All gymnasts and parkour athletes in age banded classes: 4-6yrs, 7-9yrs, 10-12yrs and 13yrs+

Gymnasts will compete on floor and trampette. Floor consists of a short floor routine of a few skills, plus one of their choice (and we’ll help prompt or even do it with them if remembering it is a challenge). Trampette they will do two different shaped jumps or somersaults at the higher level. 

Parkour athletes will show a range of skills on the floor, plus two vault skills instead of trampette. They have different rules and judging methods that specifically suit Parkour. 

We’ll also include fun group warm ups and games before the end.  

​For parents, it’s a chance to see your child perform their skills in a friendly competition environment and support them in their sport. 

Everyone will receive a participation medal.

For our 4-6yr athletes, we’ll be giving them an introduction to ‘performance’ rather than competition, in a friendly, encouraging environment. they will not be judged with scores or rankings, but with a little fun twist i’m sure you’ll appreciate.

For those aged 7yrs upwards, it’s a chance to compete in a friendly and fun competition with the opportunity to win a medal if your score is one of the top three in your competing category. The rules are designed to make this straightforward. Coaches will help them to understand how to perform their best and build their confidence. 

Athletes will be broken up into equal competing groups (around 10-15 per group) by ages and ability.

Each piece of apparatus is judged separately, with the top three scores on each apparatus in each competing category being awarded with medals.

We focus on fun, friendship and building confidence.  Recreational gymnasts and athletes wouldn’t normally get the chance to take part in a competition and appreciate some of its amazing benefits.  But we make it less about ‘being the best’ and more about rewarding the achievement of getting up in front of spectators and performing. With a few aspects specific to us:

The MOST fun warm up ever – We like to have a dance – and get the audience to choose the track we use. It creates a fun atmosphere in the room to kick start the event in the right vibe and works as a great ice-breaker for the athletes.

We have Co-ed competing groups!  We see no reason why boys and girls at this level should be judged separately. We started this in 2019 and it’s been well received at each event. Everyone is combined into relevant age categories with both boys and girls together – after all, we’re all doing the same skills and train together, why should we compete separately?

Equal competing groups!  Up until now, gymnasts all across the world have competed in age groups split by one or more birth years. This can result in some very large competing categories in some years and some very small ones in others based on who enters – it’s uneven by nature. We’re not going to stay limited by this and instead, we’ll take everyone’s DOB, list all the gymnasts out then split into as equal as possible competing categories from there. We’re aiming for 10-15 gymnasts per category allowing each gymnast the same medal chances as anyone else.

We help. No athlete is alone here, our coaches will help guide, remind of skills or even do the routine with your child if it’s needed. 

Every competitor gets an Event t-shirt – you’ll have to wait to find out the colour, but we feel this helps cement their memories of their incredible day.

We have Celebration Ceremonies –  all the athletes get their moment at the end to be rewarded with medals.

We have a Bonus athletes choice skill!  At the end of each floor routine, the gymnasts are invited to perform one extra thing of their choice. This can be ANYTHING. A recognised gymnastics skill or something from another discipline – think ninja kicks, bendy dance skills, cheer stretches, even a great ending pose. All those cool things we like doing but you’d never (usually) put into a routine – do it here!   We’re looking for confidence, personality, fun and smiles and it gains bonus points only – no deductions. 

Professional photos with DE photo are back – and they are mega excited. Steve (their leader) says our competition is his most favourite one he’s been to (and he attends gymnastics events every month). He loves the fun and friendly atmosphere and us fabulous people there (well of course!) 

It’s the same format as previous years, but we’re all in a different place a year on so it’s never the same. Routines also include athletes chose skills so these will always be up to date.   

We’ll dedicate the two weeks before the event to practicing routines in class. However all the skills are ones they are likely familiar with and have been practicing in class in recent months. 

No, the day will be divided into rounds of competition. You’ll only need to be there for your athletes slot which will be around 2-3 hours long.  eg 3 rounds in the past in a day have been eg 9:30-12:00; 12:30-3:00 and 3:30-6:00pm.  We anticipate 4-6yrs and 7-9yrs gymnastics being in the first two rounds, with 10yrs+ gymnastics and all parkour in the third round.

We plan to have this with you a month before the event so you’ve plenty of time to get organised with other events.

Yes please do! And bring the family. You’ll need to buy spectator tickets nearer the time.

YES. But which colour… hazard a guess?

Not to compete, but we hope to have you present to perform a display.

Yes. We do have limited places for each age group and these will be accepted on a first come first served basis. So get entering now!

They can wear any combination of shorts, leggings, t shirts, or leotards. Whatever you have that you feel most comfortable in. 

That’s normal! We’ll help support you with this nearer the time but know that we’re pros with supporting everyone to feel comfortable.

Firstly, don’t panic! Our coaches will help and in this event they are allowed to talk the athlete through their performance. Hey if your child needs their coach to do the routine with them, we will! It’s about having a positive experience and showing what you can do, not about remembering it all perfectly.

Brilliant! We can’t wait for you to experience it. And yes your athlete will be ready – we’ll help!

The last day for entries is Friday 23rd May 2025.

Short answer – no. Once the closing date has passed our Affinity fairies work mega hard on organising everything and won’t be able to squeeze in latecomers.

We’d LOVE you to get involved! Drop us an email if you’d like to volunteer to help us run a great day. We’ll need help with things like scoring input, checking tickets on the door and potentially the most important job – the tea run.

Please drop us an email and we’ll help: hello@affinityacademy.co.uk

Wellll… funny story. It was originally The Affinity Invitational. As in, our club comp, that we invited people to. A bit of a mouthful. Jen tripped over her words in a meeting once about it and the Affinvitational was born. Well, it kinda makes sense doesn’t it?