Thirty-six gymnasts from GR8 Gymnastics, based at Culcheth High School, headed to Disneyland Paris earlier this month for the Gymnastique Magique competition and came home with a haul of first and second-place awards. Not a bad result for a team whose usual backdrop is Culcheth, rather than a castle with fireworks and a mouse on the payroll.
The squad, aged from eight to 17, performed solo routines, duets and group pieces at the Disney-partnered event in Paris. Competitive gymnastics is demanding enough without adding travel, costume bags, early starts and the sort of timetable that makes a packed school week look positively restorative, so the results are a proper credit to the girls and their coaches.
One parent described the schedule as intense but well worth it, and that sounds about right. These events can be a logistical circus, though thankfully one with considerably more cartwheels and fewer clowns. The team earned both strong competition results and an experience likely to stay with them far longer than a souvenir bag from Main Street.
The following day, all participants took part in a pre-parade performance at Disneyland Paris. Disney reportedly taught the gymnasts a routine before they performed ahead of the character parade, which is quite the stage upgrade from the usual sports hall. Credit where it is due: Disney knows how to make an occasion feel enormous, even if it probably also knows how to charge accordingly.
GR8 Gymnastics holds weekly classes at both Culcheth High School and Lowton High School. For Culcheth, it is lovely to see local young people representing the area with such discipline, flair and genuine success. Gold-standard effort, even before anyone mentions the sequins.