Six of our pupils represented St Edmund Arrowsmith at the North West Schools’ Gymnastics Competition in Blackburn on 2nd of February. In total, there were 18 secondary schools from all over the North West competing, with the competition being divided into age group categories: girls' under 11s (Primary), under 14s (years 7, 8 & 9) and over 14s to under 19s.
Alicia J (Y10), Sophie D (Y10), Holly W (Y8), Mia E (Y8), Amelia R (Y7) and Libby R (Y7) all train at Wigan Seagulls’ Gymnastics Club. They train with their coaches for up to 14 hours per week perfecting their routines and techniques; they truly are dedicated gymnasts.
Partnerships Mia and Holly took part the under 14s pairs category against 14 other partnerships. They gave a wonderful performance which resulted in them winning gold. They will now represent St Edmund Arrowsmith in the British Schools’ Finals in May. Libby and Amelia also did a fantastic routine in the under 14s pairs category and came joint 8th overall which we are really proud of. We wish Mia and Holly all the best in the final in May and, after winning gold last year in the British final, we have every faith that they can go for gold again.
In the over 14s pairs Alicia and Sophie came 4th overall – another great result. Alicia also competed in the in the over 14s tumble category. She performed brilliantly which earned her 2nd place against 5 other competitors. Alicia will now also go on to represent St Edmund Arrowsmith in the British Finals in May. Good luck, Alicia.
We couldn’t be prouder of the dedication and talent these wonderful gymnasts show. They have represented St Edmund Arrowsmith wonderfully and shown outstanding team spirit.
We caught up with some of our girls to find out about their competition experience.
On 2nd February 2020, we represented St Edmund Arrowsmith at the Acrobatic Gymnastics Schools’ Competition. We had to commit to many training sessions on the build-up to the competition. Due to other national competitions coming up, in which we are both competing with other partners, we didn’t get as much practice as we had the previous year. Because of this, we were quite 
nervous knowing that other partnerships we were against would have probably had much more time to practise than we did.
All we wanted was to perform our routine to the best of our abilities to make our school proud. Throughout the whole routine, we kept our heads held high with big smiles on our faces impressing the judges as much as we could. We finished our routine and straight away knew we had performed the routine the best we ever had done, so whatever was to happen we would still be happy with the way we performed.
When our names were called for 1st place, we were incredibly proud that we were able to defend our titles as North West Champions with the highest score in both the under and over 14 categories and one of the highest scores of the whole competition. Now we await May, when we will go on to the British Finals to represent St Edmund Arrowsmith once again competing against schools from all over the country. We hope to do the school proud when we compete to try and defend our title as Under 14 British Champions.
By Mia E 8M and Holly W 8H
On Sunday I travelled to Blackburn to represent the school in the North West schools' gymnastics competition. I was very excited but nervous at the same time. I have been doing this competition for 5 years now. It was my first time doing a pair because for the rest of the 4 years I did a routine as a group of 6 representing my primary school, St Oswald’s in Ashton-in-Makerfield. Out of the North West under 14s girls, my partner and I came 8th. I was very proud of myself for 
my achievement and overall, I really enjoyed the experience.
By Libby R 7W
On Sunday 2nd February 2020, I participated in the North West Schools gymnastics competition representing St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School. I competed as a pair in the over 14s category. Prior to the event myself and my partner, Alicia spent time at Wigan Seagulls Acrobatic Gymnastics Club practising our routine to compete at the competition. During the competition I was nervous yet excited to perform our routine as we had worked hard to perfect our artistry and balances. Unfortunately, we did not qualify for the Schools British Championships, however we still had a great day representing the school.
By Sophie D 10B
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