This week Her Campus was lucky enough to sneak in an interview with Miss Gymnastics herself, Erin Sculthorpe. The currently injured, but ever lovely Erin met with us to talk about the future of Aberdeen University’s Gymnastic team, all their recent successes and to encourage you all to join this amazing club!
At Her Campus we are always so impressed by the skill shown by all our University’s incredible sports teams and gymnastics never fails to impress! We wanted to know what it would take to be an Aberdeen University Gymnast so we set out to find out all the most important information for you guys!
HC: First things first then Erin, how hard/often do you guys train?
E: We currently train twice a week however are looking for some extra sessions for next year. How hard we train differs for each person in the club. As gymnastics is an individual sport, it’s entirely up to you how hard you want to work at each training session however our coaches are always on hand to help you and it’s easy to improve quickly if you have the motivation and determination.
HC: Motivation is key! We also heard that you train both girls and guys together which I suppose is quite different to some of the other sports at University, do you feel this makes a difference to the dynamic of the club?
E: We do train boys and girls together although the boys do different apparatus to the girls so we obviously split up when it gets to that part! I think it’s really nice training with the boys, our club is really close – I would consider all of the members as a friend and we are all really supportive of each other and help spur each other on. Gymnastics is a lot of failing up until you succeed so it’s important to have a club who are behind you in whatever you do.
We spoke to Erin about the competing side of Gymnastics as we realised for many people their only taste of Gymnastics was just what they did as little ones. I know many of the Her Campus gals have vivid memories of their first gymnastics competitions – that great feeling when you nailed your backward roll and saw your Mum cheering you on! We can only imagine that Gymnastics competitions at a University level are slightly different. Erin explained that the University club competes 4x a year and explained how different these competitions were to the kind of matches and games the other sports teams at University have.
E: Gymnastics competitions are a lot more than for example a team sport game. They involve a lot of practice and a competition will take up roughly 10 hours of a day. Girls compete four apparatus maximum and boys 6 apparatus. Competitions are really nerve wracking however there are ones suitable for all levels of gymnastics, even beginners and they are such a fantastic way to gain confidence in the sport as well as motivate you to improve! Anyone that does competitions always leaves with new ideas in their head of what skill they want to learn next and I really love seeing that level of inspiration in the club.
HC: It’s hard being a beginner in any sport but we can’t help but ask do you feel gymnastics is beginner friendly and are you looking for lots of new members?
E: I think the different kinds of apparatus may be slightly daunting to beginners, especially if they’ve never done bars or beam before. Most of the competitions we attend have beginner’s section that only requires them to do one or two pieces. This will be floor and another of their choice or just floor. I think most beginners don’t realise that they don’t have to be a world-class gymnast to compete or even win. We had a girl who started gymnastics this year for the first time since she was very little and she competed for us and managed to come third overall with just a simple routine! Of course, we don’t force anyone to compete and we have lots of people who come just to train and improve their gymnastics skill level. It’s totally up to the individual, competing isn’t for everyone.
HC: That sounds incredible fun, sign us up! It sounds like it would be hard to choose but if you had to – what would be your favourite thing about being part of the gymnastics team?
E: I’ve done gymnastics since I was 6 years old so I know how just about everything works now. My favourite part of being in the team is how supportive everyone is and how close you become with the people you train with. I love to see my friends improve at their sport as well as keeping their spirits high when things aren’t going well for them. There are a lot of ups and downs in gymnastics and I think that’s what brings everyone closer together. It’s so fantastic to see beginners proud of themself when they learn a new skill or when someone more advanced perfects something they’ve been working on for ages. I find it a very rewarding sport. There is no previous experience required at all when you join our club. We welcome people of all levels and put no pressure on people to compete or push themselves. As the sport is an individual one it’s totally up to the person on what skill they want to learn which means gymnastics is great for beginners. We also do a lot of fitness and conditioning training as you need good strength and stamina for gymnastics therefore a lot of our newer members find it a great way to keep up their fitness. Obviously it’s also a fantastic way to improve your flexibility as we do a LOT of stretching!
There is no doubt throughout this entire interview that Erin LOVES the gymnastics team, and rightly so! And she has lots of plans for its future so we highly advise you to get involved. In her words she plans to make 2015 ‘bigger and better’. They plan to add more training sessions, more coaching for beginners to speed up their improvement while encouraging stricter sessions for the more advanced gymnasts so they can ‘nail their competitions’! Erin explained ‘we were very close to placing at BUCS championships this year in London so the goal this year is to place and make our Uni proud! Most importantly we hope to show everyone that gymnastics is a sport you can get into at any age and it really is a great way to get fit!’
HC: Well you have definitely sold it to us and I am sure you will have some Her Campus girls joining next semester but do you have a message to all the other eager prospective members?
E: Ofcourse! Although gymnastics may be slightly daunting at first it really is such a great way to keep fit and learn something new. University is the best time in your adult life to learn a new skill so why not try out gymnastics? Whether you did it when you were younger or are a total beginner our fantastic coaches can help you. We are a really friendly and supportive club and won’t turn anyone away. Watch out for us at the fresher’s fayre in our leotards! PS. they aren’t compulsory.
Well guys and gals you heard it here first, the Aberdeen University Gymnastic Club is going to be bigger and better than ever and they need you to help them achieve that dream! Get along to Fresher’s Fayre after summer and look out for Erin and the gang – you’ll be flipping brilliant in no time! (excuse the pun).