Trampolining - Amy

When I was at school I absolutely hated PE. It involved sports, shorts, mud and usually being accidentally hit by some kind of ball or bat.

The only two things I was any good at were volleyball and trampolining. I actually looked forward to PE when we were doing trampolining. I wasn’t the best in my group but I was definitely not the worst for a change. I enjoyed it so much I went to the trampolining club after school.

When I left school I left trampolining behind as well. I always wanted to do more, but life got in the way. Then when my sight got worse, I thought now it really will never happen. I really struggle with many much smaller things, staying on the right side of a trampoline seemed impossible.

Life has taught me a lot of lessons, about how life can be bigger and better, but it won't just happen. You need to make it happen.

A few weeks ago I started thinking about trampolining again. My first thought was, blind people on trampolines, that just sounds dangerous! But then I remembered that blind people can run, ski, climb mountains and do all kinds of adventurous things. Trying to stay on a trampoline sounded easy compared to all of those things.

I decided to send an email to Sheffield International Venues and see if there was any kind of extra support or help I could get with trampolining. Sheffield has world class sporting places, so if I can’t get the support I need here then it wouldn’t be very good. They emailed me back and offered me a free one to one lesson with a coach, to have a practice and see how it goes.

The days leading up to my lesson I was so nervous. I thought it will either go really well, or really badly. Somebody told me I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. All I could think about was all the different injuries I could gain if it went wrong!

The day came and I climbed onto the trampoline. Standing up was easier than I thought, it was staying stood up that was the hardest part. The trampoline is so bouncy and wobbly when you are not used to it, I remembered it would be

The trampoline was next to a wall, one end was next to another trampoline and joined together with crash mats. This felt better than at school, because there were only two sides to fall off, not four. The two coaches stood on the trampoline at the other two sides, so I couldn’t fall off. All around the trampolines there were mats on the floor, again, not like at school. I felt very safe.

I started jumping and I was wobbling and falling a lot. But that’s how trampolining goes at first. I was quite surprised that it didn’t hurt when I fell. I sometimes get muscle pains around my joints, so I was nervous about this as well. The more I practiced the better I got.

When I was more steady on the trampoline, the coaches got off and stood on the floor. They were stood by the trampoline though to keep me safe. I was talking to the coaches and one of them is the daughter of my PE teacher at school!

As I wasn’t in any pain from falling I decided to try out a few moves. I even managed to do a bit of a routine. The coaches seemed impressed, so did I!

When I came off the trampoline I felt alive, bursting with energy and so happy that I hadn’t broken anything. Until I put my shoe back on and realised I’d broken my toe nail!!! It hurt but I was relieved that’s all it was.

It’s taken me thirteen years to go trampolining again and now I plan to keep going back every week. Please don’t be scared about trying new things because of your sight. If you ask then you might get more support than you realise. Don’t think too much and talk yourself out of it like I always used to. Follow your dreams, don’t think, just do it!