The Men’s gymnastics teams of Great Britain, Japan and Canada finished their ten-day Friendly Training Camp at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Shropshire, on Sunday, 17 January 2010 on a very high note.

This year the 2004 Olympic Team Champions and 2008 Olympic Team Silver medallists, Japan, came with a larger delegation than last year, including not only senior gymnasts, but also, some of their most talented juniors. 
 

 “ This is, indeed, a very good time for all of us to exchange knowledge and expertise and to strengthen our already good relationships”, said the Japanese Head of Delegation Keiichi Fujiwara.

“Last year, during our first training camp at Lilleshall, we saw how hard the British Team were working and what a great improvement they had made and as a result, they achieved phenomenal results in 2009.   With the Olympic Games coming to your country in two years time, we are now witnessing that they work even harder… We wished to see their training and to learn from each other”.

“The facilities at Lilleshall NSC are perfect – the gymnastics hall, the equipment, the proximity of the hotels and the restaurant makes this Centre an ideal place for training. To add to all of this, it is quite isolated and there are no training distractions. The wonderful 19- century architecture of the main building is also something that we are really very impressed with”, concluded Fujiwara.

Leader of the Canadian Delegation was their famous National Coach Edward Yarov (formally one of the great coaches of the USSR), who is also a member of the FIG’s Men’s Technical Committee.

“We keep returning here because we love England and because you have a great coaching team, lead by Technical Director Eddie Van Hoof, who should be congratulated for this initiative. It is a pleasure to work with the British and the Japanese teams. Japan is obviously a great team; Great Britain has also impressed the world with their rapid progress. All of us draw enormous benefits from this type of cooperation, and therefore we are planning that this training experience should continue.”

“To help our gymnasts train more easily through the winter and gain more of the vital vitamin D from the sun into their systems, we are planning to go together to Mexico for another training camp in February. I have also invited the British Team to join us at the opening of our new gymnastics centre in Ottawa (CAN) in June and I hope they will accept the invitation”.

“This year we are all focused on the most important competition - the World Championships in Rotterdam (NED) in October, which is also the first round of the 2012 Olympic Games Qualifications. This camp will help us to gradually get to the highest work-mode and we hope that all of us will show our best in October.”

The British Men’s Technical Director Eddie Van Hoof stressed on the fact that returning from Christmas has always been a difficult time, especially with this year’s European Championships coming so soon in April. Apart from the World Championships in October, 2010 will also see key-international events: the first Junior Olympic Games in Singapore in August and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. 

“It is a learning experience not only for the gymnasts, but also for all the coaches attending the camp. This time we were please to see that both Japan and Canada are looking to learn from us, as much as we wanted to learn from them. The important thing for everyone is to foster a strong technical relationship; that is why this exchange will continue throughout the year and hopefully for many years to come.” 

“ For our guests from Japan in particular, this camp is part of their preparation for London 2012. I am sure that some of the gymnasts who were with us during the last ten days will compete at the 02 arena in two years time.
Looking forward to this, the whole delegation went to London on Saturday, to see the venue, the David Beckham training cente and also for a sightseeing tour of the Capital”, said Van Hoof