Day 6 - Going Home :(

We all rolled out of bed this morning with mixed emotions - sad the trip is over but we are all looking forward to going home.  The gale force winds certainly made checking out and filling up the cars at the service station very interesting! 

We were all prepared for a bumpy flight out however it was nowhere near as bumpy as we expected.   A few were feeling queezy but once again we landed in Sydney in one piece.

After a short stopover in Sydney, the girls loaded their bellies with some food to get ready for our final flight home.

The flight home was full of excitment and laughter as the girls were getting closer to Brisbane and being reunited with their families.  When we landed there were plenty of hugs and kisses as everybody was glad to see their loved ones.

We would like to do a final congratulations to the entire team.  Each and every team member made us very proud and the coaching staff are extremely pleased with their performances.

Level 4 Team





Holly Wilkie



Sam Blakeney

Alex Grimmett





Charlotte Lindemann

Amazing efforts from the four girls - they did a fantastic job for their first major team travel event!  You were all fantastic supporters for all the other teams and we hope you enjoyed the trip.  Special mention to Charlotte Lindemann who is leaving us now to pursue other sporting ventures.  It was an absolute pleasure working with you Charlotte and wish you all the best for the future!

Level 5 Team





Alanah Broom



Maddie Davies

 



Grace Lange



Jemima Love



An awesome job from the team who were only 0.15 away from placing 6th overall!  You all looked beautiful on the floor and made us very proud.  Well done to Maddie Davies for placing 4^th individually overall.

Level 6 Team



Breanna Regan



Ava Hamilton

 

Maddie Algie

Lucy Norman

Fantastic job by this team for placing 1^st overall!  We would also like to thank Nicola Odessa from Lawton for joining our team and assisting with our success.  Two special mentions for this team, Lucy Norman for receiving her special award for her fight to stay on the beam and for Maddie Algie who actually made the judge get up out of her chair to comment on her stunning leaps on beam.  Awesome job ladies!

Level 7 Team





Sammi Pearson

Marisa Barton



Frankie Horchner

Well done to Sammi, Franki & Marisa for placing 3^rd overall.  This team also had three solid, hit beam routines! Special mention to Frankie for placing 6^th overall individually.  

 

 Level 10 Team

Annie Flamsteed

Steph Toogood

With the assistance of Bianca Rose from Souther Canberra, the girls placed 2nd overall as a team! Fantastic job ladies!  Steph also placed 6^th overall individually whilst Annie received a special award for being awesome on vault!

Dreamlight Challenge Team

 

Fabulous effort with the team placing 3^rd overall!  It was a tough competition but our joker's did an awesome job and assisted their team with their doubled score.  Congratulations to Steph Toogood who completed two successful hit competitions over the week.  What a way to finish up you major competition career!

Not only do the gymnasts deserve congratulations but so do our three amazing chaperones - Allison Love, Julie Davies & Jeanette Algie and to our team manager Vicki Flamsteed.  We cannot thank you enough for your generous volunteering of your time.  Trips like these are not possible without people like yourselves. You worked tirelessly ensuring the entire team was very well looked after (and we have to say we ate awesome food)!  Thank you again and we hope you will join us again for our next adventure. 

I would also like to personally thank the other two coaching staff that were on our trip - Amy Busby and Tegan Morris.  Thank you for giving up your time and assisting us with judging and for the many late nights of fun and laughter sifting through the thousands of photos to put on this blog. 

This brings us to an end for the posts for this trip.  We hope everybody had an enjoyable trip and I cannot wait to plan our next adventure!

Vanessa :)

 

 

 

Day 5 - Dreamlight Challenge Competition

After all the excitement of the level 6 competition we finally got all the girls out of bed and ready for an early start to the zoo.  We had a rough start as Steph thought she has lost her phone and had to run back to the hotel. We also took the scenic route to the zoo but finally made it to the right direction.  Driving through the country side I can vouch for all the chaperones and coaches who wished we stopped at one of the many vineyards for some quality adult time (without the children, very wishful thinking)!

As we finally arrived at the Zoodoo Wildlife Park, we all piled in through the gift shop and straight out to a male peacock fanning its extravagant feathers for all to see. The show and tell didn’t stop there.  We found monkeys, Tasmanian devils, meerkats, tigers, lions, camels, alpacas, llamas, koalas, deer, kangaroos, emus and many species of birds. We were also lucky enough to get on a bus to feed the many emus and scary ostrich which chased and pick pocketed all our food which caused a bus load of screaming girls! However there were some of us who were brave enough to get up close and personal with some of the camels for kisses and cuddles.

I dare say everyone’s favourite animal in the zoo were the 7 week old white baby lions. I think we spent at least 30 minutes just watching these amazing animals with dazzled eyes. Steph and Amy almost fed the full grown male lion but when it came down to the crunch time the lion just wasn’t hungry anymore. In the end we found the petting zoo filled with baby goats, rabbits, ferrets, baby chickens, guinea pig, ducks and lambs. It was a massive hit because all the girls wanted to take an animal home by the end.

When we arrived back to the hotel we had another wonderful lunch as the level 7-10s got ready for the Dreamlight Challenge.  The girls were treated to a yummy muffin from the bakery.

On the way to support the girls the chaperones found the longest slide you could think of.  So of course the girls stopped and had to have a few turns and the biggest kid of them all, Julie Davies, just had to have a few goes also!

Arriving at the venue the girls were cheering as they entered an already full crowd to let everyone know Allstar’s had arrived.  The level 7-10’s looked absolutely beautiful in their purple and pink Dreamlight leotards. They were all smiles considering everyone competed one at a time on every apparatus, so the pressure was on to nail every landing. The girls started with beam and Sammi was our final competitor and the first joker (the joker’s score gets doubled towards the team score). She definitely didn’t let the pressure get to her as she completely dead stuck every skill in her routine with only a 1.0 in execution.  

Next was floor and the girls entertained the crowd effortlessly with their dazzling smiles and beautiful choreography. Marisa also got to some extreme heights in her round off flic layout, where the crowd could count the seconds of air time! We needed some sky high vaults next and that’s exactly what Annie did to help her team mates out with her layout tsuk. Last but definitely not easy was bars and Steph and Frankie lead the way hitting magnificent routines and surprisingly we had some more criers in the audience, Allison Love and Jeanette Algie.  Frankie was so excited by her fantastic performance that she burst into tears of happiness when her team mates jumped up to give her a team hug!

By the end the whole crowd was on the edge of its seats waiting to hear the results and so were the gymnasts jumping with excitement. The announcer rose and placed the microphone in his hands and began reading out the results, and in 3^rd place from Allstar Gymnastics Academy ‘Dumbledore’s Army’.

It was certainly a very exciting night in the gym and would like to congratulate the entire team on a fantastic competition.  They were certainly out of their comfort zone as they were not used to one girl competing at a time which meant every set of eyes in the gym was on them but they all kept their composure and did an awesome job!

The team was certainly very weary eyed by the time we made it back to the apartments but were certainly all keen for dinner.  As it was our final night together as a team the girls were treated to pizza and ice-cream but definitely ready for a good night’s sleep.

Day 4 - Level 6 Competition

After a big day yesterday we all got a well deserved sleep in, we headed down stairs to met eagerly awaiting girls ready to taste some CADBURY chocolate at the factory in Claremont. As we arrived and walked through the doors we were handed a sample bag filled with a block of chocolate, before we had even started our chocolate adventure. We actually started our tour backwards, as you do, in the chocolate shop where the girls were let loose across the store! After half an hour the girls were finally finished buying all the chocolate they could carry and we headed off to a presentation about EVERYTHING Cadbury.

 

 

On the way back to our hotel a few of the girls entertained the rest of their bus with some enthusiastic singing. Luckily the trip back was only short so the other girls who were getting quite tired and hungry didn’t have to endure it for long. When we got back our lovely chaperones prepared another wonderful smorgasbord of yummy food for lunch. While the level six girls were getting ready for their competition everyone else got to enjoy some free time before heading off to the competition again.

Our level six team consisted of four Allstars girls- Ava, Bre, Maddie and Lucy- and one lovely little Lawnton girl- Nicola. All the girls had a wonderful comp with some excellent results. Ava placed 8^th overall and Bre placed 11^th overall in the Individual competition and in a lovely finish to the night the girls placed first overall as a team! Lucy also received as Special Award for the ‘Best fight to stay on beam’ and the beam judge came over to personally tell Maddie her leaps and jumps on beam were extraordinary. Congratulation girls, you made us all proud today! Amy also received her second Special Award- todays came from her stealing a board from a level 4 group and running down the vault strip with it.  

After the competition tonight Annie and Steph held a small presentation with lots of special awards for things they thought were amazing and deserved mention from this week so far. The awards varied from non stop smiling, confidence and exceptional performances throughout competition. This was enjoyed by all and especially Mrs Allison Love as she cried as each girl received an award.

A special mention to Holly Wilkie as she inspired one of our senior gymnast, Annie Flamsteed to remember to have fun on the competition floor. Sometimes the older you get and the more you compete, it’s easier to forget the simple things that can mean the most. This is what we want for all our athletes when coming on a team tour, to be inspired by one another and this is exactly what happened.

We have another fun filled day tomorrow before we all head back down to the gym to support all our senior girls in the Dreamlight Challenge. The girls will all be decked out in a fantastic Dreamlight leotard as they show off their routines to a sold out crowd. Good Luck Girls!

 

Day 3 - Level 5, 7 & 10 Competition

Well day 3 was a huge day!  We woke up to a wet, windy, cold, miserable day outside but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the level 7 girls who had their competition in the morning.

It didn’t take long for the girls to get warmed up and going and started the competition with a performance on floor.  They looked like they were having soo much fun with their routines.

The girls finished off strongly all hitting their beam routines and Sammi was awarded with a Gold award for her execution as she only last 1.0 in deductions from her routine!  Great job Sammi!

The team did an awesome job and was awarded with 3^rd place all round and Frankie placed 6^th overall individually.  Frankie was also awarded with “the most flowing bar routine!” Great job level 7’s!!!!

Next up to compete was our awesome level 5 team.  They appeared to have woken up in the morning in a creative mood ....

Off to the gym they went to meet up with the rest of the team who were already at the gym.  The girls were full of excitement and were keen to get the competition underway.  

Each team gets to nominate a joker to play during the competition.  This score gets doubled towards the team score.  Maddie was the joker on floor and the girls had an awesome time displaying the joker card to the audience performing a lap of honour around the floor before her routine.  Maddie did an awesome job as the joker and scored a 14.6 for the team.

The team did an amazing job and finished up placing 7^th overall, only missing out on 6^th place by 0.15 (basically they missed out by a step on a landing!).  Maddie did a great job placing 4^th overall whilst Jemima won the award for “schmoozing” the judges in her floor routine.

Grace, Alanah, Jemima and Maddie should be extremely proud of their competition efforts as they all looked amazing on the floor!

Unfortunately it was too cold and wet to have our picnic lunch as planned but this didn't stop the girls from having a break from being in the gym.  Nothing like a few games on the basketball court next door to break up the day.

Next up, was the old girls of the team - the level 10’s!  Spirits were high and they couldn’t wait to get the competition started. 
The atmosphere in the gym was electric and the team cheered the girls through their entire competition.  Once again the girls have a successful round on beam with both girls performing their best beam routine of the year so far!

Annie and Steph both did an amazing job and should be extremely proud of their performance.  Steph was awarded with 6^th place all round with the team coming 2^nd overall.

One of our chaperone’s Allison also got a chance to get on the podium for a photo after the comp.  Now that doesn’t happen every day!

After a long day at the gym the weary eyed team returned to the accommodation for a fantastic meal of tacos for dinner.  Our chaperones once again out did themselves and satisfied many hungry bellies!
The night wasn’t finished yet though as four of our senior girls got the opportunity to model some of Dreamlight’s beautiful leotards to the officials at the evening Cocktail Function.  All the girls looked absolutely stunning in their very expensive leo!  I’m sure they would all loved to have brought their leotard home with them but pretty sure they didn’t pack enough spending money for that!

Finally we would like to thank Tegan who judged for the club all day.  Without staff like Tegan attending events like this wouldn’t be possible!

Looking forward to another great day in Tasmania tomorrow with an excursion in the morning followed up by our terrific level 6 team competing in the afternoon.  Until then .....