9th February 2003
Dagenham Contest Successes
Just a short trip up the motorway for all three of the SK Guards on Sunday 9th February to the Thurrock Academy sponsored contest being held in Dagenham, Essex. Weather wise it was a grey, wet and murky day but this would not stop the Knights from putting on three excellent performances.
The Rugrats had made major improvements to their show since Burgess Hill and the 12 youngsters really looked a cut above the rest today. Up against 3 other units the Guard came in a very close 2nd improving their score by nearly 20 points and less than 2 points behind the winners. They really do look as if they are enjoying themselves out on the arena and this shines through in their performance.
Next up the Juniors - making the leap up into A Class after being promoted from the Junior Class at the end of January. You could see the 13 members were a little apprehensive at the start of their performance but by the finish the sparkle showed through. Up against 9 other Guards, they waited patiently for the results to see how they had faired against their new opposition. And the result was worth waiting for - they placed 4th - beating all bar one of the existing A Class Guards and with only a few points between them and the top of their new class.
After the excellent performance and reaction from the audience at Burgess Hill the Seniors seem to be becoming one of the crowds favourite for 2003. The 10 girls had worked hard over the previous 2 weeks to continue to add and perfect their show and, once again they drew in the spectators, especially with the now "infamous" yellow flag feature and they came in an extremely close 2nd (out of 6) being only 0.3 of a point off first plus being placed top by 3 of the 5 judges!
At the Awards Ceremony at the end of the day the Junior Guard were bought forward and presented with their Promotion Medals and also had the opportunity of performing again to celebrate their achievement in being promoted to the A Class.
Next weekend the Juniors and Seniors have a three day trip to Holland to compete in the WGI Regional before a two week gap and then all off to the West of the country for the next WGUK Contest in Wiltshire.