British titles for OCRA Gym, Trampoline & DMT Club

OCRA Gym, Trampoline & DMT Club is a fun, friendly club open to everyone. In the last five years it has grown from just six sessions per week to twenty-seven, with 280 members from three to 60 years old.

Gym and trampolining are impressive sports to watch and perform, and with recent Olympic success, are increasingly popular across the country. OCRA offers more than most gym and trampoline clubs, with classes in tumbling, recreational artistic gymnastics, trampolining, double mini-trampoline (DMT), Free-G (based on parkour, tricking and freerunning) and disability gymnastics. In September, it started a class for adults.

In 2017, OCRA set up a session as a British Gymnastics (BG) registered club, ‘OCRA Flyers’, to enable its gymnasts to compete at BG events.

In its first full season of BG competition, the club has had amazing success, achieving four South West squad places and two reserve places, five national development plan (NDP) medals, and two British NDP titles in trampolining and double mini-trampoline. Some parents have volunteered to qualify as judges so that more gymnasts can compete next season.

OCRA gymnasts representing West Devon also won the South West Rotary Youth Games gymnastics competition this year - the third year running that OCRA gymnasts have won the event.

The club is still developing and £16,000 was invested in new equipment last year, but more equipment is needed.

Vicki Pritchard is head coach at the club and is an ex-national Grade A trampolinist. In March, she was made a South West squad coach. She said: ‘The club has progressed so much in the last year due to generous funding from Sport England, the Inner Wheel and Rotary clubs of Okehampton, the Manor House Hotel, and support from Okehampton United Charities, as well as fundraising by club members.

‘We still have a long way to go. We are now raising money for two more 4x4 trampolines, end decks, mats and an inflatable pit to help people learn skills more quickly and to allow us to accommodate more members. The equipment would be used by everyone attending our holiday schemes, multiskills festivals and other events, as well as at our term-time classes.’

OCRA’s ultimate goal is to have a dedicated facility for gym and trampolining to give as many people as possible the opportunity to learn this exhilarating sport and reach their potential.

Any businesses who would like to sponsor the club or anyone who would like to help fundraise should contact Vicki at vicki@ocrasport.org.uk. The club website is http://gymandtrampolineclub.ocrasport.org.uk/