Gymnasts from the Children’s Health Academy of Specialised Sports (CHAOSS) in Bahrain will be heading to Dubai this week to participate in their fifth annual regional competition. A squad of 26, consisting of 19 girls and seven boys, ranging in age from seven to 15, will be in the party and have been busy in recent weeks putting the finishing touches to their routines. The gymnasts will be accompanied by coaches Debbie Payne, Cara Mattias, Mahmood Mubarak, Sara Axtell and Joel Smith. Payne said: “This has always been a successful competition for us and something that all the gymnasts and coaches look forward to taking part in. “The gymnasts have been working since last October to learn all the new routines and skills and this allows them to show off and reap the rewards of the hard work. “There is a fantastic team spirit at CHAOSS with our more senior gymnasts taking the younger ones under their wing and showing them the ropes. The coaches wish the gymnasts the best of luck.” Payne, Mattias and Smith will also be judging during the two days of competition in which the girls will be competing on four pieces of apparatus and the boys on six. The CHAOSS team are looking forward to a repeat of last year’s success when they came away with 27 medals – 15 for the girls and a dozen for the boys – which included eight gold, 12 silver and seven bronze medals at the 2013 Inter-Gulf Gymnastics Competition. The youngest medallists were seven-year-olds Felix Haug and Kyle Cubitt and eight-year-olds Sophie Moir, Aliyah Idris and Dianna Wilder. Many of this year’s team have competed successfully before but are glad to welcome some first-time competitors to the squad, added Payne. CHAOSS, based at EZFit building in Saar, thank their sponsors who have made the trip possible – Reza Hygiene, Paxton Co, Seef Dental and Mondelez International. Alosra has also helped out with supplying cakes and cookies which helped raise money at the CHAOSS Bake Sale. The squad consists of Level 2 Girls Aubrie Gut, seven, Leena Makhdum, eight, Emmanuelle Tanner, eight, Manuella Javite, nine, Alessia Romano, nine, Fabiola Mattias, nine, Zain Al Majed, nine, Suni Stephenson, 10, and Sina Abel, 12; Level 3 Girls Dianna Wilder, nine, Alex Jones, nine, Maram Zainal, 10, Maram Ismail, 10, Tahlia Butler, 10, and Nicky Payne, 12; Level 4 Girls Aliyah Idris, nine, and Charlotte Axtell, 10; Level 5 Girls Sophie Moir, eight, and Michaela Sandy, 14; Level 4 Boys Fares Galal, six, Mohamed Al Najjar, seven, Khobi Stephenson, eight, and Yousif Alireza, nine; Level 5 Boys Felix Haug, eight, Kyle Cubitt, eight, and Anil Abi Farrage, 10.
