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6th February 2008 |
Following a visit from Paul Joslin, a BBC Essex Reporter, the following article appeared on the BBC website to accompany a broadcast report during the Saturday Breakfast Show on 23rd February.
The original article should still be on the BBC website.
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| Senior coach Dave lends his advice |
Jumping for joy
With over one hundred and fifty members, including a number of Olympic prospects, the Brentwood Trampoline Club is currently flying high.
Reaching great heights, performing intricate routines and having an awful lot of fun - there's more to trampolining than just jumping up and down.
And if the Brentwood Trampoline Club is anything to go by, the sport is also healthy in more ways than one.
The club, which is based at the Courage Hall Sports Centre, currently has around 150 members, from ages of four upwards. Many of the members live in the Brentwood and South Essex area, but some travel from as far afield as the other side of London and Cambridgeshire for coaching.
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| Brentwood's club has around 150 members |
The club caters for both young athletes who are looking to pursue a career in the sport, as well as for those who just fancy having a bit of fun.
One of the Senior Coaches, Dave Kingaby, explains that whilst many start from a young age, it's a sport that anyone can try. "A number of people we have here are returning school leavers....that's part of the fun of it - we see all levels of trampolining rubbing alongside each other here. It's a great club to be in."
Jane is one of those people who got back on a trampoline after a gap of eight years and says it a great activity, for a number of reasons: "It's just great fun. I always come back feeling happy."
She adds: "I've read that ten minutes on a trampoline is akin to doing a ninety minute jog, so for any adult that's quite a benefit. Plus the grace and the strength that it teaches you, like any gymnastic sport, is really beneficial to your fitness."
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| In competition, jumps of 10 metres can be reached |
Trampolining became an Olympic sport in 2000 and the club hopes that some of its athletes will go on to represent their country at future games.
In Matthew Wright, Scott Gregory and Stephen Page it has three current international competitors training with them, whilst eleven year-old Hannah has also shown tremendous promise in a short space of time, as Dave Kingaby explains:
"Hannah joined us about eighteen months ago and had never been on a trampoline before. She's now on the brink of getting to Grade One National Level."
The club runs sessions for different ages groups on most weekday evenings. For more information, click on the link below.
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