Aidan Twomey

“Yooooo…”
My name’s Aidan and I am a coach for skip-hop which teaches people of all ages and abilities across England and Ireland the skill that is….skipping.


After studying sports development and fitness for two years in Central Sussex College, upon leaving i trained as a gym instructor in central YMCA in Foxhall and later qualified in summer 08. It was around this time I heard about skip-hop, about what they do, their vision and became acquainted with the founders Scott Robert-Shaw and Lee Collinson-James. It was with Lee and Scott that I realised that my passion for both sport and dance could be focused on the development of the skip-hop program.

From and early age and with my mum’s influence I became involved with trampolining at a recreational level. I was spotted by a club that had just been set-up and I started training 4 times a week for competitions. Trampolining is a sport that requires a great deal of discipline, skill, agility, a huge amount of stamina and a lot of special awareness which are all important attributes to any sports-person. I “bounced” competitively for a about 11 years on county, regional and national levels bringing home a lot of gold and silverware to fill up my trophy cabinet.  I later became a judge and coach through the governing body, British Gymnastics in order for me to give something back and pass on the skills I had learnt to the next generation of gymnasts.

For two years I worked with the charity YMCA in the children’s services department. I worked with a small group of staff looking after a large number of children with severe complex needs and extremely challenging behaviour. This was among the most rewarding things I have ever done.

I have always had a passion for music an I gained a huge “craving” to learn how to move to music in a way that was artistic and different. A huge craving to dance. Many people have inspired me in learning to dance, but not in an arts school, or academy. Everything I have learnt I have picked up from my contemporaries and I owe a great deal to my role-models. I learnt to dance in clubs by watching others who were well known on the scene for hours and trying to soak up as many moves as I can before working for hours on learning them myself. The beautiful thing about dance is that it is also about being your own person. It is very important that everyone has their own style, flow and moves, as this is what makes dance an art that is so diverse. It does not matter what you look like, everyone has something to offer. It provides a message of unity, appreciation for other’s skills, personal belief and success.
 
I found this same message being broadcasted in skipping especially through skip-hop. Skipping challenges those who are good at sport, but also rewards more-so the children who don’t expect to gain success out of sport. I have been brought up with the belief that “It doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are; you can do anything if you put your mind to it. And I take this message to people everyday through my work using my youth and enthusiasm as tools to show children they can be whatever they want to be and that …

…The possibilities are endless.

Peace out & keep skipping

"We had a fantastic day on the 30th April. I filmed the floor show and photographed the skills, so we are working away on them. We could really see the difference in how the children approached their second workshop. They loved it and learned so much. A big thanks to Aidan for all his energy and motivation." - Maria O'Connor, Presentation Primary School, Tuam, Co Galway

"Dear sir, we’ve just had Aidan Twomey coach our kids on Monday last. Both himself and the content were brilliant. Aidan has a lovely way of encouraging and praising the kids. It has taken the school over with skipping fever. I can't thank or praise Aidan enough. Well done." Deasun Lyons, St Enda's N School, Co Sligo

"Everyone at Annyalla National School had a great day skipping with Aidan.  The kids are still skipping on the yard during play times.  Aidan had a fantastic way of engaging all the children and teachers during the day.  We hope to have you back in the future to our school and thanks to Aidan for showing us his skipping skills." Donagh Nugent, Principal, Annyalla National School, Co Moneghan