE ELCOCK STEWART SMITH VICTORIA ABBOTT SABRINA BIRCHENOUGH LUCIA THORLEY JEMMA HAYES SHELLEY BIRCHENOUGH Whilst many of us were busy at the Greater Manchester Championships in Salford, 8 of our Trainee Coaches travelled to City of Manchester Institute of Gymnastics to sit their Women's Artistic Level 1 Coaching Examinations. They were accompanied by 12 of the club's gymnasts whom competed the previous day and all did a grand job. Rochdale OGC now boasts 8 newly qualified Level 1 Women's Artistic Coaches.  Stewart Smith, Joanne Elcock, Shelley Birchenough, Robyn Carter, Lucia Thorley, Jemma Hayes, Victoria Abbott and Sabrina Birchenough all passed the examinations to earn their first step on the coaching ladder, following many hours of work in the gym.  Congratulations go to them all. And a thank you from all the coaches to the gymnasts who assisted them during their exams - Emily Carter, Aimee Hussey, Elizabeth Brown, Mercedes Miladinovic, Melissa Collins, Philee Ang-Chen, Leah Regan, Remi Kelly, Grace Pauline, Dayna Hesketh, Hannah Riley and Sian Hall.

	APRIL THE PHIL TIGHE FLOOR & VAULT CHAMPIONSHIPS ........ PHILEE & FIONA REIGN SUPREME YET AGAIN... 51 gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club travelled to a new venue at the Medlock Leisure Centre, Droylesden to compete in the annual Phil Tighe Memorial Floor & Vault Championships, 2008. Philee Ang-Chen and Fiona Payton were the stars of the weekend both winning their respective sections of the proceedings to reign supreme once again.  Fiona was crowned the Overall Individual Champion of Competition 1 for the Under 10’s, with a whopping score of 13.60 on floor for 1st place, a score of 12.00 gave her 2nd place on the Vault, making a total score of 25.60 for 1st place overall.  Philee took the Overall Title in Competition 1 for the Under 12 section, winning the event in 1st place overall with a combined score of 24.60, aided by two bronze medal positions on Floor (13.20), and Vault (11.40). In the Under 8 Competition 1 event, Kirsty Armitage narrowly missed out on the overall title finishing in 2nd place with a total score of 25.30.  Kirsty went one better on floor collecting the gold medal with a super performance for a score of 13.30, and added the silver medal for her vault (12.00). Emma Hayden earned 2nd place on Vault (11.50) in Competition 1 Under 12’s, which helped her to 3rd place overall individually with 24.35.  In the same event Sarah Buckley performed a super floor routine for the silver medal in 2nd place (13.25). Claire Brown scooped a silver medal in the Under 8 Section of Competition 2 for her performance on the floor in 2nd place (11.80).  In the Under 12 section of the same competition Jessica Hogan earned her 1st competition medal finishing in 3rd place on Vault (10.50).  Abigail Templin, Sian Ashworth, Amelia Banner, Katy Sanderson, Lily Bolton-Riley, Alisha Whitehead, Caitlan Dolan, Emily Britton, Emma Tetlow all made their debut appearances having never competed before. Results:- Competition 2 Under 6 - Grace Elcock 5th(20.15). Competition 2 Under 8 - Charlotte Loftus 4th (22.45), Claire Brown 5th (22.40), Laura Brown 6th (22.30), Maddie Howley 9th (22.00), Kaia Yeomans 10th (21.85), Abigail Templin 12th (21.45), Sian Ashworth 12th (21.45), Danielle Southern 18th (20.70), Alisha Whitehead 24th (19.95), Amelia Banner 25th (19.65), Katy Sanderson 28th (18.95), Lily Bolton-Riley 29th (18.80). Competition 2 Under 10 - Sarah Walmsley 10th (22.90), Charlotte Nuttall 18th (22.35), Rebecca Hilton 20th (22.10), Ellie Bradley 20th (22.10), Caitlan Dolan 21st (22.00), Natalia Mills 25th (21.75), Chloe Fleming 27th (21.65), Emily Britton 27th (21.65), Sophie Weight 32nd (21.05) Competition 2 Under 12 – Jessica Hogan 7th (22.45)  Competition 1 Under 8 - Kirsty Armitage 2nd (25.30)  Competition 1 Under 10 - Fiona Payton 1st (25.60), Melissa Collins 13th (24.30), Grace Pauline 15th (24.20), Mercedes Miladinovic 15th (24.20), Sian Hall 16th (24.15), Elizabeth Brown 18th (24.05), Emily Carter 26th (23.35), Taylor Wilcock 28th (23.15). Competition 1 Under 12 - Philee Ang-Chen 1st (24.60), Emma Hayden 3rd (24.35), Eleysha Jackson 7th (24.15), Niamh Gillan 9th (24.05), Jessica Wood 18th (23.40), Fern Williams 20th (23.25), Lucy Vernon 20th (23.25), Sarah Buckley 23rd (23.05), Emma Tetlow 31st (22.25), Aimee Hussey 33rd (21.85). Competition 1 Over 12 - Ashleigh Farrell 10th (24.15), Jade Scrivner 17th (23.75), Alex Waldron 21st (23.35), Sophie Fenton 27th (22.85), Bethan Brady 31st (22.50).

	MARCH THE STOCKPORT EASTER CHAMPIONSHIPS ........ 60 MEDALS, 25 GOLD, 17 SILVER, 18 BRONZE, 5 OVERALL INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS & THE TEAM TITLE FOR THE 7TH YEAR RUNNING... 23 gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics club travelled to the Dialstone Recreation Centre in Stockport, home of Stockport School of Gymnastics to compete in the annual Stockport Easter Championships, 2008.  The clubs first outing of the year at a competitive 4 piece apparatus voluntary competition and the girls returned home with a massive 60 medal tally, 25 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze, along with 5 Overall Individual Champions, and the Team Title for the 7th year running. The day commenced with Eleanor Briggs and Gabriella Wright in action in the Novice Section of the competition. Eleanor tackled the Novice Under 10 Age Group and had a steady competition to earn 3rd on Vault (11.30), 1st Bars (12.066), 4th Beam (11.766), and 1st on Floor (13.533).  These apparatus scores gave her a total individual overall score of 48.665 to earn the silver medal position for 2nd place. Meanwhile Gabriella took on the Novice Under 12 Age Group and had her best competition in a long time eventually finishing in 3rd place overall with a total individual score of 49.232.  Apparatus scores of 11.266 on Vault (6th), 12.833 Bars (1st), 12.133 Beam (8th), and 13.00 on Floor (6th) earned her the final 3rd position overall. Round 2 saw the Novice Over 12 gymnasts and the Level 4 gymnasts performing. Charlotte Wood, Eloise Hayward and Victoria Stanton were entered into the Novice Over 12 event.  Charlotte had a cracking competition to take the overall individual title in 1st place overall with a combined score of 50.649.  This was aided by 1st place on Bars (12.966) and 3rd place on Beam (12.60).  Victoria was close behind in the overall standings finishing in 2nd place with a total tally of 50.066 marks, earning two more 2nd placings on Vault (11.80) and Bars (12.766).  Eloise performed to her usual standard on Vault taking 1st place with a score of 12.966 and earned 11th place overall (47.049). The Level 4 contestants had a super outing taking all but 2 of the total medals on offer.  Individually Emma Holmes stormed to victory in the battle for the overall championship finishing in 1st place (47.30) closely followed by Sabrina Birchenough 2nd (46.949), Jessica Gilchrist 3rd (46.632), Georgia Hall 4th (46.616), Zoe Blackstone 5th (45.615), and Mary Elcock 6th (45.582).  Georgia performed a new vault to take 1st place (12.75), with Sabrina in 2nd place (12.25).  A clean sweep of Bars and Beam positions followed.  Jessica triumphed on Bars in 1st (12.40), Georgia 2nd (12.00), and Sabrina 3rd (11.933).  Emma's overall title was aided by a superb beam routine where she earned 1st place (12.60), over a whole mark ahead of hear nearest rival Sabrina in 2nd (11.566), and Jessica and Zoe who shared the bronze medal position (11.266).  Emma and Mary shared the gold medal on floor (11.7), followed by Jessica and Georgia who shared the silver medal (11.566).  Round 3 saw Jade Scrivner compete in her first 4 piece apparatus competition and made a great step on this ladder.  She eventually finished in 3rd place overall (45.399), earning 3rd on Vault (11.20), 2nd on Beam (12.10), and 3rd on Floor (12.633). The Pre-Novice Under 12 Event saw Danielle Parkinson take the Overall Individual Championships Title in 1st (50.74), followed by Gabrielle Southern 2nd (50.399), Cassandra Iberson 3rd (50.116), Emily Slide 4th (49.249), Jessica Wood 6th (47.549), Eleysha Jackson 9th (45.482), and Lucy Vernon 11th (43.749).  Danielle earned two more 1st places on Bars (13.133) and Beam (13.466), and a 2nd place on Vault (11.85).  Emily earned 2nd Vault (11.85), 2nd Bars (12.933) and 1st Floor (13.00).  Gabrielle earned 1st place on Vault (12.00) and 3rd place on Beam (13.033), whilst Cassandra finished in 3rd on Bars (12.766). The final round of the day saw Fiona Payton, Kirsty Armitage, Faye Padden and Nicola Bridge in action. Fiona was crowned the Pre-Novice Under 10 Overall Individual Champion in 1st place (49.433), with apparatus positions of 1st Vault (12.10), 1st Bars (12.733), 3rd Beam (11.40), and 1st Floor (13.20). Kirsty finished in 2nd place overall in the Pre-Novice Under 8 event with a total score of 48.899 aided by 2nd Vault (11.50), 1st Bars (12.466), 2nd Beam (11.733), and 2nd Floor (13.20). In the Level 3 contest Faye Padden was back in action following a break from competition of almost 9 months and took 1st placings on every piece of apparatus with scores of 11.95 (Vault), 11.666 (Bars), 12.833( Beam), 11.966 (Floor), and therefore 1st place overall (48.415), almost 8 whole marks ahead of 2nd place.  Nicola Bridge competed on 3 pieces of apparatus to earn 3rd  place overall (32.232), aided by 2nd placings on Bars (10.466), Beam (10.70) and Floor (11.066). The final title of the day on offer was the Team Trophy contested by the top 5 Overall Individual Scorers from each of the competing clubs.  Five huge scores posted by Danielle Parkinson (50.749), Charlotte Wood (50.649), Gabrielle Southern (50.399), Cassandra Iberson (50.116) and Victoria Stanton (50.066) made up a total team score of 251.979 marks and Rochdale OGC took home the Team Cup for the 7th year running.

	MARCH ANOTHER COACHING QUALIFICATION FOR THE CLUB ........   Francesca had a full day ahead of her at the end of March.  She started her day off taking the gymnasts round at the Stockport Easter Competition and did a quick flit over to Fit City, Ordsall, home of Salford Gymnastics Club to take her coaching examination for Pre-School Level 1. An hour and a half later another mission was successfully passed and Francesca now holds yet another coaching qualification. Then it was back to the Stockport Competiton to take some more gymnasts round. A busy day - and WELL DONE !!

	MARCH THE NWGA CLUB GRADE 6 & 5 FINALS........ 4 GYMNASTS REPRESENT GREATER MANCHESTER COUNTY FIONA & PHILEE CROWNED NORTH WEST INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club members Fiona Payton, Philee Ang-Chen, Mercedes Miladinovic and Sophie Wells travelled to Birchwood Leisure Complex, Warrington as members of the Greater Manchester County Squad to take part in the most prestigious grades event of the year, the North West Gymnastics Association Club Grade 6 & 5 Finals. In the Grade 5 Out of Age contest Fiona Payton helped the Greater Manchester Team to 2nd place overall as the team earned a total score of 182.995 marks.  Individually Fiona had a fantastic competition to be crowned the North West Grade 5 Overall Individual Champion with a total tally of 63.198 across 5 pieces of apparatus.  Her scores earned her placings on Vault 1st (13.166), Bars 3rd (12.20), Beam 1st (12.333), Floor 1st (12.766), and Range & Conditioning 1st (12.733) giving her a total score of 63.198 for her 1st placing overall. In the Grade 6 Out Of Age Championships Philee Ang-Chen became the club's 2nd Regional Champion of the weekend winning the overall title with combined apparatus scores of 63.532 marks.  Making up this total Philee posted scores of Vault 1st (13.2), Bars 1st (12.833), Beam 2nd (12.633), Floor 6th (12.3), and Range & Conditioning 1st (12.566).  Mercedes Miladinovic and Sophie Wells joined Philee in the Grade 6 Out of Age Team. Mercedes earned 3rd placings on Vault (12.933) and Range & Conditioning (11.833), to earn a well placed 5th position overall with a 61.264 total.  Sophie eventually finished in 12th position with a combined tally of 58.031 marks.  All 3 girls helped the Greater Manchester Grade 6 Out Of Age team to the North West Title where the whole team had a team score of 186.627 marks.

	MARCH THE NWGA CLUB GRADE 4 CHAMPIONSHIPS ........ ALEX & EMILY MAKE THE GRADE   Alexandra Rees and Emily Slide represented Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club at Birchwood Leisure Complex, Warrington as they tackled the North West Gymnastics Association British Development Plan Club Grade 4 Championships.  For both girls their goal was to pass the grade with respectable marks, needing a total of 40 marks across 4 pieces of apparatus to pass.  Both girls made the Grade with Alexandra finishing in 20th position overall with a distinction mark of 47.25 points.  Emily earned a creditable pass mark of 45.50 to gain 33rd position overall in the biggest field of competitors over the weekends event.  Alexandra earned her distinction position with marks of 11.95 on Vault, 12.25 Bars, 10.55 Beam and 12.5 on Floor.  Her mark for Bars just missed a top 3 positioning finishing in 4th.  Emily's pass mark was made up of 12.35 on Vault, 12.10 on Bars, 9.45 on Beam and 11.60 on floor.  Both girls will now join the rest of their training group working towards Grade 3 for next year.

	FEBRUARY THE ROCHDALE BOROUGH COMMUNITY SPORTS AWARDS FOR 2007 ........ A COMMENDATION FOR THE CLUB AND CHERYL GHARBI WINS "THE UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR" AWARD On Thursday 28th February, 2008 Cheryl Gharbi, along with members of the club attended the Rochdale Borough Community Sports Awards for 2007 Evening at Heywood Civic Hall.  This presentation evening is held to acknowledge and celebrate achievements in sport in the Borough of Rochdale over the past year.  Cheryl Gharbi, Head Coach of Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club, was awarded the "Unsung Hero of the Year" Award and, as a category winner, will now go on to represent the Rochdale Borough at the Greater Manchester Presentation Evening to be held at Sports City in April 2008.  Quoting from the event programme "Cheryl first started at the club as a 5 year old and is now the Club's longest serving member.  Her infectious motivation, enthusiasm, dedication and drive has made Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club a hugely successful family orientated club.  She is the Club's Head Coach as well as Competition Secretary and Treasurer and is also active in Greater Manchester and North West events.  Cheryl organises competitions including the ROGC's Invitational Floor and Vault Championships". Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club was nominated in the Club of the Year category and earned a certificate of commendation.  Again quoting from the event programme "Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club is the only gymnastics club in Rochdale to have achieved the prestigious British Gymnastics Club Accreditation status.  It has had a successful year in terms of gradings and competitions and with the improvements in facilities, with a new floor and refurbishment, it has expanded considerably.  In April the club helped out by accomodating the members of Bury Gym Club devastated by fire". A successful evening and we now look forward to the Greater Manchcester Awards Night with interest.

	FEBRUARY THE BOLTON FLOOR & VAULT CHAMPIONSHIPS........ MANY FIRST TIME COMPETITORS, MANY NEW MOVES PERFORMED, 40 MEDALS AND 5 OVERALL INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS Over 50 members of Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics club travelled to Fit City, Ordsall to participate in the Bolton Gymnastics Club Floor and Vault Championships, which attracted over 200 competitors. In a competition where there were many first time competitors and many new moves tried out the girls returned home with 40 medals and Charlotte Loftus (Primary Under 7), Mercedes Miladinovic (Primary Aged 8), Leah Regan (Primary Aged 10), Thea Bunting (Pre-Novice 10 & Under), and Fiona Payton (Novice 10 & Under), were all crowned overall individual champions in their respective age groups.   Round 1 saw the youngest competitors competing in the Primary 7 Years & Under event and in her first outing for the club Charlotte Loftus picked up the overall crown finishing in 1st place (21.70).  Close behind were Jessica Connor (21.45), Kaia Yeomans (21.45) in =2nd place, Claire Brown 3rd (21.4), Grace Elcock 5th (21.05), Courtney Smith 5th (21.05), Maddie Howley 5th (21.05), Danielle Southern 6th (20.75), Laura Brown 7th (20.65), and Ellie Stokes 8th (19.8).  Between them they took all 3 medals on offer on the Floor with Courtney 1st (11.4), Jessica 2nd (11.2), and Claire 3rd (11.1).  On Vault Charlotte took the title in 1st place (10.7), and Kaia in 2nd place (10.65). In the Pre-Novice 8 & Under section Kirsty Armitage finished in 2nd place overall (22.75), aided by a 2nd placing on floor (12.8). Elizabeth Brown 4th (22.30), Grace Pauline 5th (22.05), Megan Kirby 6th (21.80), and Dayna Hesketh 8th (21.25) all had great competitions, with Elizabeth taking a 3rd place on Vault (10.00), and Grace taking a 3rd place on Floor (12.35). The clubs next two overall champions came in round 2.  Firstly in the Primary Aged 8 event where Mercedes Miladinovic took the competition by storm taking home 3 gold medals as she finished 1st Floor (12.0), 1st Vault (11.25), and 1st overall (23.25).  Chloe Thompson 7th (21.45), Chloe Meade 8th (21.25), Sophie Weight 9th (21.20), Leonah Ellis 11th (20.80), Charlotte Nuttall 12th (20.55), and Ellie Bradley 14th (20.10) competed in the same event and all gained valuable experience for the future.  Sophie earned her 1st competition medal finishing in 3rd place on Vault (10.7).  In the Pre-Novice 10 & Under section the ROGC gymnasts took all the top positions with Thea Bunting taking the overall individual title finishing in 1st place (24.15), with Niamh Gillan 2nd (24.05), Philee Ang-Chen 5th (23.75), Melissa Collins 7th (23.45), Sian Hall 10th (23.15), Hannah Riley 12th (22.75), Sophie Wells 13th (22.70), and Tanicha Ellis 18th (21.25).  Philee performed a superb floor routine to take 1st place (13.5), as did Thea who finished 2nd (13.4).  Niamh vaulted her way to 1st place (11.05), followed by Thea in 3rd (10.75). Round 3 saw Remi Kelly 5th (22.35), Natalia Mills 11th (21.35), Rebecca Hilton 14th (20.85), Chloe Fleming 15th (20.7), Taylor Wilcock 18th (20.25), and Sarah Walmsley 20th (19.85) in action in the Primary Aged 9 section of the day.  Remi just missed a placing on floor finishing in 4th (11.7), and Natalia gained the best position on Vault in 5th (10.85).  The Primary Aged 10 and the Pre-Novice 12 & Over gymnasts tackled the competition in Round 4.  Leah Regan reigned supreme in the Primary Aged 10 event in 1st place overall (21.95), closely followed by Fern Williams in 2nd (21.55), Aimee Hussey 4th (21.35), and first time competitor Jessica Hogan 6th (20.90). Leah took 1st place on Floor (12.65), with Fern in 2nd (12.35).  Aimee earned 1st place on Vault (9.4), followed by Leah in 3rd (9.3).  Alexandra Rees was the star of the Pre-Novice 12 & Over event finishing in 2nd place overall (24.45), with Megan O'Shea 5th (24.1), Leona O'Neill 8th (23.9), and Emma Hayden 9th (23.6).  Alex earned a placing on both pieces of apparatus finishing in 2nd Floor (13.05), and 3rd Vault (11.4). Round 5 saw Danielle Parkinson 3rd (25.3), Gabrielle Southern 4th (24.7), Gabriella Wright 5th (24.35), and Emily Slide 8th (23.85) in action in the Novice 12 & Under event.  Danielle also collected another 3rd place on Floor (13.7).  The Novice 10 & Under event saw Fiona Payton earn the highest score of the day on floor to help her to the overall title in 1st place (25.76), with Cassandra Iberson in 9th (23.2).  Fiona's floor routine earned a mark of 14.01, and she also finished in 2nd on Vault (11.75).  The final round of the day saw Jade Scrivner and Ashleigh Farrell tackle the Pre-Novice Over 12's, with Jade in 6th place overall (23.30), and Ashleigh in 8th (22.70).  Ashleigh earned a 3rd place on Vault (11.60).  Newcomer Bethan Brady was the club's sole competitor in the Primary Over 12 competition and performed her way to 1st place on Floor (12.5), and 2nd place Overall (21.4).

	FEBRUARY THE CLUB IS REPRESENTED AT THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL ........ On the 27th January the Club was invited by the Mayor of Rochdale Councillor Peter Evans to be present at the rededication of the Holocaust Memorial in Littleborough. Graham Latimer and Julia Block represented Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club, together with Councillor Angela Coric, Councillor Allen Brett, Councillor Anne Metcalf and Councillor Paul Rowen. Also present were many members of the public. Following the rededication there was a ceremony held inside the Coach House with a presentation by David Arnold of the Jewish Representative Council of Manchester and the Region, Music by the Rochdale Music Service and a Dedication read by The Mayor of Rochdale.

	FEBRUARY ABI & LOUISE PASS WOMEN'S ARTISTIC LEVEL 2 WITH FLYING COLOURS ........ LOUISE WHITESIDE ABIGAIL TOWRISS On Sunday 10th February, 2008, following many many hours of mentoring in the gym, two long time loyal members of the club, Abigail Towriss and Louise Whiteside, travelled to the City of Manchester Institute of Gymnastics to embark on their Women's Artistic Level 2 Coaching Examination.  Gymnasts Georgia Hall, Zoe Blackstone, Emma Holmes, Mary Elcock, Emily Slide and Danielle Parkinson accompanied the coaches to their examination to tackle the particular moves that Abi and Louise had to tackle and be examined upon.  Both gymnasts, and more importantly the coaches, did a superb job and at the end of the morning.................................................THE CLUB NOW HAS 2 QUALIFIED WOMENS ARTISTIC LEVEL 2 COACHES.  THEY BOTH PASSED WITH FLYING COLOURS, being both confident and competent in everything they were examined on.  Both girls have been long serving members of the club, firstly starting as gymnasts and are both now putting many hours of work back into the club coaching the gymnasts and passing on their well earned knowledge to many of the children within the club.

	FEBRUARY THE NWGA WTC GREATER MANCHESTER GYMNASTICS CLUB GRADES 6 & 5 FINALS  ........ 24 PASSES, 11 DISTINCTIONS, 2 GREATER MANCHESTER CHAMPIONS, AND 5 QUALIFIERS TO REPRESENT GREATER MANCHESTER IN THE REGIONAL FINALS The first competitive event of 2008, and over 20 gymnasts from Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club travelled to Fit City, Ordsall, the home of Salford Gymnastics Club to compete in the Greater Manchester Gymnastics British Development Plan Club Grades 6 and 5 Finals. At the finale of the weekend the gymnasts earned 24 passes, 11 with distinction, 2 Greater Manchester Grades Champions and 5 gymnasts, Philee Ang-Chen, Mercedes Miladinovic, Sophie Wells, Megan Gomersall, and Fiona Payton all qualified to represent the Greater Manchester County in the Regional Finals to be held next month. In the Grade 5 Out of Age section of the competition, Fiona Payton was the star of this section of the weekend being crowned the Greater Manchester Grade 5 Out of Age Individual Overall Champion winning the event by over 2.5 marks over the 2nd placed gymnast, with a distinction score of 61.901 marks. Fiona made a faultless performance across 5 pieces of apparatus and her 1st place overall was aided by 2nd on Vault (12.7), and 1st placings on Bars (11.767), Beam (12.3), Floor (11.9), and Range and Conditioning where she scored 13.234 marks from a possible 13.50 score, which proved to be the highest score of the weekend on this piece of apparatus.  Fiona will now go on to lead the Greater Manchester Team in the Regional Finals. Melissa Collins finished in a very creditable 9th place overall with a pass mark of 56.668, and made it a clean sweep for Rochdale OGC in finishing top on all pieces of apparatus as she took top spot on vault (12.8).  Sian Hall and Hannah Riley also earned good pass marks eventually finishing in 13th and 14th positions overall respectively with marks of 56.134 (Sian) and 55.568 (Hannah).  Hannah narrowly missed out on a position on floor finishing in 4th with 11.767 marks. Dayna Hesketh, Elizabeth Brown, and new comer to the club Grace Pauline tackled the Grade 5 In Age Contest.  All three girls passed the grade with flying colours achieving marks well over the target 50 pass mark.  Elizabeth finished in 16th place overall (56.118), Grace 18th (54.868), and Dayna in 21st (54.201). Kirsty Armitage and Megan Kirby both earned well credited distinction marks in the Grade 6 in Age contest with Kirsty finishing in 8th place overall (58.868), and Megan in 15th (57.584), followed by Abigail Fielding 33rd (50.584), and Danielle Southern 35th (49.068). In the Grade 6 Out of Age Contest the Rochdale OGC gymnasts took the competition by storm taking 4 out of the 5 placings on offer as representatives of the Greater Manchester Team for the Regional Finals to be held next month.  Philee Ang-Chen was the star of the weekend earning top spot on every piece of apparatus to be crowned the Grade 6 Out of Age Overall Individual Champion with a total score tally of 63.018, the highest individual mark of the whole weekends proceedings.  1st placings on all apparatus with scores of Vault (12.95), Bars (12.467), Beam (12.6), Floor (12.067), and Range and Conditioning (12.934) deserved a well earned title.  Another newcomer to the club and a late entry into the competition, Mercedes Miladinovic showed her promise for the future in her first ever competition as she finished 2nd overall (60.585), aided by a 3rd place on Vault (12.65).  In her best competition to date Sophie Wells also qualified for the finals in 4th place overall (60.385), and had placings on floor where she finished 2nd (11.734), and range and conditioning 3rd (12.467).  To cap the weekend off Megan Gomersall snatched the reserve place for the regional finals finishing in 5th overall (60.352), sharing top spot on beam (12.6), and a 2nd place on floor (11.734).  Philee, Mercedes, Sophie and Megan will now all represent the County in the Regional Finals and all earned distinction marks along with Emma Hayden 6th (60.168), Leah Regan 7th (59.90), Sarah Buckley 10th (58.868), and Aimee Hussey 13th (57.718).  Pass marks were earned by Chloe Meade 18th (56.001), Fern Williams 19th (55.468), Remi Kelly 21st (55.418), Chloe Thompson 25th (53.885), Emily Carter 27th (53.635), Taylor Wilcock 29th (53.284). Other apparatus placings were earned by Sarah Buckley =1st Floor (12.067), Aimee Hussey 3rd Bars (12.167), Leah Regan 2nd Vault (12.8), 2nd Range and Conditioning (12.6), Emma Hayden 2nd Beam (12.534), 3rd Floor (11.6).

	JANUARY  MORE TRAINING FOR COACHES & JUDGES ........ On Friday 18th January, Rochdale Olympic Gymnastics Club hosted a judging / coaching seminar organised by Greater Manchester Gymnastics aimed at the British Development Plan Club Grades 6 and 5. Gymnasts, Coaches and Judges attended from Rochdale OGC, Bury, Vernon Park, Salford, City of Manchester Institute of Gymnastics, Stockport School of Gymnastics. Bolton, Tameside School of Gymnastics, and Sparks and visited our club to attend this seminar.  Fiona Wright, judging convenor for Greater Manchester Gymnastics tutored the course, and took on board all the coaches and judges.  Cheryl Gharbi, Treasurer and Grades Squad Manager for Greater Manchester Gymnastics, took on the roll of keeping all the gymnasts occupied throughout the night whilst Fiona was in "teacher mode".  The seminar was a huge success and everyone gained some valuable experience and learned a lot about what is exactly expected of the gymnasts at these very important grades events.  Recently qualified judges who are new to the judging scene also gained some well put forward knowledge on what they will be looking for when judging the forthcoming Greater Manchester Grades Championships. Thanks to everyone who attended and we hope that you found it worthwhile.

	JANUARY  COACHES START THE YEAR IN TRAINING MODE  ........ ROBYN CARTER JOANNE ELCOCK STEWART SMITH VICTORIA ABBOTT SABRINA BIRCHENOUGH LUCIA THORLEY JEMMA HAYES SHELLEY BIRCHENOUGH LOUISE WHITESIDE ABIGAIL TOWRISS FRANCESCA GORDON The beginning of the 2008 season commences with the coaches hard in training as well as the gymnasts.  Robyn, Joanne, Stewart, Victoria, Sabrina, Lucia, Jemma, and Shelley will be embarking on the first step on the coaching ladder this month as they all travel to City of Manchester Institute of Gymnastics for the Women's Artistic Level 1 Coaching Course, with the examination to be held later in the year.  Francesca will be travelling to Salford Gymnastics Club to do the Pre-School Level 1 Coaching Course with examination to be held in the near future.  Meanwhile Louise and Abigail are hard at work getting in their mentoring hours in the gym in readiness for the Women's Artistic Level 2 Examination which they will both be taking in February at the City of Manchester Institute of Gymnastics.  The Club wishes them all good luck and we are certain we will have eleven more qualifications to boost our Team at ROGC when they have all successfully completed their examinations.