Inside the surreal world of the Trampolining Club

The glorious Cardiff University Trampolining Club enjoyed roaring success last year, coming 3rd at the Women’s BUCS competition and winning medals all across the country.

Head Coach, Emma Wallace, and President, Becci Litt, revealed to The Tab what the Tramps get up to when they’re not snapping necks and cashing cheques, all while rocking their finest leotards.

What’s the messiest social you guys have had? 

Becci: Well we’ve had a lot of good socials this year but I think the worst one was probably in Bristol. We were staying at some local students’ houses and it was a jungle social – there were lots of lost drunk animals in Bristol that night.
Emma: We also had to leave at half 5 in the morning to get back to Cardiff early. I’m pretty sure a few people earned the Leotard of Shame.

Representing ‪#‎TEAMCARDIFF‬ 2014

The Leotard of Shame. What is that?

Emma: It’s basically like a punishment. If you get really drunk or do something really embarrassing on a night out you’ll have to wear it at the next competition.
Becci: You also get it if you do something embarrassing in competitions or at training. Just anything bad you do really. The leotard last year was really bad. This year’s one is worse though.

Last year’s Leotard of Shame, in all it’s hideous glory

Do you have any gossip or drama from the past year? 

Emma: Oh yeah. One of the coaches halted an entire competition because of a one night stand. We had a social the night before and he took a girl home. She turned off all his alarms for that morning so all the teams were waiting for him at the competition because he had all of the laptops and the equipment.
Becci: To make things worse, he was Mr. Incredible at the social so he turned up with a red face and black eyes from where he hadn’t taken the make up off properly. He had to stand at the front and explain to everyone why he was late. It was hilarious.

Whats the worst injury you’ve seen? 

Becci: I guess there was that one at the Dragon Cup that we hosted at the end of last year. One girl from a different club was just warming up and panicked when she was trying to do one of the simple moves. She ended up landing with her leg down and broke her femur. That’s the only, and worst injury we have seen though, it is very rare that you hurt yourself. We make sure that people are always safe on the trampolines.

Just a few mats there? #safetyfirst

What makes the Trampolining Club so much better than other sports societies and clubs – like Rugby? 

Becci: Well you get to wear a leotard – who wouldn’t love that?
Emma: Trampolining is just a generally fun sport. It’s different and fun and it’s an indoor sport so you don’t have to compete in bad weather which is a bonus in Wales. You can take the sport as seriously as you want. You don’t have to compete, you can just come along to the training sessions.

Having said that, what does it take to be a member of the Trampolining club at Cardiff? 

Emma: Anyone can join, you don’t have to be a gymnast or be good at trampolining, we’ll teach you.
Becci: A high alcohol tolerance would help with the socials, especially if you don’t want to end up wearing the Leotard of Shame. And you should be prepared to go to a competition the day after a social. We have all been on a trampoline with a bad hangover. And it’s not pretty.

What kind of people do trampolining? 

Becci: Well we’ve had a lot of female participants and people seem to think that trampolining is just for girls. It really isn’t! We need more males to join the club to be honest.
Emma: You’d be surprised how great trampolining is for flexibility and core strength. Top rugby players do things like ballet and trampolining to up their performance. It’s definitely worth a go for everyone.

The Trampolining ‘Give it A Go’ session is available for Cardiff students on Saturday 26th September. Sign up online here or email [email protected].