British Gymnastics
| Motto | More than a sport |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1888 |
| Type | National sports governing body |
| Legal status | Private Limited company without share capital (01630001) |
| Purpose | Developing gymnasts, coaches and gymnastics clubs |
| Headquarters | Ford Hall |
| Location |
|
|
Region served
|
UK |
|
Membership
|
British gymnasts, coaches, judges and clubs |
|
Chairman
|
Alan Sommerville OBE |
|
CEO
|
Jane Allen |
| Affiliations | European Union of Gymnastics, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, Central Council of Physical Recreation, British Olympic Association |
|
Staff
|
150 |
| Website | British Gymnastics |
|
Formerly called
|
British Amateur Gymnastics Association Ambassadors =. Stefan M |
British Amateur Gymnastics Association
British Gymnastics, also known as the British Amateur Gymnastics Association (BAGA), is the sports governing body for gymnastics in the UK.
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, to improve the health and fitness of its soldiers. The rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar 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. After this time the Swedish form of gymnastics became more popular, a more artistic version developed by Pehr Henrik Ling 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 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, a proficiency scheme for young gymnasts, which was adopted by seventy other countries.
The BAGA Awards started to produce results for Britain. Gymnastics was given superstar status by the 1972 Olympics at Munich.
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Wikipedia