A talented gymnast who trains at a Huddersfield trampolining club has won a clutch of national medals.

Sophie Hutchinson’s success is all the more remarkable as she has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The 12-year-old won two gold medals at the Trampoline British Championship in Telford in the trampolining and double mini trampolining categories for her age group and then repeated the feat at the Trampoline English Championships which were also held in Telford.

Double mini trampolining involves the athlete doing somersaults using two small trampolines and then finishing on a mat. Sophie specialises in doing two double somersaults in a row which is a rare achievement at her age.

Sophie is absolutely dedicated to the sport and trains at Kirklees Trampoline Gymnastics Academy in Milnsbridge five times a week.

Mum Kat said: “Sophie was always absolutely full of energy and we tried her with a few sports before she had a go at trampolining and absolutely loved it.

“We suspected she may have autism and ADHD for a while before she was diagnosed with it a couple of years ago. Trampolining is such a great release for her and really helps Sophie to regulate her conditions. Training five days a week are long days and hard work, but enjoyable and the benefits are just absolutely massive.”

 

 

Sophie is in the Great Britain squads for both trampolining and double mini trampolining and her ultimate ambition is to eventually represent GB at trampolining at the Olympics.

The trampolining season has now just about finished until next March so Sophie will be concentrating on learning new skills and routines over the next few months.

Sophie is looking for a sponsor as all the training and competitions can prove costly and Kat says it totals around £5,000 a year, especially now she is competing at GB level as there is no financial help from British Gymnastics for her age group.

Kat said: “Any company that might be able to help out would be much appreciated. We can put their name on her jacket and put it on the car while we travel, or anything of that nature. It’s a real struggle for us to pay all the costs we face from training, to buying kit and then staying at hotels when competing.”

Sophie lives in Cleckheaton with Kat, dad Chris and nine-year-old sister Jessie who is also a trampolining athlete and competed in the English championships for the first time this year.

Anyone wanting to support Sophie can do so on her GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/c5943bd0

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.