FIVE girls from the Barry YMCA Gymnastics Club enjoyed their first taste of performing in front of a large audience when they entered the South Central competition for six and seven-year-olds.

Performing alongside gymnasts from four other Welsh county clubs, the excited gymnasts produced great work in a fun and friendly introduction to competition.

All five performed routines on vault, bars, beam and tumble and completed a conditioning routine.

The ethos of the Barry club is that all competitors enjoy the experience and achieve their potential whilst having lots of fun, and this was certainly the case for the four Barry gymnasts - Lili Hopkins, Lily Foscolo, Seren Watts and Soffia Kelley - competing in the six years category. All had smiles on their face throughout the competition, and there was individual success for Seren who gained a gold and bronze medals on vault and beam respectively. She also won award ribbons for placing fourth on tumble, fifth on bars and fifth overall.

Soffia also climbed on to the podium by finishing second on vault, while Lili and Lily enjoyed personal successes, successfully completing a number of new skills with confidence and poise.

In the seven years age group, Heather Heslop also had fun while performing her routines confidently, and visited the podium on five occasions. She won a bronze medal on vault, and gained ribbon awards for fourth on range and conditioning and fifth on bars and beam. She also collected an award for finishing fourth overall.

A club spokeswoman said: "Well done to the gymnasts and thank you to Olivia Parry and Rachel Shepherd for coaching, and Caitlin Allin and Karen Davies for judging."

For further information regarding gymnastics opportunities at Barry YMCA, please call 01446 724001or visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/barryymca