British Gymnastics, also known as the British Amateur Gymnastics Association (BAGA), is the sports

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and

Trampolining Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more co ...

in the UK.

History

It was founded in 1888 as the Amateur Gymnastics and Fencing Association. Gymnastics had been adopted in this country, having been invented in Germany by

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (11August 177815October 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist whose writing is credited with the founding of the German gymnastics ( Turner) movement as well as influencing the German Campaign of 1813, during which a coalition o ...

, to improve the health and fitness of its soldiers. The

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

, and

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

were developed by Jahn. In the late 1800s gymnastics became popular for men thanks to the Army Physical Training Corps which was formed in 1860. Walter Tysall won the men's silver medal in the

1908 Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. After this time the Swedish form of gymnastics became more popular, a more artistic version developed by

Pehr Henrik Ling Pehr Henrik Ling (15 November 1776 in Södra Ljunga – 3 May 1839 in Stockholm) pioneered the teaching of physical education in Sweden. Ling is credited as the father of Swedish massage. Early life Ling was born in Södra Ljunga, Småland ...

which was for men and women, and needed little apparatus. Women first competed at the Olympics in gymnastics at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, where the British women's team took the bronze – its best performance. After the Second World War, the German and Swedish forms of gymnastics were combined. The

1960 Rome Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

were the first to be televised, and this led to a greater interest in Britain of gymnastics. This Olympics had been dominated by Russian female gymnasts. In 1963 the Amateur Gymnastics Association became the British Amateur Gymnastics Association, and the BAGA first received a government grant, allowing it to pay coaches, and appoint a full-time national coach, Wray Stuart. He developed the

BAGA Awards Baga may refer to: People * Baga (king) (3rd century BC), a king of ancient Mauretania * Ena Baga (1906–2004), English pianist * Kiri Baga (born 1995), American figure skater * Rita Baga, Canadian drag queen * Baga Chipz, stage name of Leo Lo ...

, a proficiency scheme for young gymnasts, which was adopted by seventy other countries. The BAGA Awards started to produce results for Britain. Gymnastics were given superstar status by the 1972 Olympics at Munich. At the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, an individual Bronze for Louis Smith was a breakthrough with the first medal in decades. At the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the Men's Artistic Gymnastics team won Bronze with individual Silver for Louis Smith and Bronze for

Max Whitlock Max Antony Whitlock (born 13 January 1993) is a British artistic gymnast. With fourteen medals and six titles in Olympic and world championships, Whitlock is the most successful gymnast in his nation's history, and the most successful pommel h ...

on Pommel and individual Bronze for

Beth Tweddle Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired British artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Cham ...

on Uneven bars. Lilleshall Hall from the South - geograph

BAGA was registered as a company on 20 April 1982. In 1979 the Sports Council had built a gym at Lilleshall, equipped to international standards in 1980, with the Queen Elizabeth Hall. In 1981 a £18,000 feasibility study looked at developing Lilleshall into a national centre, and in October 1982 the Sports Council allocated £1 million to develop a national centre.

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

opened the £1.75 million Princess Royal Hall at Lilleshall on 26 April 1988, paid for by the

Sports Council Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

. There is also the King George VI Hall and Ford Hall. Use of Lilleshall for gymnastics increased greatly throughout the late 1970s under Derek Tremayne. In 1997 BAGA became British Gymnastics.

Function

It is the main sport governing body for gymnastics throughout the UK, developing gymnasts, coaches clubs and officiating in all gymnastic disciplines. British Gymnastics aims to meet the following aspirations by 2017: * Gymnastics is seen as one of the top three sports in the UK * The British Gymnastics brand is internationally recognized and a household name * The Gymnastics club is the hub of the local community * Success creates global icons The eight strategic priorities of the 2013-2017 plan are as follows: * Create a brand that reflects the values of the sport and unifies the gymnastics community in the UK * Ensure systems and processes enable the effective and efficient delivery of the sport in the UK * Invest in the development of coaches and associated delivery systems * Define new markets/experiences for the 9+ cohort and introduce strategies to stimulate greater participation * Strengthen and support the high performance network/system across all disciplines * Increase club access to facilities and new spaces resulting from austerity measures being introduced in local government and businesses * Assist clubs and coaches to fill the gap in service provision in schools and identify future talent * Create a spectacular event in every major city designed to entertain a non-gymnastics’ audience

Publications

Its main publication is ''The Gymnast'', having been published since 1959. Since 2011 it has been released in an online format only Most news is now released via the British Gymnastics Website, Social Media and the weekly Gymblast email newsletterGymblast E-Zine
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References

External links

*
Gymnastics Clubs Directory

Video clips

BGTV YouTube channel
{{Authority control 1888 establishments in the United Kingdom Gymnastics in the United Kingdom

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Organisations based in Shropshire Sport in Shropshire

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...