LSG Supporter's Club Web Site

LSG - New Term, New Venue!

2011-09-21T17:17:00.000+01:00

I am delighted to be able to announce that LSG has moved to the Midlands Martial Arts School in the Tanyard. We were invited by long time supported and friend of LSG; Ger McCarthy to join him in his new venture.

The Midlands Martial Arts School building is located at the back of the Tanyard, Tullamore. If you are uncertain of where this is, you turn up into the Tanyard at Colgan's Sports and follow the road around to the left where you will find the Midlands Martial Arts School at the end on the right hand side.

The cost of tuition remains the same at €10 per two hour session on Wednesdays, commencing at 4.45pm...

LSG Changes Name To Curragh Nomads

2009-09-27T12:40:00.003+01:00

A little while back members of the LSG Supporter's Club took the decision to change the name of our competitive class to Curragh Nomad's Gymnastics Support Group. This of course reflects the fact that the Friday night competition class has also changed its name to the Curragh Nomads.

There are several reasons for this change of name, which I won't go into at great length in this post. Suffice to say that we still do not have a permanent venue in which to train, we are primarily based in or around the Curragh, Co Kildare, our members travel far and wide to train and basically we are Nomads. Add to this the fact that the Irish Defence Forces Training Centre, Curragh Camp have generously allowed us to use their Physical Education Centre for the past two years and the name just kind of evolved...

In addition to this we, the Curragh Nomads Gymnastic Support Group are in the process of fund-raising with a view to securing a venue which will allow us to enter into the 2010 National Championships. Not only will an elite group of dedicated Mum's be walking the Dublin Marathon, we intend to organise various other activities to help us achieve this goal.

As result of our change in name we agreed that our website could be more user friendly and have relocated. Our new website may be found here [...]

Call To Action Regarding Help...

2009-06-12T09:47:00.007+01:00

A couple of days ago we had a visit here on the LSG Supporter's Club Web Site from a commentator who raised some valid points. Sadly they chose to remain anonymous in doing so, for whatever reasons I don't know...

Here at LSG Supporter's Club we welcome interaction from our readers and publish everything but spam. As our principal role is to support the children who are lucky enough to be under Lenny's tutelage by raising funds and being general dogs-bodies our policy is quite clear, in fact it's pretty transparent!

We operate in tandem with LSG in the hopes that we will be able to provide much needed equipment and monies to further our children's achievements in the gymnastic arena. Sadly, gymnastics isn't a mainstream sporting interest in this country which leads to an air of overall neglect when it comes to receiving support from the establishment.

Our children love gymnastics, plain and simple! Some of them are competitive and others are not, but one thing which is assured is the fact that they get out, take exercise and have fun with other children on a weekly basis. From this point alone these children, the members of LSG have an advantage over many of the digital children of this generation, but we want to further this and enhance their experience of gymnastics.

That ladies and gentlemen of the audience is our sole remit, which I am sure you will understand is important to us all. Sadly, in these hard economic times one of the first things to be affected in many families is the plethora of extra-curricular activities, please help us the parents and supporters of these young gymnasts keep the sport alive for the foreseeable future.

You can do this by offering to lend a hand at the beginning and the end of our Friday class. We need able bodied people to assist with the setting up and putting away of the equipment, which isn't a difficult task and doesn't take long when we have help. The mats need to be laid out for the warm up, and so on, every little bit helps and frankly if I can do it then so can we all! Help and advice is offered by the more experienced crew members...

In addition to this we need to raise funds. We need funds for day to day expenses like purchasing chalk for use with the high bar, maintaining the existing equipment and also for capitol expenditure, ie new equipment. We also need to raise funds to enable us to achieve our long term dream of building our own facility...

While we are all familiar with things like bag packing in Dunne's in this instance there are certain limitations to that in so far as the demographics of the club has in the past lead to a poor show of hands. Our children come from all over the place, not just the general Newbridge area.

So, if you have any innovative thoughts on the matter do please let us know sooner rather than later, or of course you could even make a donation to the Supporter's Club by pressing the button on the right hand sidebar. All monies raised by any means will go directly to the Supporter's Club and any equipment purchased will be the property of the Supporter's Club.

To return to my original point about all commentators being welcomed, it is preferable that you don't post anonymously as this may serve to undermine what may otherwise be very relevant points...

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Pauline Price

Parent and Supporter of Gymnastics

EBS Community Fund 2009 & LSG Supporter's Club?

2009-05-23T15:48:00.005+01:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, the time has come for the EBS (Educational Building Society) Community Fund 2009 nominations and applications to be submitted. Information and an application form can be downloaded here and must be returned to your local branch office by 5pm on Friday 5th June 2009.

Each member of the EBS is eligible to nominate one local charity as a worthy cause. As there are almost 440,000 members currently with the EBS then surely we must each of us know at least one of these good folk, if indeed we are not one ourselves! I would strongly urge that you get talking to the people that you know and mention the fact that LSG Supporter's Club needs support to enable us to move on to the next level.

Sadly, because this hasn't already happened this year saw LSG not participating in one of the most prestigious events at national level. Not only do we need to purchase new equipment, we also need to be in a position to seek out a permanent facility for the club to train in.

Although our present facility is superb, ie the Irish Army Curragh Leisure Facility Gymnasium, it does also have its disadvantages. The main one being that the Irish Army requires its own gym from time to time for its own activities! While this in itself isn't a big deal, it has proven to be counter-productive this year given the high rates of absenteeism from training due to illness on the part of our young gymnasts.

Ordinarily such an occurrence wouldn't impact greatly on the success of the club at competition. This year it has, simply because so much time has already been lost. Another consideration at times like this is the impact absenteeism itself has on the health of the club. If members don't attend, fees aren't paid and the club is run at a loss.

There are many reasons why we need the support of our members, their friends and families and the community at large. Please help us raise funds by nominating LSG Supporter's Club as your worthy local charity for the EBS Community Fund; download your form here and help us guarantee our place in next years Men's National Gymnastics Finals.

Support LSG Supporter's Club Now!

2009-05-23T15:33:00.006+01:00

Here at LSG Supporter's Club we're always thinking of ways to raise funds to purchase new equipment and raise the standard of gymnastics even further. Amongst other things we have discussed the possibility of coffee mornings, bag packing and even a draw to be held in conjunction with all our affiliated clubs around the region.

I mentioned our plight to my very good friend Polly Pierce who happens to be a serial blogger and food writer. This is her take on the situation; admittedly she has asked her readers to make a choice between three equally worthy causes, but nevertheless LSG Supporter's Club is right up there! [read more...]

Men's National Gymnastics Finals 2009

2009-05-22T14:00:00.002+01:00

Sadly this year Leonard's School of Gymnastics did not compete in this prestigious event, due to a bad winter which resulted in an overall drop in numbers of children attending the Friday class.

Combine this with the peculiarity of the weather, some of our best gymnasts missing out on their training with alarming regularity due to frequent illnesses. Thankfully these illnesses have not been serious, but they have been debilitating.

The fact that we are still without our own custom training facility hasn't helped the situation either. On a number of occasions the army has required the use of the gym for various other functions, leaving LSG out in the cold with nowhere to train.

None of these events could have been avoided, nor could their disastrous consequences. It is our intention that things should continue as normal, with training taking place regularly over the coming months, allowing us to prepare for the Community Games and the Men's National Gymnastics Finals next year in 2010.

Meanwhile, any thoughts on how we can raise funds to purchase essential equipment for our young gymnasts, or indeed the provision of a more permanent training facility please leave a comment at the end of this post and we will get in touch with you.

Gymnasts Can Run Off And Join The Cirque Due Soleil...

2009-05-22T13:57:00.002+01:00

May 2009

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Cirque du Soleil Casting team will be holding auditions in London in July 2009. Holding auditions is the primary means by which Cirque du Soleil recruits new talent. The Casting team has various career opportunities to offer to athletes seeking a new venue for their passion. Cirque du Soleil are eager to return to Europe to discover local talent.
To find out more click here...

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Can't view this Ezine? Go to www.irishgymnastics.ie/emarketing/CDS.htm

Check out this site I found on StumbleUpon!

2009-03-25T10:06:00.001Z

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Hi,

WAG National Teams on RTE online now!

newsletter
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2009-03-25T10:04:00.001Z

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Hi,

Irish Gymnastic's Events 2009

Irish Gymnastics Events
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- Pollypierce

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2008-12-24T14:08:00.005Z

Polly's Cap Tipped - At Last

2008-12-11T12:05:00.005Z

More good news for LSG Supporter's Club; this time it is in the form of two hundred and fifty specially made black plastic caps! Yes that's right, 250 Black Plastic Caps!!!!

After a long wait and much searching; also some degree of soul searching and a huge amount of effort on behalf of joint chairperson Ms Joanne Hyland; LSG is now in possession of the required amount of plastic caps for the Ski Run! Yeee-haaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, did I mention that Lenny is chuffed to bits???

Okay, for anyone who doesn't know, this really is cause for celebration; because it means that at long last the young member's of LSG will have the opportunity to practice their floor routines on the very best equipment available. Still none the wiser? Well, up until the very recent past our children have been using foam rubber mats to practice on; which is functional but not great.

In order that the gymnast's realise their full potential during the floor exercises it is imperative that they use a purpose built piece of apparatus which we fondly refer to as the Ski-Run. What makes this apparatus so special is the fact that it is made from pliable wood; which returns the energy exerted by the gymnast thus making their springs/launches more powerful and more focused.

This feature is also advantageous upon landing as the energy being absorbed lessons the chance of injury; however this piece of modern engineering is also equipped with a total of two hundred high tensile metal springs which in turn enhance the gymnastic performance some more! But what is so special about these plastic caps? In a nutshell; they protect the floor of the gymnasium from the springs which at long last will allow our gymnast's to perform to their optimum ability! This really is exciting news...

In addition to this; the structure now has to be assembled in such a way that it can be 'dismembered' in between sessions. Once this is done the Ski Run will be stored in the equipment room; and of course this is where YOU member's of LSG Supporter's Club will be able to help.

In order that our hard earned cash be used properly, ie in the provision of training and supervision of our children it is essential that as many hands are given the task of assembling equipment. As the old saying goes: "The More The Merrier!" No specialist knowledge is required for this job; just a willing heart and a pair of hands! Remember you will be doing this under supervision; so you can't go wrong...

On that note; and before I sign off I must use this opportunity to thank the parents of Emma McGlynn for their contribution towards the purchase of the above caps; and also anyone else whose contributions went towards them.

Once again; Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Pauline Price
joint Chairperson, LSG Supporter's Club

Polly Say's "Just So You Know..."

2008-12-11T11:57:00.005Z

Hi there! Just so that you know; apparently the EBS Community Award Scheme is something which is on-going; so do keep an eye out for opportunities to nominate the LSG Supporter's Club for funding!

In case anyone thinks that this type of thing never happens to you; well it does! I live in a different county and am involved in other charitable works and recently our local branch of the EBS awarded a grant of €2,500 to the Offaly Dyslexia Group! So do bear it in mind folks; if you're not in, you can't win!

Pauline Price

joint Chairperson, LSG Supporter's Club

Good Friday News

2008-10-24T15:01:00.002+01:00

Very quickly; I am pleased to confirm that this evening's Curragh Army Camp class will be going ahead as scheduled; ie at 5pm.

Once again I appeal to all parents to give assistance in the setting up and putting away of equipment; as this makes the best of the time and money invested in your children.

Thank you!

Pauline Price

Lenny Needs Reliable Help Regularly

2008-10-22T18:23:00.006+01:00

My last post leads me nicely to the issue of help and assistance, which as we all know comes in many forms; ranging from physical hands on to fund raising. As the parents and friends of LSG we have undertaken to support the members of this successful club in improving their gymnastic skills and their personal development

Some of our member's might never make it to competition standard and some will bring home many gold medals; however all of our member's will improve their levels of fitness, ability and concentration, self esteem and confidence; many have reported an over-all improvement in their social skills and even their academic abilities.

Without a doubt LSG is not just a club for over-achiever's or the exceptionally gifted gymnast; it is a life-enhancing club for children of all ages with varied levels of ability. This is why Lenny and his coaches need the support of all the parents; not just those of a small minority.

The type of help required will vary from venue to venue. Depending on the level of skill catered for; this will determine which equipment will need to be brought into the hall and set up. Whether it is heavy equipment like the vault or the pommel horse; or basic equipment like the tumbling mats they all need to be carted to and from the van. Perhaps just carrying one of the blue mats would be sufficient. Even just supervising the other helpers to make sure that the floor area is cleared and equipment needs to be put away when deadlines have to be met, ie 7pm Wednesday evening's.

Not only does Lenny require help from the LSG Supporter's Club (ie unwitting member's parents) in this area; but also in terms of replacement and maintenance of the gymnastic equipment carted from venue to venue in Lenny's Dark Blue van. Thank God for that van! Imagine the additional wear and tear on the equipment though; as a result of continuously being set up and put away again over a seven day period.

Under ideal circumstances the range of 'portable equipment' takes a little under 15 minutes hurried push, shove and carry or wheel to the van; however Lenny is often caught up with a concerned parent or official matter's which also have to be dealt with. This alone places extra stress on the equipment; as accidents large or small do tend to happen when the pace is hurried and leads to increased wear and tear; at the least; and at the worst, well, I don't even want to think about it!

In the interests of Health & Safety; for everybody involved in LSG and LSG Supporter's Club it is vital that we not only lend a hand, but that we also raise much needed funds to both extend the range of equipment being used and to replace some of what is already showing signs of wear.

So finally I would once again respectfully ask that member's parents offer to assist in this important process; please don't just drop your child and run! This behaviour actually diminishes the value of the class by stealing valuable time from your children...

Thanks for listening! Nagging has now finished; honest! For now anyway...

Pauline Price

Concerned Parent And Proud Member of LSG Supporter's Club

Wednesday 22nd October: St Mary's Class Cancelled

2008-10-22T17:16:00.006+01:00

Just this afternoon I was informed by my Mum; who was on todays Gymnastics run that the Wednesday evening class at LSG in St Mary's Hall, Tullamore has been cancelled and that there would be no gymnastics until 5th November, ie until after half term.

It's a great shame that we didn't know about it in advance; however, as this is due to circumstances beyond Lenny's control it must also be assumed that it was at short notice and that he simply didn't have time to contact everyone. As a result of the phone call I decided that I ought to find out about the Friday class up at the Irish Defence Forces Training Centre, Curragh Camp; I mean it is quite a long way down the road for me to drive! My cell phone battery was as dead as a dodo and of course these days no-one keeps an address book any more, so what was I to do?

Simply look up the number in the phone book of course! Great idea; no entry under Lenny's name or LSG. Hmmm! What to do next? Being an impatient soul; I wasn't about to wait for my phone to charge so of course I had a look on the good old internet - again there was no entry!

"I know! The number's up on the LSG Supporter's Club Website..." and as you probably guessed, the rest is history. Actually, it isn't because I've kind of decided to leave it until later on; after all this type of thing doesn't happen too often so I don't want to rock the boat un-necessarily; do I?

What this incident has made me realise though is the importance of having a network to rely upon in circumstances such as this. At the present time such a network relies solely on the good will of those parents whom each of us knows; as I live out in the sticks there aren't too many living out my way to keep me informed of what's going on...

But hang on just a second; we do have a network; ie The LSG Supporter's Club! Wouldn't it be a great resource for everyone if we could use the LSG Supporter's Club and the Website to keep everyone in touch with all the comings and goings of the club. Its potential is huge!

I truly believe that this is the way to go. Our children often forget to bring home notes from class and sometimes the unexpected does happen. At the moment this space is really only being used to get the name of the club onto the internet and to boast about our successes in competition; which is important as it helps to motivate the children (& sometimes us parents too!).

We could also use it to post news about our kids routines and keep up to date in general with important things like training and competition fixtures. And of course any fund raising activities or social events being planned. Maybe we could even have a swaps page for all those outgrown but perfect leotards and other unwanted equipment; already we are posting a list of LSG Gym gear...

Meanwhile, I would respectfully ask that member's of The LSG Supporter's Club aka The Mum's & Dad's, Grannie's & Grand-dad's, etc keep in touch, with news that I can use to keep this place alive and interesting for our reader's. I invite member's,supporter's and of course Lenny and his team of coaches to accept the opportunity to do the odd guest spot and make their own unique contribution to the 'Web Site' so that we can raise our profile and continue to showcase the talents of our young gymnasts.

I look forward to hearing from you; especially YOU Danny! & YOU Lenny! & YOU - yes; you know who you are...

Pauline Price

EBS Community Fund Nominations For LSG

2008-10-22T11:43:00.006+01:00

This is just a reminder for any of the LSG Supporter's Club that the EBS Community Fund continues to take nominations for local charities/"causes which benefit their community until 24th October.

The nomination form can be downloaded from the website, you can e-mail them or you can call into your local branch and complete a form there. Regardless, with only two days left before the closing date I would strongly urge anyone whose child or friend is a member of LSG and has an account at the EBS to nominate us. The more nominations received for this cause the better; so rush to it - NOW please?!!

We need to raise the necessary funds to improve the existing facilities so that the members of LSG can continue making the progress which has allowed them to bring home a veritable hoard of precious medals from various competitions over the course of the year.

Pauline Price
concerned parent & member of LSG Supporter's Club

Irish Gymnasts Reading Materials

2008-10-18T14:55:00.009+01:00

While I was stumbling around in the dark on the social networking sites I came across a great site; unfortunately I don't know who the author is so I can't thank them in person, but I can link to their site. It provides some interesting articles on the subject of gymnastics generally...

I would suggest however that you refrain from clicking on the resources link at the bottom of the page, as it appears to take us to a site which does little more than advertise anything and everything from chocolate fountains to debt recovery! It is a shame really as it does rather undermine what is otherwise an interesting site...

Pauline Price

Polly's Treasure

2008-10-18T13:59:00.005+01:00

Yesterday saw the AGM of LSG Supporter's Club. Members met at the Irish Army Curragh Camp Gymnasium at 7.30pm; while there was a poor turn out many important topics were discussed with some important decisions being taken. I will post more about that in a future post...

With renewed enthusiasm; having sneakily peeked in on one of the LSG's training sessions, I went a-browsing (aka surfing) the internet this morning with the express intention of raising awareness of LSG. In doing so I registered this blog on Technorati; a social networking bookmarking site and ran a search on certain keywords I had entered to describe the LSG Supporter's Club Web Site.

One topical keyword(s) used was Irish Gymnastics. Wow! What a result; I stumbled across the all new freshly submitted Official Irish Gymnastics video and what a treasure it is. Please watch and enjoy; there are one or two faces that you will recognize...

Now as a result of finding this treasure, which showcases Irish Gymnastics so well; I decided to share it. Already I have published the video; which is available thanks to YouTube onto Facebook with a small explanatory comment about how Luke Price is training for level four having attained Bronze at last years National Finals. I am of course biased; as his Mum and this did go up onto my page, so please excuse the rather obvious favouritism there!

I also decided to Digg it! That's right Digg; with a double 'g' (yet another social networking site) and came across some interesting Gymnastics pages which had also been submitted. I entered it with a nice explanatory comment about how the video features Geoff Relis who is on the Irish National Squad and how he has coached for Lenny's successful LSG Club at the Irish Defence Forces Training Camp Gymnasium at the Curragh Camp...

If all those keywords and direct references to our favourite Coach and his team I don't know what will! Anyway, I'm going to keep plugging away and continue to raise the profile of Irish Gymnastics. I especially intend to get LSG's plight to find a suitable venue for a permanent training facility of our own and the need to raise funds to purchase and install essential equipment into the spot light.

Be aware that this will not happen over night though and that I need the support of all the members of LSG Supporter's Club to make this happen...

Pauline Price

ps Don't forget that next Friday 24th October is the last day for ordering LSG Merchandise; all orders must be pre-paid through Lenny on or before this date. Thank you!

Leonardo Charges Parents!

2008-10-16T14:18:00.004+01:00

Price List For LSG Gym Gear & Accessories

It is important to point out that not all the items listed below are compulsory.
It is strongly recommended that gymnasts wear proper gymnastics shoes for Health & Safety reasons.

Gymnastics Shoes (all sizes) : €18.00
Girls Leotards (all sizes): €65.00
Boys Leotards (inl white shorts): €65.00
Childrens Polo Shirt Red with Logo: €17.50
Childrens Hoodie Red with Logo: €33.50
Shoe Bag with Logo: €16.50
Sports Bag with Logo: €26.50

NB: THE LAST DATE FOR ALL 2008 ORDERS WILL BE FRIDAY 24th OCTOBER;
ALL orders MUST be paid for in full at the time of ordering;
Further orders will be taken for around Easter 2009.
Should you require any further information on the above; please speak to one
of the coaches.

Many Thanks for your support.

Lenny

Polly Apologizes

2008-10-16T14:05:00.004+01:00

Some of you will probably have checked in from time to time since the very wet and windy outing to Mosney; most probably to see what your pictures turned out like. To be honest the quality of most of the pictures was so poor, in terms of light and movement I think I wasted both time and money bringing the film into the photography shop for development!

There are one or two good ones; but the rest feature the dismembered bodies of anonymous gymnasts who were just too quick for my ASA 400 speed on my trusty Canon film camera. It would probably also have helped had I thought to bring my tripod and begged, borrowed or stolen a decent flash unit to use in conjunction with it. Still, I didn't and the results are a testament to my lack of skill/judgement...

Anyhow, classes are well and truly back on schedule after the long summer's break. Lenny and his team of excellent coaches are working flat-out; as usual. Between coaching in primary/national level schools during the day and various club venues after school hours and at the weekends and the necessary travelling in between sessions; it's a wonder that Lenny still recognizes his wife and children!

Sorry about the pics everyone - I might put the really bad ones up; just for the craic! Maybe we can play a game of spot the gymnasts head?

Pauline
ps watch out in the next post for gym wear prices and also in the side bar!!!

KILDARE NATIONALIST 22 AUGUST 2008

2008-08-28T15:26:00.009+01:00

Gymnast Jack McAliffe 8 saw success at under level. Jack achieved a gold medal while his club mate
Daniel Anderson captured
the bronze at under 10.

The teams arrived back in Newbridge on Monday morning to a hero's welcome and paraded down the street to the sound of tooting horns and cheering well wishes and parents. They then wnt on to a reception at Sarsfields GAA club where they were applauded for their efforts by the Mayor of Newbridge, cllr Mick Deeley.

***************************************************************************

I would like to congratulate each and every gymnast who took part at Mosney. Well done, guys!! You did your coaches, club and parents proud.

C u all soon.

Sharon

The Westmeath Examiner Says...

2008-08-26T20:40:00.001+01:00

Mosney magic outshines weather conditions>(excerpted)

...Great Performances In Gymnastics

The Gymnastic National Finals has to be the most difficult competition to win a medal in and it took an exceptional performance by Aidan Mannion from Ballymahon Road to win a silver medal from very stiff competition.

Despite great performances from Rebecca Scully and Niamh Nolan, Ballinea/Brotenstown; Paul Rushe, Eve Kelleher, Grace Fitzpatrick, Tubberclair/Glasson and Daniel Ennis, Ballymore they were just out of the medals...

What The Offaly Independent Has To Say

2008-08-26T20:34:00.001+01:00

Edenderry gymnast wins Community Games gold

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Thousands of miles from Beijing, a young Offaly athlete was celebrating a Community Games gold medal as he secured gold in the Boys under 10 gymnastics in his third year of competing. Josef Kane (9) from Edenderry won Gold in the event at the HSE Community Games in Mosney on the 16th August with a score of 9.6 (the silver medallist scoring 8.9).

Joe who was born in Scotland and has lived in Edenderry since 2000, has competed in this event 3 years running. In his first competition in 2006 he won the Silver and in 2007 he went one better, winning the Gold medal in the Offaly colours for the second successive year.

Joe trains with LSG group (Leonard’s School of Gymnastics) twice a week ...

...On Tuesdays the group train in St Mary’s National Girls School in Edenderry. However, more intensive training is performed on Fridays in the Curragh Army Base Gym Hall, Co. Kildare as this is the only facility currently available, there being nowhere else suitable in the Midlands.

Published: Tuesday, 26th August, 2008 12:00

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Fantastic Results For Young Gymnast's At Mosney

2008-08-26T14:59:00.006+01:00

On Saturday 15th August the weather was appalling! With Grey skies and a lot of water the young athletes and staff at this years Community Games Finals got soaked to the skin.

It was a disappointing start to what turned out to be a fantastic day for all concerned, the boys and girls of LSG had a great day out and had a lot of fun in between competing in their events. The tension was high; you could cut the atmosphere with a knife; but thankfully this was more the case with the LSG Supporter's Club rather than our competitors at this prestigious close to the years training!

Assembled in the Main Dining Room at the Mosney Holiday Centre members of LSG showed their talent in their droves. Starting with the Under 8's category at 10am the standard was particularly high resulting in medals galore! Congratulations to Gold Medal winner Jack McAuliffe who was representing Kildare.

This was followed by the Under 10's category which was over an hour late to start, but thankfully once again LSG was victorious! Congratulations to Joe Kane; representing Offaly who took Gold and also to Sean Logie, who has recently moved to Monaghan who took the Silver Medal, while team-mate Danny Anderson was awarded with the Bronze Medal!

The Under 12's category finally got started over an hour late with several competitors from LSG attaining success, namely John Cooney; representing Offaly winning the Gold Medal with an outstanding score of 9.2 points and Evan Rennick taking silver for Kildare.

Later in the day the silver medal for the boys Under 14's was awarded to Aidan Mannion of Westmeath; so once again congratulations are well and truly the order of the day!

While certainly congratulations were well earned by all our medalists; we must not forget to congratulate each and every one of our team member's who competed at the National Community Games 2008. Each of our team mates is a champion in their own right; the entry criteria is that only winners are admitted to the competition in the first place! Each performed their routines outstandingly well, and as one newspaper put it; the judges simply ran out of medals.

Hopefully I will have some shots of them performing their routines to put up on the blog later in the week; assuming that they turn out okay. Meanwhile here are a few shots of the boys and girls before and after their events; please excuse the quality, the light conditions left a lot to be desired whatever about the photographer!

Polly's Plea For Young County Gymnastics Champions

2008-08-15T13:21:00.004+01:00

The pressure is really on now for our county finalists. The big competition, ie The National Community Games Finals is on tomorrow at the Mosney Holiday Centre in County Meath and boy; has there been some big preparation going on for it. The kids; our young gymnasts are stretched to their limits by now and if anyone has a chance of success tomorrow it is them.

Sadly I haven't been around for the past week, although LB has received much encouragement and support from my Mom and DG's Mom; both of whom have kindly ferried him to and from the Newbridge training classes. While all this has been going on I have been sunning myself in Austria; in the company of at least six other scouts and scouter's, but this is a separate story altogether.

The only thing I can say is that I did feel terribly guilty about not taking LB with us and if I had have done so I would have been feeling guilty about him missing out on his training for the Community Games Finals with Lenny's School of Gymnastics. It just goes to show that sometimes, no matter what you do; you just can't win...

However, I hope that it will be an altogether different story tomorrow afternoon when the final results are published. Regardless of whether my little boy is successful (finger's crossed) it will be great if the other contestants bring a medal home, a great coup for LSG altogether!

Apparently it's going to be fairly hairy getting there tomorrow. So; we have booked into a B&B which is within walking distance of the venue, this way we can avoid the massive queue's and delays expected. Our little gymnast will also be relatively refreshed and better able for his event too...

So wish us luck! I'll post the results for all to see when they are published. Like I said earlier finger's crossed please?

Bye for now

Pauline Price
Mum & member of LSG supporter's club

Leonardo Stretches Charges...

2008-08-01T17:14:00.005+01:00

My last post on this blog warned you all that the truth is out! It's great because I'm getting lots of suggestions and positive remarks about the blog. It seems that everyone is pleased that LSG is out there in the big bad world for all to see; whether or not this will make any difference to our attaining our ultimate goal of funding a purpose built permanent facility for our young gymnast's is another thing. All the LSG Supporter's Club can do is hope; and maybe push the write (sic) button or two!

Since the Men's National Gymnastics Championships in May our young gymnast's have continued with their gymnastics training in earnest. This time we are aiming to conquer the National Finals of The HSE Community Games.

Less than two weeks after the Nationals which took place on May 26th in Dublin; members of LSG competed against one another in the counties of Kildare, Offaly and Westmeath for that coveted place at Mosney. In some cases a whole new routine had to be learned in a hurry...

This year; as in most other years LSG is well represented*. As at the Nationals; gymnasts of all ages and abilities getting ready for the second Big Event of the Gymnastics Year on August 15th at Mosney, Co Meath. Sadly this will be the last year that this prestigious event will be held at this venue; with Athlone Institute of Technology being the confirmed venue for future events.

Meanwhile a select few are taking part in intensive training in the run up to the Community Games Finals 2008. This consists an additional eight hours training a week; broken down into four two hour sessions currently taking place at Scoil Mhuire, Newbridge, Co Kildare on Monday's, Tuesday's, Thursday's and Friday's.

Having witnessed these boys and girls in training; I can attest that there is indeed "...no gain without pain!" As their bodies arch into unnatural positions their ligaments are stretching; and it is not unusual to hear the occasional moan, or even grunting! However, it is the dedication of the gymnast's themselves, their parent's and without a doubt their coaches Lenny himself and Danny Cooney that will make these kids the best on the block! This is indeed evidence of their "Quest For The Best!"

This years County Champions; representing LSG in the Counties of Kildare, Offaly & Westmeath are as follows:

Boys:		Girls
D Anderson		C Choudhury
J Cooney		M Kohen
J Kane		N Earley
S Logie		G Fitzpatrick
B Lynch		K For
J McAuliffe		J Heffernan
D Mahon		E Kelleher
A Mannion		L McCarthy
LPrice		C Meagher
E Rennick		G Quinn

Polly Proposes

2008-07-30T12:04:00.007+01:00

Hi there! Well my secret is out...! In fact I nearly died on the spot. Why? Lennyaka God found out all about my LSG blog. I had been meaning to speak to him about my aspirations for our club and the fact that I'd started blogging about it; but hey, I just didn't quite manage it. Oops!

Anyway, thankfully Lenny seemed quite happy about it and made sure that Danny; one of his junior coaches heard about it too. Of course I am thoroughly delighted that I've got off on the write (sic) track and now have their approval, but I am still a little bashful about the whole thing. Both Danny and Lenny our gymnastics coaches had a few constructive criticisms to make.

Number 1: there should be more mention of the word GYMNASTICS for the spiders to pick up on; maybe change the title to reflect this?

Number 2: there should be more photo's!

Number 3: there should be more detailed information about our young gymnast's achievements.

This of course all goes without saying; however with child protection acts and parental consent being all the rage (and rightly so) at the moment this was a matter for careful consideration. Lenny, his coaches and several members of LSG Supporter's Club including myself have undergone Child Protection Training Courses.

I consulted with our chairperson Ms McAuliffe and Lenny; and it has been agreed that consent forms regarding photo's for publicity and fund-raising signed at the beginning of the year would be adequate for the purposes of this blog. It is also fairly obvious that I need to pay more attention to this blog; now that it has been un-covered and liaise more closely with LSG for detailed information regarding the gymnasts successes.

The outcome? Now that Lenny is aware of this blog I am going to post his telephone number along with information regarding the Gymnastics Classes available in the sidebar along with more information about the LSG Supporter's Club, ie contact information and links.

I hope that the proposed changes to the content and the format of this blog will make Irish Gymnastics more available to those with even a passing interest in the sport as in truth I have found it very disheartening to learn how little information is available on the subject.

Watch out for some exciting shots of our young gymnasts in action and celebrating their achievement's to date...

Wish me Luck!

Pauline Price
Mother and member of LSG Supporter's Club

Polly's Weekend Victory

2008-06-15T21:33:00.004+01:00

Well hello there and welcome back to LSG Supporter's Club Blog! It has been a few days since I last posted here, but frankly since the excitement of the Men's All Ireland National Gymnastics Championship Finals I needed a few days to recover!

In case anyone didn't realise May 25th was an eventful day for LSG and Lenny. In total students coached by Lenny took home eight medals and one perpetual trophy. No doubt we could have done even better; but the competition was strong.

Having viewed the score charts; which can be downloaded from the Irish Gymnastics website there is no doubt in my mind that Lenny and his team of dedicated coaches surpassed themselves this year!

Yesterday saw the Offaly County Finals for the HSE sponsored Community Games. Once again LSG cleaned up. In the under 10 category Joe Kane triumphed; as anticipated and will go forward to the National Community Games Finals scheduled to take place in Mosney, Co Meath in August of this year.

Along with Joe; several young gymnasts will represent both Offaly and LSG; including Luke Price who was Victorious in attaining the Bronze Medal in the Men's Under 12 category at the National Finals. This time Luke went home with the Gold Medal!

Several other young gymnasts went home with happy smiles on their faces; escorted by ecstatic parent's. Now all they can do is wait and practise, practise, practise for their event at Mosney!
Earlier today saw the Kildare County Finals of the Community Games. Once again, I have no doubt that several of LSG's gymnasts will have been victorious!

Well done to all the participants in this important event; hopefully more information will be available in the near future regarding scoring etc. Watch this space for more news of this weekends events.

Unfortunately, due to the timing of the Community Games Finals, ie August the holiday season intervenes and presents problems regarding training of these youngsters for the event ahead of them. One young man is off to Spain for a total of three weeks, while another is camping for most of the intervening time! No doubt these gymnast's will not be alone in this, after all school's out for the Summer in less than two weeks time...

On a slightly different note Jeff Rellis; who adjudicated at this weekends events is heading back to Canada in a couple of weeks time. Jeff; one of the Irish national squad is training and coaching out there; largely because the facilities are so much better. All I can say is "Go Jeff, go...!"

His performance at the Men's National Gymnastic Championships last month was exemplary; Jeff gave a magnificent demonstration on the rings. This said; the boy's representing LSG in this prestigeous competition enjoyed the fact that Jeff stumbled upon dismounting the rings during his warm up. Boys; of course, will be boys!

Meanwhile, as the summer hols are looming the wind-down has already started. The Tullamore class; held at St Mary's Youth Centre faces its last class of the year on Wednesday. Likewise all other classes will be finishing over the next couple of weeks; the elite class which meets on Friday's at 5pm has but two classes to go...

Keep up the good work! And don't forget your routines over the holidays...

Pauline Price aka Polly Peirce

Leonardo Snatched Booty!

2008-05-29T12:56:00.006+01:00

LGS's excellent coaching skills shone through at the end of the day. LSG walked away with a total of six medals, and a further two won by the Athlone Gymnastics Club which is also coached by Lenny. This is a tribute to the gymnast's hard work throughout the preceding year.

Congratulations must be extended to all the boys who competed in this years National Men's Gymnastics Championship; their talents certainly showed through and did them proud. Also it is important to remark upon how well behaved these children were throughout the competition; especially considering some of them are as young as seven!

This is just one of the many medals awarded to member's of Lenny's School of Gymnastics. It is the Bronze Medal awarded to Luke Price who competed in the U12 Level 3 event.

A round of applause is also due to the parents of all the competitor's for without their steadfast support the children would be unable to concentrate their considerable skills which were clearly demonstrated on Sunday at the Phoenix Gymnastics Club.

Please support LSG and our young gymnast's.

Pauline Price
Mother & Member of LSG Supporter's Club

Polly Edits Plea

2008-05-28T11:03:00.005+01:00

I don't know if this will do any good or make any kind of a difference; but I have just fired off three letter's. One each to the editor's of the Irish Independent, Times and Examiner.

Finger's crossed that they will be published and maybe even that the newspaper's concerned will offer just a little space to the reporting on gymnastics in the future!

The wording goes something like this; although in each of the three letter's it is slightly different!

**************************************

Sir,

Having searched your archives for the past couple of days I am dismayed to notice that there appears to be little or nothing published in your on-line newspaper regarding the sport of gymnastics.

As a relative newcomer to the sport of parenting young gymnasts, indeed a Bronze Medallist in the Men's Gymnastics National Championship/Finals (De La Salle College, Dundrum on Sunday 25th May), I was disgusted to realise the lack of facilities in this country.

I have the dubious pleasure of having been educated here and in England as a much younger child. Thirty years ago the gymnasium at my secondary school was better equipped than the Gymnasium available to our kids at present.

What we need in this country is a full time permanent facility for use by our gymnasts; preferably in the Midlands area. Presently the only one of its kind is in the North; although there are plans to build something similar in Dublin!

What allows Gymnastics to survive is the dedication of those involved, particularly the coaches. It is they who battle on valiantly against appalling temporary facilities. Much training time is lost putting up and taking down equipment; more is lost carrying basic equipment from venue to venue.

Credit must be extended to the parents of our young gymnast’s also; considering the ridiculous length’s they go to transporting them to and from distant venues.

To the gymnast’s themselves; I take my hat off to them all, young and younger! Sundays’ exhibition and competition certainly opened my eyes and it should be allowed to open other eyes too.

Despite the difficulties LSG was delighted to walk away from Sundays’ competition with a total of eight medals and two perpetual trophies awarded to his young gymnast’s.

Until newspaper's such as yourselves become actively involved in promoting this important sport the message will continue to be what it is at present, ie get involved if you like, fight against all the odds but don't expect any financing, reporting or support!

It is a thriving sport in its own right which is struggling to survive because of ignorance, which is due to the overall lack of reporting on this national sport. Please help us change this by reporting on important events such as the National Finals.

Regards,

Pauline A Price

Polly's Astonishing Success

2008-05-27T12:18:00.005+01:00

At the Men's National Gymnastic Championships on Sunday LSG all but wiped the floor with medals. Once again Lenny & his LSG Men's Gymnastics team are triumphant; being awarded eight medals in all; more details to come later in the week...

Each of the boy's won on Sunday; regardless of their scores it is an honour to be chosen to represent the club at national level. Sadly this knowledge was of little comfort to one young man who left the competition in tears. Having triumphed last year it came as a great shock to him that the competition was stronger this year.

Congratulations to all of the young men and boys who competed on Sunday. The mere fact that you got so far is a testimony to yourselves and your coaches; maybe one day it'll be you giving the demonstration; as a member of the national gymnastics squad before the presentation of the medals at this prestigious event.

Should any mysterious benefactor just happen to be reading this blog; please contact me so that I can give you more details of how you may be able to support us in our "Quest for the Best!" Just imagine the feeling of pride; knowing that your help has helped us to secure the future for Irish Gymnastics...

In the meantime, keep up with the good work and pray that one day we'll get our own purpose built gymnasium to train in.

Congratulations Gymnasts!LOL!

Pauline Price (aka Polly Peirce)
Mother & Member of LSG Supporter's Club
Supporting LSG

Polly's National Champions

2008-05-20T15:58:00.000+01:00

This Sunday sees the Men's National Championships for Levels 1-5. This prestigeous event is being held at the Phoenix Gymnastics Club, Dundrum, Co Dublin from 11am to approx 5pm. Representatives of up to twelve gymnastics club's will be competing in various rounds of the competition; each hopeful of being awarded a medal or two.

Sadly the funding isn't the only issue involved in Irish gymnastics, it appears that support is also lacking, ie in terms of actual attendence. Only this morning I spoke to a representative of the Irish Gymnastics Association regarding the cost of admission to this event and was dismayed to learn that it ranged between a mere €1.00 - €3.00.

Admittedly this might serve to encourage attendence of these events, to some extend; but surely some of the admission fees could go towards raising funds for the hosting gymnastics club. Aside from anything else, compare this modest price with that of attending a National Championship match at Croak Park there is no comparison. The GAA is already in receipt of a cool €3, 000, 000.00 hand-out already; before charging between €3.50 and €20.00 for a local match.

We have a lot of work ahead of us if we are going to achieve our goal of building our own purpose built facility for the development of gymnastic abilities in our children. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastic Club's book, why not check out their website for ideas?

Meanwhile, members of The LSG Supporter's Club will be participating in The Flora Women's Mini-Marathon which is to be held on 2 June. Should anyone out there be willing to find us some sponsorship for this I will be adding a copy of the sponsorship form to the end of this post for you to download and print out.

All donations will be gratefully received and can be donated by submitting them through my PayPal account. Please contact me by e-mail for further details.