Competitive Squad guidelines

Attendance, attire, hair and other essential guidance

Welcome to Honiton Gymnastics Club’s Competitive Squad Guidelines. These standards are carefully considered and essential for ensuring the safety of all gymnasts, maintaining consistency in training, promoting positive development, upholding the specific training methods and presentation style of Honiton Gymnastics Club, and guaranteeing fairness and equity across the board. Adherence to these guidelines is expected from all competitive squad gymnasts and supported by parents/guardians, allowing our coaches to focus fully on gymnast development in a positive, structured environment. High standards of personal presentation and hygiene are expected at all times. Please note: These guidelines are for competitive squad gymnasts, not recreational gymnasts.

Training Sessions: Presentation, Preparation & Conduct

• Hair Safety & Presentation:
  • Hair Safety & Presentation
    • For safety and to prevent obstruction during complex skills, all gymnasts with long hair must have it securely tied up.
    • Acceptable styles when training are:
      • High buns
      • High-middle buns
      • Tight double French or Dutch plaits with the ends tucked under securely or into a small low bun
    • Not acceptable are:
      • Single low buns
      • Ponytails
      • Plaited ponytails
      • Bunchies
      • Any other loose styles
    • The above interfere with certain movements and are not our club style
    • Hair must be neat and remain securely fastened throughout the entire session.
  • Important: Standard metal hair grips are not permitted during training sessions. These frequently fall out, creating a hazard on the floor, and progressively more are being found. Please use ‘snappy bands’ or similar secure, safe methods for buns instead.
• Training Kit:
  • Gymnasts must wear appropriate sports clothing suitable for gymnastics training. Leisure jumpers, knitwear or any other non-sportswear are not suitable for active participation in sessions.
  • Weekday Training:
    • Boys: Must train in shorts and either a non-loose-fitting vest or no top.
    • Girls: Must train in a leotard, leotard and shorts, or a crop top and shorts.
  • Saturday Training – full club kit is mandatory. This includes:
    • Club leotard (worn by all).
    • Boys: Club shorts.
    • Girls: Plain black A-Star shorts only. Nike Pro or other branded/non-club shorts are not permitted on Saturdays.
    • Club T-shirt.
    • Club tracksuit.
    • Plain white socks or Honiton Gymnastics Club white socks (high-quality trainer socks available from behind reception)
    • Important: No crop tops or vests should be visible under the leotard (particularly at the back). This is not the look we wish to promote or encourage.
• Jewellery: No jewellery is to be worn during training sessions due to safety risks. If new piercings cannot be removed, please discuss this with coaches before the session, as they may prevent training or competition participation.
• Preparation & Comfort:
  • Bases, in particular, are encouraged to bring a small sweat towel if needed to dry themselves.
  • Gymnastics chalk is always available to purchase from the club shop to help maintain grip and safety during training. Honiton Gymnastics Club also provides blocks of chalk for gymnasts during training.

Attendance & Consistency (Crucial for Partnerships)

• Punctuality & Attendance: Gymnasts must arrive on time for all sessions, ready to start the warm-up promptly. Regular attendance is absolutely vital for skill progression and partnership development.
  • Training should be prioritised over social events.
  • Please plan holidays where possible outside of peak training/competition periods and inform coaches well in advance.
• Impact on Partnerships: Acrobatic gymnastics is not an individual sport; it relies heavily on teamwork and consistency. When gymnasts miss sessions or arrive late, it disrupts the flow of training for everyone and hinders the ability to build effectively on previous work.
  • Crucially, inconsistent attendance directly impacts partnerships. It creates an imbalance, can understandably lead to partners feeling disgruntled if one is present and the other is not.
  • If partners are off at different times, it makes developing complex partnership skills difficult, and sometimes impossible.
  • Consistent attendance from all members of a partnership is necessary for progress and team cohesion.

Competition Standards

• Attire:
  • Socks: Only plain white socks or official Honiton Gymnastics Club white socks are permitted with competition attire.
  • Footwear: Crocs, sliders, or similar casual footwear are acceptable for travelling to the venue but must not be worn as part of competition attire or inside the competition hall/warm-up area. Appropriate trainers or gymnastics shoes should be worn as required.
• Conduct: Remember that gymnasts, parents, and coaches are representatives of Honiton Gymnastics Club at all external events. High standards of sportsmanship, respect for officials, teammates, competitors from other clubs, and positive support for all competitors are expected, win or lose.

Gymnastics Training Outside of Honiton Gymnastics Centre

• Club Exclusivity: Apart from specifically guided block-work and conditioning set by Honiton Gymnastics Club coaches, gymnastics skills should not be practised outside of scheduled sessions at Honiton Gymnastics Centre.
  • Insurance: Gymnasts are not insured by the club nor governing body for gymnastics activities undertaken independently or at other venues/facilities.
  • Technique: Training outside our structured environment often leads to the development of incorrect or unsafe techniques. Coaches then often need to spend valuable time constantly taking gymnasts ‘back to square one’ when they practice in other environments.
• Recreational Trampolines: We strongly discourage the use of garden/recreational trampolines. These are a significant source of gymnastics-related injuries outside the club, and we have unfortunately had many instances where partnerships have had to withdraw from important competitions due to such injuries.
• Training at Other Clubs: Gymnasts registered with Honiton Gymnastics Club must not train gymnastics at any other club. Each group’s coaches at Honiton Gymnastics Club are responsible for their gymnasts’ gymnastics development and the development of their partnerships’ moves too. Training elsewhere interferes with this planned development, can cause technical confusion, and lead to the learning of incorrect techniques.

Club Ethos & Coaching Development

• Honiton Gymnastics Club’s Unique Approach: We recognise that other clubs may operate differently (and often very successfully!). At Honiton Gymnastics Club, we have specific training methodologies and standards that reflect our values. We believe this way best serves our gymnasts’ development within our club structure.
• Developing Leaders & Our ‘Gymnastics Family’: We’re proud to nurture gymnasts into young leaders and offer internal coaching pathways. Senior gymnasts learn valuable skills by assisting younger groups under supervision – key to our ‘gymnastics family’ ethos and integral to how the club survives and thrives.
• Coaching Opportunities: We understand that part-time jobs elsewhere might offer more attractive rates of pay. However, we hope that those passionate about gymnastics will choose to develop their coaching skills with us. Coaching here offers the unique reward of nurturing that passion, genuinely enjoying the work you do, developing young gymnasts, and becoming an integral part of something bigger – our ‘gymnastics family’. In line with this internal development focus and club structure, gymnasts should not seek coaching work at other gymnastics clubs. Any gymnast or parent interested in exploring coaching opportunities should speak directly with Helen Reddy (honitongymclub@gmail.com).

Communication

• Official Information: All official club information regarding training, competitions, fees, and schedules is sent out via email, using the LoveAdmin system linked to the primary email address listed in your child’s account. Please ensure this is kept up-to-date.
• General Updates: Our private Facebook group is used for general updates, reminders, and celebrating successes.
• Direct Coach Contact: WhatsApp is be used by coaches for direct, timely communication regarding specific sessions or groups.

Arrival & Dismissal

• Gymnasts should line up outside the centre (on the left as you walk towards the gym) before their session start time.
• Coaches collect their groups and lead them into the gym.
• At the end of the session, gymnasts will be dismissed in groups by their coaches.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in upholding these standards.