While trampolining may be seen as a daunting sport to some, co-captain of the DCU Gymnastics and Trampolining Club Claire O’Connor has urged beginners to come along and join the club.
While O’Connor understands the apprehension potential newcomers might have, she explains that most people in the club are relatively inexperienced themselves. “Well a lot of people see, when they’re in the gym doing TRX, they see everyone flipping around the place.”
“There’s more beginners than there are people who are experienced, my co-captain she’s a novice as well, so that’s like the basic level and everyone asks at sign ups ‘do you have to be good at it’ no, not at all,” O’Connor explained.
While O’Connor has been involved with gymnastics for many years, she had never experienced trampolining before coming to DCU.
“I’ve been doing gymnastics for a good few years and I started coaching when I was like 16 but I had never done trampolining. Then I joined in 2nd year in college and in 3rd year I did my first competition and in this year, in final year, I decided to go for captain.”
The club competed in the intervarsity tournament in University College Cork a fortnight ago, with competitors from six different colleges attending.
“Friday is just podium training so you’re getting used to the trampolines in the different venue,” O’Connor said.
“Saturday is you have an individual competition for yourself and then there’s a second bit for tumbling, which is like the long kind of acrobats, which is more like gymnastics side.”
“Then on Sunday its synchro which is a lot of fun because you’re on this trampoline and someone else is on the other one and you do a routine synchronised, and then there is DMT which is a mini-trampoline where you do just two tricks,” O’Connor explained.
“We brought home a good few medals compared to the other clubs and we promote it hugely as a bonding weekend, because November is the start of the year for most people joining cos people don’t come to like week five and week six.”
While it is mainly women in the club, there are men involved too and tend to do quite well according to the club’s co-captain.
“Women do better at novice which is the lowest, cos there’s a lot of control and then men do really well at the top ones because you’re really throwing yourself into it.”
“Men don’t really fear as much on the trampoline as women, so they do a lot better at the higher levels.”
Eoin Harte
Image Credit: DCU Gymnastics and Trampolining Club