BUCS Trampolining 2012 – An Inside Story

Our university squad at Sunderland went to Perth in Scotland at the weekend to compete against other universities. The big news in short, is that we did pretty well, securing first and third place in the BUCS 5 girls category. I came ninth, but none of our trampettes came last, which was good. We are known amongst each other as the trampettes, and I kind of like it.

There was a lot more to the trip than just our judged routines and final results though. It all starts before we even get on the coach. The last week before a competition is always taken more seriously than the rest of the time. In training it was all about practicing our routines. We can’t move on to going until training is done.

This coach trip was like every other. It started off with everyone talking and playing about and eventually began to wind down more and more the closer we got to our hotel, which we couldn’t find straight away. When we all walked in it was a relief that it was the right place, and even better was the fact there was a Toby Carvery attached to the Travelodge. We knew what we were doing for our dinner that night.

Later on, when we were all back in our rooms a few of us went round to see other people. It was nice to just chill out and chat. A few of the girls decided to move mattresses from their rooms and have a big sleepover in one place. As much as I liked being there, I was the boring one and decided against this plan, opting to sleep alone in my assigned room. At first I thought it would be fine, and in terms of getting enough rest for the busy day to come, it was. However, the minute I got laid down with the lights off, I began to get a little wary. I know it’s stupid and I don’t believe things I see in horror films, but at that moment, being alone in a dark, silent hotel room, I felt uneasy. I finally managed to settle and get to sleep though thankfully, and nothing got me in the night, so that was good.

Saturday – The big one. A trampolining competition is an all day thing, even though each person is probably required to be on a trampoline for just a few minutes. We get chance to practice, which is good for perfecting moves, but ultimately as something to do to pass the time. It’s a long day until it’s your turn to be judged. That’s why it’s good that we have such a big squad. There was plenty to talk about and plenty of people to talk to. What really helped though was that some of the universities didn’t even turn up who were supposed to be competing, so each category took a lot less time to get through, meaning we finished up nice and early. This also meant we had a better chance of placing. The time saved was even better for those of us who were going on to Newcastle as it meant we actually had time to get ready. It was all slightly chaotic with everyone wanting to use mirrors at once and stuff, but we managed it.

The bus back was a lot less lively than it was coming. Most people just slept or kept to themselves. I had my iPod in and tried to settle, but to no avail, so I half listened to what was going on around me as well. Stepping off the coach, the icy wind hit us and we realised we were in for a cold night. The whole night was exceptionally cold actually and it surprised me just how unbearable it started to become. While we were inside it was fine and I managed to get a few cocktails down me. Cocktails are probably my favourite type of drink but I never usually have them, so it made a nice change. A few of us ended up separating from each other, but all met again to go home. I wouldn’t say it was one of my best nights, but hey, they can’t all be perfect. It was still good and I didn’t regret going.

One thing I wasn’t happy about though was that when we got back to Sunderland, I couldn’t get an answer from a taxi company. I rang and rang, but got no answer, so I had to walk home. Luckily I wasn’t alone though and it worked quite well that all our warm clothes we took the competition were there waiting for us to collect. Even with all the layers, I still felt like I would freeze on the spot, so was grateful to fall into my bed, where I went to sleep almost instantly. It had been a long weekend after all – a very good one though, and one I’ll remember for a long time.

BUCS in Sheffield

I went to Sheffield this weekend for a trampolining competition. Unlike regionals in Manchester a few weeks ago, I didn’t actually compete as the standard of the competitors is really high and I’m still just a beginner so I could never qualify – not for a few years anyway. But that’s besides the point. Before any of this, there was the bus journey to endure. It seemed to go much more quickly than I expected though – until we actually reached the city – where we got lost trying to find the hotel, but who doesn’t? – although our driver did take quite a lot of wrong turns on both journeys I must admit.

Anyway, I first realised just how good some people could get on a trampoline on the Saturday afternoon when the competitors went to train for Sunday’s big competition. I mean, there were people like doing multiple flips and turns in the air before landing again. It was all so fast I couldn’t even quite tell what moves they were doing. Even the height to which they were jumping was impressive, but I guess height is essential if you hope to have time to do something special in those split seconds of airtime.

Of course, there were a lot of mess ups, but I don’t blame them. After all, they were all just students like me. In fact, I pride their confidence. The confidence is my issue with this sport. There are things I would probably be capable of but I just don’t dare give them a try. I hope I get over it eventually because it would feel amazing to be able to do even a 10th of the things those people can.

We were supposed to go out in Sheffield on the night after training, but even though we all got ready, none of us made it past a meal in Wetherspoon. Seriously, we all just crashed and went straight back to the hotel. We were all in bed before midnight! But it was for the best really as even though I wasn’t competing, I still had a relatively early morning and a very long day ahead of me.

Although the competition was fascinating to watch, it did get a little boring after a while, but I managed to go the whole time without nodding off so it was all good. It was the finals right at the end that were the most interesting. It was then that all the fancy stuff came out. It was just person after person bouncing up and down with barely any straight moves that I know about. I’m surprised they didn’t feel sick or dizzy or anything with all the time they were upside down and whatnot. Then there were the times when I would see a move and I was so scared as they got close to the crash mats. It was unreal the tension I was feeling for them when I thought they might fall, but somehow, they all managed to redeem themselves with another move and there were no injuries. There was a lot of shock then relief really but it proves that even though their routines were not perfect they have some sort of serious skill going on.

It was a long day but all in all a good way to spend the weekend and it was definitely an experience as it was good to watch and it also expanded my knowledge of the process of a competition and how it works. Hopefully I’ll do better next year as the more events I go to, the more I begin to understand and to learn, and what more could one ask for, right?

A Quick Update

Ok, so I realise I haven’t been on here for sooooo long so I’m back. The truth is, I’ve just been so busy lately that I haven’t really had time to think about anything – except what I’ve been busy doing of course.

The big thing that started it all off was a little trip to Manchester for a trampolining competition – Yes, I actually compete in a sport. Shocking I know coming from the girl who made every effort to get out of doing P.E at school. Anyways, I didn’t do great – 27th out of 35 but at least I wasn’t last. That would have just been embarrassing. It was still fun though and I felt I got to know all the other girls so much better over those two days.

Straight after the competition we went into Newcastle for the night. It was my first night in Newcastle ever, which is quite strange seeing as I live in Sunderland and most of my Uni friends have been. But anyway, it was good fun but I was so drained the next day. Still, being a “dedicated sportsperson”, I still went to tennis training.

Yes – tennis is finally back on. It’s just a shame I’m so bad at it, but I won’t bore you with the details.

So, as you can imagine, I felt dead by the Monday morning but I went into Uni like a good girl. The rest of the time has mostly just involved assignments, uni, my sports etc. It also happened that this week I had a street style fashion piece to do for the Sunderland Echo and two stories to write for my course. On top of that, I had my parents come to visit.

Even though it meant sacrificing a relaxing recovery weekend, it was really good and we had a great time. It was nice to see them again. The one thing I’m hoping for though is that this week I can finally get that rest – but knowing my life, something is bound to come up.