During the gymnastics BUCS competition in Northampton, athletes from the University of Gloucestershire received some special comments from the judges.
“DMT Olympic bronze medalist Kirsty Way called me out and complemented how amazing the new leotards looked,” a moment Nia Vaughan states she will never forget.
“I can’t lie it felt amazing, we fought so hard to get these leotards.
“I even did a twirl for her! It was so nice that our new leotards was getting the attention they deserve. What a way to debut a leotards.”
BUCs is an annual university championship that only happens once a year which brings all the different trampolining teams together for two days.
Compared to the Southern University Trampolining League, the other competition that she’s taken part in thought the year, BUCs really stood out.
“I’d say this competition was more exciting compared to others,” Vaughan explained.
“The whole team was really looking forward to competing.”
The 19-year-old went onto describe the scale of the event and the atmosphere made it even more memorable.
“BUCs is such a fun competition. Things like the lights and the arena make it more exciting” Nia added.
Even so, the University of Gloucestershire delivered an impressive overall result, finishing 16th out of nearly 50 universities from the UK after the first day after all their athletes competed.
For such a small club competing against much larger team with a squad sizes over 25 gymnasts, this has given the team a massive confidence boost.
“I think we all did really well.
“For some of the team it was their first competition and their first BUCS, so I’m super proud of everyone.”
She also acknowledged the challenge of performing in front of a large crowd while facing teams with far more competitors.
“Competing against universities with huge teams and in front of a big audience is quite daunting, so I think we did really well,” Vaughan said.
The experience has left the team feeling optimistic about what lies ahead.
“I think it’s given us a bit more confidence going into more competitions at the end of this year and into next year.”
Away from BUCs, the club is also facing the disappointment of not taking part in Varsity this year, a special event each year where the University of Gloucestershire face the University of Worcestershire.
“Not being part of that is quite gutting especially because we won last year.”
Despite that setback, the team still plans to be part of the event by supporting other sports.
“We’ll definitely still be out supporting the other teams.”
Team morale, however, remains strong as the season continues.
“I think morale has been really good this year.
“We’ve been consistent at training and competitions and have really encouraged each other.”
The team will also soon say goodbye to several committee members who have played key roles within the club.
“I’m gutted, I’m not going to lie.
“They’re a massive part of the club and they’ve helped the team — and me especially — a lot over the past two years. We’re going to miss them loads.”
