Our competitive section is open to girls and is by invitation only.
CEGC has a number of performance pathways to cater for our competitive Women’s Artistic gymnasts. Which pathway a gymnast follows will depend on their age, ability and the hours they are able to devote to training, as well as the spaces available at each level. Gymnasts may switch from one pathway to another. The Club will recommend the level suitable for each gymnast. These are reviewed regularly, and decided upon by consulting with gymnasts and their parents. We hold group parent information meetings twice a year for all Competitive gymnasts – these are usually held at in February and August.
Development Gymnasts (under 8 years): All gymnasts in our Competitive section who are under 8 years are our Development Gymnasts. Our Development gymnasts train twice a week, 4 hours in total. They train Tuesday 16:30 – 18:30 and Saturday 13:00 – 15:00 at Tumbles. Gymnasts must attend both days, both sessions are at Tumbles. Our Development gymnasts compete in two competitions per year. The year they turn 8 they will either join our 2 piece or 4 piece section. Those who are 7 in year may be invited to train 8 hours per week if they are showing potential to join our 4 Piece Section.
2 Piece Gymnasts gymnasts train on all 4 pieces of apparatus, with a focus on Floor and Vault for competitions. Our 2 Piece gymnasts train twice a week for 4 hours in total, they train Tuesday 16:30-18:30 or 18:30-20:30 AND Saturday 13:00-15:00 or 15:00-17:00. Gymnasts must attend both days, all sessions are at Tumbles. Our 2 Piece gymnasts compete in 4 competitions per year. The main competitions are the Scottish Floor & Vault, usually held in June and November in Perth. There are also competitions hosted by other gymnastics clubs.
4 Piece Gymnasts train to compete on all 4 Women’s Artistic apparatus, which are Vault, Bars and Beam and Floor. Gymnasts work towards their target Grade which is held around Spring time each year and their target Voluntary Level which is held around Autumn each year. Our 4 piece gymnasts train 8 – 12 hours per week. Our Performance 4 Piece gymnasts train 16-20 hours per week. Our 4 Piece gymnasts train a combination of the following:
Monday 16:30-20:30, Tuesday 16:30-20:30, Wednesday 16:30-20:30, Friday 13:00-17:00 or 16:30-20:30, Saturday 9:00-13:00 or 13:00-17:00. All sessions are at Tumbles.
Training Groups: Competitive gymnasts are grouped with peers who are of a similar age on the same performance pathway. Training days and times are set for each group and may change depending on their age, we will give you as much notice as possible.
Competitive Gymnastics for Boys
We currently run mixed recreational classes for boys and girls. Clubs around Edinburgh that currently offer boys and men’s artistic gymnastics coaching can be found on the Scottish Gymnastics website under find a club.
How To Join
How to Join the Competitive Section
A certain level of skill needs to be reached before a gymnast can join the competitive section of our club.
Gymnasts who are attending our recreational classes are continuously assessed and nominated to move up if they reach the correct level. Those wanting to join from out-with the club will normally have been referred by the coaches at Edinburgh Leisure recreational classes, or they will already be training with another gymnastics club.
Those wanting to join the competitive section from out-with the club’s recreational classes should email the club with the level of experience they have reached and what club or recreational classes they have attended and we will invite them for a trial.
Nutritional Advice
Aims of performance nutrition:
- to keep gymnasts on the floor, able to train to their full potential
- enable endurance training for long sessions
- consistent training to make progress, rather than feeling better for some sessions and worse for others
- to increase concentration
- to increase strength/power
- important to understand individual body requirements (ie. everyone has a different body composition)
- glucagon stores should be equal throughout the week, not up and down
Basic needs of health and well-being have to be in place before ultimate performance potential can be achieved.
Further Reading:
Training Food
See “Training Food“, by Renee McGregor
Pickering Athletic Centre Competitive Handbook 2016/2017
Competitive Handbook – Nutritional Information for Athletes, pages 17-23
City of Edinburgh Gymnastics Club 