Essential competition information & guidelines

Gymnasts competing for Honiton Gymnastics Club must adhere to the following guidelines, unless specifically given different instructions by their coach. The below also contains information for parents, including competition guidelines and rules. The below sits directly beside our Event Travel, Accommodation and Payment Guidelines, which should also be referred to closely so that you have all relevant details to hand.

WHEN AND WHERE

Check the venue locations (often on the events page) and ensure that you know when your child is on and when you are required at the competition. You will be either emailed a programme showing your child’s competition time, it will be posted on Facebook, or their coach will give them a hard copy. Please note: this is sometimes only available from competition organisers a week or two before the competition takes place.

Some of the venues we most commonly travel to (click for links to address/directions) are:

COMPETITION PAYMENTS

Payments for competition entries are always requested well in advance by Honiton Gymnastics Club. Once gymnasts have been entered into competitions and payments have been made to competition organisers, we are unable to get refunds under any circumstance (even if gymnasts are ill or injured).

ARRIVAL TIMES

Morning competitors
All those competing in the morning must be at the venue when the doors open so that they are ready for march-on, height checks and the possibility of orientations (orientations are not something that all competitions offer). All gymnasts competing in the morning are expected to do the morning march-on, where clubs and gymnasts are presented to the audience.

Afternoon competitors
Those on in the afternoon must be at the venue at least an hour before the lunch break is due to start (as this is when orientations and height checks start for the afternoon session). Arrival times, may differ from this, depending on the competition and individual coaches may ask for gymnasts to arruve at specific times. If there are any changes, this will always be communicated with parents.

On arrival at the competition, gymnasts must register with their coach.

COMPETITION TIMES

Gymnasts must be ready (makeup done, hair done, + in warm-up leotards) an hour before their round is due to start. Gymnasts will remain with coaches from their arrival time until the end of their performance.

HAIR

Height checks (for those partnerships that may need measuring) require that hair is not in a bun until after the measurements have been carried out. Please check with your child’s coach if this applies to your child as it is not necessary for all partnerships to be measured in detail.

If gymnasts are competing over two days (or more), hair must be re-done on the subsequent day(s). We know is time-consuming, but hair on the second day must look as neat as on the first day.

CLOTHING AND APPEARANCE

When Honiton gymnasts are at competitions they are required to have their hair neat and tied back and be in club kit at all times (when at the venue, if gymnasts are competing/have competed that day, they must not change into normal clothes/take hair down).

General guidelines

Gymnasts must wear a club tracksuit and a t-shirt for march-on
Tracksuits must be fully zipped-up, and trousers must be tidy with t-shirts tucked in
Plain white clean trainer socks must be worn for march on (no grey or coloured ends)
Plainblack lycra A-Star shorts are allowed to be worn during warm up (but not in competition). If gymnasts do not have these, then they must warm up in leotards only.
No t-shirts allowed to be worn on the competition floor whilst warming up
Medal winners – tracksuits only to be worn for medal presentations
All clothing must be freshly cleaned for competition
No crop tops are allowed during warm up
No nail varnish. Nails to be trimmed (hands and feet)
Gymnasts must wear sports trainers for competitions. Sliders and crocs are not permitted for Honiton gymnasts at competitions.

Please ensure all gymnasts’ clothing, bottles, etc are clearly labelled with their name and club.

Hair

Girls’ hair must be in a neat bun for warm-up (if not competing until later in the competition). Use a ‘fold wrap and snap’ accessory (snappy band), where possible.
Hair must be tidy throughout the whole competition
Coaches must approve all hairstyles
Clips and ribbons are allowed, but bows and other attachments to the hair are NOT allowed
Attempt to reduce the amount of gold and silver hair clips in hair
All hair must be gelled and not hair sprayed
All gymnasts must have good hair bands and plenty of grips
All partnership members’ hairstyles must look like each other

Make-up

Make-up colour must match leotards
Eye make-up must not extend beyond the eyebrow

Sports bag

Gymnasts must keep their attire in their own sports bag, and ensure they have with them anything they require for normal training. Gymnasts will not be allowed to compete if their appearance is not deemed satisfactory by their coach.

Chalk

Gymnasts who wish to take their own chalk can buy it from Honiton Gymnastics Club reception. We sell high-quality Acro Gear chalk. We sell this to members at a price that is cheaper than anywhere on the internet. Gymnasts must have their own chalk, labelled with their name, and not ask to borrow from other gymnasts/partnerships.

March on

Only gymnasts wearing the official/current orange and black tracksuit (top and bottoms) will be able to take part in the official ‘march on’ at the start of the competition.

Presentations

Presentations take place at lunchtime and at the end of the competition on both days. If a gymnast has won a medal in their discipline they must stay at the competition for their presentation. Gymnasts who haven’t won a medal but wish to leave early must ask their coach for permission before leaving the competition venue.

Competition Leotards

‘Club’ competition leotards: All gymnasts at Grades 1-3 in Squad Acro 5, Squad Acro 4, Squad Acro 3 and Preparation must hire a ‘club’ (black and orange) competition leotard from Pam Burns on a first-come-first-served basis at a price of £10.
- All members of a partnership must agree this, with money handed to their coach in a clearly labelled envelope, including the gymnast’s name and size of leotard required.
- Pam will hand leotards to coaches when they are available and parents will be required to collect them from their child’s coach and sign the rental agreement. Please don’t take a leotard without signing the rental agreement.
Choice of leotards:
- All gymnasts at Grade 4 and above have a choice of leotard to wear (after discussion with their coach), which may be bought or hired. No gymnasts are to arrange competition leotards without agreement from their coach.
- All gymnasts in Squad Acro 1 and Squad Acro 2 are allowed to wear a leotard of choice (after discussion with their coach). All hiring is done in an agreement with the person whom the leotard is being hired from.
Leotards for hire at the club
- Honiton Gymnastics Club has a wide array of high-quality competition leotards in many colours, styles and sizes that are available for hire
- When hiring leotards, they are not hired on a first-paid-first-served basis, as often discussions are required and leotards are needed to be tried on before money is paid
- Leotards for rent from the club are hired for £15 per leotard and this must be paid per competition that the leotard is hired for. There are no discounts for hiring a leotard for two competitions in a row.
Leotards from external suppliers
- Honiton Gymnastics Club has extensive experience of buyng and hiring from different suppliers that offer varying quality and service. Gymnasts must not buy, hire, or enquire about competition leotards from external companies and individuals without first discussing this with their coaches and checking which sellers/suppliers are approved for us.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Refreshments

There are usually cafés at the centres, but gymnasts and families are advised to bring packed food with them in their gym bags. Refreshments should include a water bottle and light, and nutrient-rich snacks (such as carrot sticks, nuts, dried edamame, berries, whole-grain rice cakes, apple slices, grapes and organic cheese sticks etc). These type of options provide simple, quick sources of energy, whereas processed snacks (such as sweets and popcorn) and fizzy drinks have very little nutritional value and can affect performance by making gymnasts feel tired, bloated and lacking energy. We regularly see the negative impact of sugar-laden foods on gymnasts’ performance in training and competition.

Photography and videos

Please feel free to record your child’s performance when they compete, but please turn off the flash.

Please do not photograph or film gymnasts from other clubs or other gymnasts from the club unless you have been asked to do so by their parents. Most competitions have official photographers (usually DE photos), who have the contract to take and sell commercial photography. Always check to see if the competition has any specific photography guidelines. Each competition organiser maintains the right at all times to ask for photos not to be taken.

Seating and ‘meeting gymnast’ arrangements

As a standard rule, most competitions have separate seating areas for spectators and gymnasts and do not allow gymnasts to sit in the spectator areas. Please respect this when it is requested by competition organisers and don’t ask gymnasts to join you in the regular spectator seats. There is usually plenty opportunity to meet your children in other areas of the competition venue, so please liaise with your child’s coach to arrange where and when you will meet them after they have competed.

Respecting the restrictions of competition training & preparation areas

Each competition will have areas that are designated for gymnasts’ warming up, preparation, training and competition. Parents and coaches that are not directly involved in coaching those competing gymnasts are not permitted in these areas. Unless you are directly involved in coaching gymnasts that are competing at the event or have been specifically asked by Honiton Gymnastics Club board/the organiser to assist, please don’t go into any restricted or preparation/training areas.

Contacts

If you encounter any difficulties or delays on the day, please ensure that you text your child’s coach via your WhatsApp group.

COMMON KEY TO DISCIPLINES/COMPETITIONS

WP = Women’s Pair
MP = Men’s Pair
MXP = Mixed Pair
WG (sometimes W3) = Women’s Group/Women’s Trio
MG (sometimes M4) = Men’s Group/Men’s 4

OA = Open Age (any gymnast that doesn’t turn a minimum of nine-years-old in 2018, plus various maximum age criteria for other grades)
CDC = Club Development Competition
FIG = Federation of International Gymnastics level competitions

Honiton Gymnastics