On Saturday 29th January the AETA organised its first Gala evening for two years at the Mercure Tunbridge Wells. This was a celebration of the achievements from 2020 and 2021 with 85 people present from all of the AETA Clubs.
The evening started with master of ceremonies Steve Lobley giving a short welcoming speech and then a speech from AETA Chair Master Chesterman.
Firstly the overall individual awards for the competition in Redhill in 2020 were handed out one by one with each recipient given the opportunity to say some words on collecting their award. Then this progressed to the 2021 overall individual awards from the event that took place in Crowborough last November.
The winners were:
2020
Under 10yrs Male
Ryan Hosking-Potton
Under 10yrs Female
Sofia Fuller
10-13yrs Male
Joseph Cuffe
10-13yrs Female
Elixir Biron-Monnier
14-17yrs Male
No winner with more than 2 Golds
14-17yrs Female
Sophie Watkins
18yrs+ Male
Matthew Aston
18yrs+ Female
Lynda Efstathiou
2021
Under 10yrs Male
Trey Clarke
Under 10yrs Female
Kasey Stopps
10-13yrs Male
Ryan Hosking-Potton
10-13yrs Female
Gabrielle Lear
14-17yrs Male
Ben Todd
14-17yrs Female
Millie Thurtle
18yrs+ Male
Matthew Aston
18yrs+ Female
No winner with more than 2 golds
After this the 1st Degree certificates were presented and a few words said about each before the came and collected their officially framed certificate. The successful 1st Degree candidates were:
Miss Aayesha Shanavas 1st Degree
Miss Sophie Watkins 1st Degree
Mrs Jo Armstrong 1st Degree
Mr Mitch Saunders 1st Degree
Miss Chloe Anderson 1st Degree
Mr Ian Dinnis 1st Degree
Miss Evie Shepperson 1st Degree
After this dinner was served. At 8.15pm the second part of the evening got underway with some diplomas that were presented to students who have been selected to represent England in the last two years. These were:
Sophie Watkins – European Championships in Spain
Emma Wessels – European Championships in Spain
Isabella Wessels – European Championships in Spain
Ellena Lobley – World Online Championships, selected for the European Championships
Ethan Stopps – World Online Championships, European Championships in Spain
Nick Edmunds – European Championships in Spain
A final diploma was presented to Mr Jamie Singers thanking him for his loyal service to the AETA over the years. He has now moved away and has had to close his club in Hastings.
The last part of the presentations went to the higher Degree Certificates and these were presented to:
Isabella Wessels 2nd Degree
Ellena Lobley 2nd Degree
Peter Rickards 3rd Degree
Richard Hutcheson 4th Degree
Nick Edmunds 4th Degree
MC Steve Lobley gave a final speech to wrap the evening up and there was a disco from 8.45pm until late were everyone had an incredible time catching up and partying.
Photos courtesy of Amanda Collins Photography
More photos can be found at the gallery here: PHOTO GALLERY