ELEVEN young gymnasts from Barry YMCA Gymnastics Club had a great time when they entered the South Central five, six and seven years competition. Performing alongside gymnasts from clubs from four other Welsh counties, the excited gymnasts had a fun and friendly introduction to competition - and they performed fantastically.

Emmy Saddler, Keeyah Denton, Mercedes Anderson and Millie Williams represented Barry YMCA in the five years competition where they claimed the silver medal in the team event. There was also individual success for all four gymnasts. Millie became the overall champion and also gained further awards for placing first on vault and bench, second on range and conditioning, third on bars and third on tumble. She also won two special awards.

Keeyah became the range and conditioning champion and gained further awards for placing second on tumble, fifth on bars and fifth overall.

Mercedes gained awards for placing third on vault and fifth on tumble, she was also awarded a special award for tumble and placed tenth overall.

Emmy gained an award for sixth place on tumble and was also awarded a special award for good performances. She placed eighth overall.

Competing for the first time in this type of competition six year olds Daisy Hill, Ellie Shaw and Ruby Price had smiles on their faces throughout the competition. The smiles were even brighter when they claimed the bronze medal in the team competition.

Daisy also gained a bronze medal on vault, and ribbons for placing fourth on tumble, sixth on beam and sixth overall.

Ruby gained a ribbon for fourth place on vault and also a special award for vault whilst Ellie gained a special award on tumble.

The ethos of Barry YMCA Gymnastics club is that everyone who competes enjoys the experience, achieving their potential whilst having lots of fun. This was certainly the case for Katie Alsop, Kenzi Harris, Lily Foscolo and Soffia Kelley in the seven years event.

They all had personal successes completing a number of new skills with confidence and poise. Lily gained a fifth place ribbon for bars and also special awards for tumble and beam.

The gymnasts also experienced success in the VGA Invitation competition where Millie Williams placed second overall, second on vault, fourth on bench, fourth on range and conditioning and fifth on tumble. Her training partner Keeyah Denton placed first on range and conditioning and third on tumble whilst Mercedes Anderson gained a fifth place ribbon on vault. All three along with Emmy Saddler gained silver medals in the team competition.

Well done to all of the gymnasts. Thank you to Sophie Erickson, Sasha Winton, Rachel Shepherd, Anne Thomas, Alana Stokes and Charlotte Gabb for working so hard with the girls during their training sessions.

For further information regarding gymnastics opportunities for boys, girls and adults at Barry YMCA please call 01446 724001. You can also visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/ymcabarry for further information.