AS a nine year-old girl just starting out in gymnastics Kathryn Featherstone could have no idea that the sport would take her to represent her country – and give her a good career.

But perhaps the youngster might have guessed at the former as, when she first went along to the class in Rochdale near her Heywood home she immediately took to gymnastics.

“I wasn’t sporty at school,” admits Kathryn, now 32 and an experienced gymnastics’ coach at the USN Bolton Arena. “But when I went along to try out gymnastics I enjoyed it straight away.”

This was the start of a sporting career that would take her not only to train alongside World and Olympic champion Beth Tweddle but also into GB and England teams taking on the world’s best.

Kathryn moved from the Rochdale club to one in Salford and from there to the famous City of Liverpool club which also honed Beth Tweddle’s talents – “although she was two years younger than me,” adds Kathryn.

The commitment for gymnastics is huge and Kathryn trained for four hours a day, five or six days a week, travelling regularly from her home to Liverpool. “My Dad used to take me and we always got stuck in traffic jams!” she recalls.

Her friends tended to be her fellow gymnasts, as she probably spent more time with them than anyone else, but Kathryn’s hard work paid off and she was successful in top competitions at home and abroad.

By the time she was 18, however, and working she found it difficult to get in her four hours training each day, and decided to give up competition and training for coaching.

“I volunteered at the club for a while and then started taking my coaching qualifications under British Gymnastics,” she explains. She started with Level 1 and is now a Level 3 coach “but gymnastics’ coaching is an umbrella qualification and takes in several areas.”

Ten years ago, she joined the coaching staff at the USN Bolton Arena and has helped develop a comprehensive coaching programme there. “I loved competing in gymnastics and I really enjoy coaching now,” she says. “The benefits of doing gymnastics are so many. There is flexibility, strength, stamina and general fitness and for children it’s also about learning, listening and understanding discipline.”

The Arena has recently also started an adult coaching class on Sunday afternoons, which is going so well that they are considering running a mid-week class as well.

“Yes, we’ve had a very good response from adults for this,” states Kathryn.

“They’re aged from about 18 to around 50 and have various levels of fitness. Some have done gymnastics when they were younger but others are starting out completely new to the sport and just want to be able to do a forward roll.

“It’s good to see people enjoying gymnastics – there really is something for all ages in the sport.”

n To find out more about gymnastics at the USN Bolton Arena go to www.boltonarena.com