THE team from Planet Gymnastics claimed a place in the British National League after a solid performance in the Group Seeding Event on March 19.

The Espoir team, made up of seven gymnasts aged from eight to 11-years-old from across Penarth, Barry and Cardiff, performed a group hoop routine to extracts from the musical Bugsy Malone.

The team includes Eryn Griffiths, Sofia Roberts and Mairwen Thomas from Penarth, Phoebie Johnson from Barry and Gracie Poleon-Henry, Megan Williams and Eve Payne from Cardiff.

The girls’ first rotation suffered slightly as both a hoop and a gymnast left the floor. This led to a hefty penalty, so the girls had it all to do in the second rotation – and they did, with an almost clean routine.

The girls don’t yet know if they have qualified for the British National League, as the competition was incredibly strong this year, with a total of 41 teams competing from across the UK for a place in the league, but they and their coach were incredibly pleased with the performance that they had given.

“This is a very young team, both in terms of age and experience,” said coach Emma Thompson, of Dinas Powys.

“For three of the girls, this was their first year of competing at this level, and two of them are still only eight, which is incredibly young when compared to most of the other teams competing.

"I was very pleased with how they performed, they didn’t let the fact that they are so young phase them at all.”

Becky Johnson, director of Planet Gymnastics, in Grangetown, where the girls train up to four times each week said: “We are very proud of our girls representing their club with such aplomb - especially given their relative youth and inexperience.”

Recreational classes for rhythmic gymnastics take place on Tuesday evenings at Planet Gymnastics.

Please ring them on 029 2034 3585 for more information.