A Gymnastics Blog
TV
Little Links 15/6/10
Jun 15th
Normally I’m not a football fan although I don’t mind watching World Cup matches as the players featured are (supposed to be) the best players in the world. Who to support though? Ireland have only just about gotten over the “Hand of Henry” and the World Cup begins, reminding Ireland that France are (perhaps) playing in their place. So, with the World Cup in mind, here’s a football related Little Link.
Fatigue in Football: Physiology in Performance
Top 10 World Cup Injuries – Hamstring Strain, Groin Strain, Metatarsal Fracture, Medial Collateral Ligament, Anterior Cruciate Ligament, Ankle Sprains, Meniscus Injury, Leg Fracture, Calf Injury, Achilles Tendon Rupture
Since posting this video back in May, its ranked up over 15 million views! Nike Write The Future
I’m also loving the Coca Cola “History of Celebration” ad.
What next for Spelbound?
Jun 8th
On Saturday night more than 19 million people tuned into see Spelbound win Britain’s Got Talent 2010. Judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden commended them on their win and told them they would be “perfect” to open the 2012 Olympics. I’m sure they celebrating their well deserved win on Saturday night, but what is next for Spelbound?
Today some of the members of the group found themselves back to reality as they returned to school. 16 year old Abigail sat her GCSE maths exam today. Three of the Spelbound team members Abigail, Katie and Amy attend the same school. School principal Ann Haydon organised a celebration for the girls with their classmates but it seems they are well accustomed to having local “celebrity sports stars” at their school
The school is developing a real expertise in gymnastics and we have nine girls who represent Great Britain. We were already celebrating three of our pupils winning gold medals at the British Gymnastics Championships two weeks ago and Nicole Hibbert won a silver medal at the European Championships as part of team GB competing with Beth Tweddle. But Spelbound’s success is something very different and has caught the imagination of the British public.
Since Sunday there have been many articles about Spelbound. Most articles mainly focus on how much Spelbound would like acrobatic gymnastics to be considered any Olympic Sport. This article from the Scotsman reports how Spelbound have received offers to perform in Las Vegas shows. I read a very short but heart warming snippet about Douglas Fordyce who plans to use his
SPELBOUND member Douglas Fordyce has vowed to use his winnings to help his parents, whose business was wiped out by the recession.
He said: “I want to help them out after all they have done for me. Mum and dad lost their business last year and I would love to be able to step in and help pay off their debts.”
Douglas is a “base” in the troupe and his role holding up the others makes him one of its strongest athletes. He has been working as an administrative assistant at a college to help pay for his training for the show and the forthcoming world gymnastics championships.
“It’s been Catch-22,” he said. “We have to work to fund our training, but then we struggle to find a job that’s flexible enough to fit around the training.”
Some of the members of the group will attend the World Championships so I don’t think it’s the last we’ll see of them! I’m eager to see what they’ll pull out for the Royal Variety Performance in December though.
What do you think is next for Spelbound in the coming months? Where do you think they can go from here?
FIG Congratulate Spelbound
Jun 5th
Congratulations was given this evening from the FIG’s Facebook page to Spelbound on their win. The group have come away with a prize of £100,000 ($144,500 USD / $175,500 AUD / €120,000) and a performance at the Royal Variety Performance.
It’s quite similar to the British Gymnastics Facebook update:
FIG
Congratulations Spelbound, winners of Britains Got Talent 2010!!! you have done Gymnastics proud!!!
Spelbound win Britain’s Got Talent
Jun 5th
Congratulations!!!!
Spelbound, heralding from Ashford, Middlesex, is made up of Adam McAssey, 20, Adam Buckingham, 21, Alex Uttley, 24, Jonathan Stranks, 15, Douglas Fordyce, 19, Edward Upcott, 18, Nicholas Illingworth, 24, Katie Axten, 17, Leighanne Cowler, 18, Lauren Kemp, 17, Hollianne Wood, 13, Abigail Ralph, 15, and Amy Mackenzie, 12.
Gymnastics clubs in the UK and Ireland can be sure to have membership applications soar for their new terms in September!! It’s great publicity for our sport!!
Watch Spelbound’s final performance on BGT
Jun 5th
So do you think they did enough to win the competition?
Embedding is disabled – View the performance here on YouTube
I certainly think so!! The performance was much stronger than Monday nights, it was a lot more concentrated so that we could actually see everything that was going on rather than looking as chaotic as the semi final performance. They had a huge advantage considering poor 81 year old Janey Cutler was a little off on her song minutes before they came on stage. I definitely think they come across as the strongest contender to win!
What did you think of Spelbound?
