Paralympians of the Future? - News - North East Lincolnshire

Paralympians of the Future?

A TRIO of young athletes from the School Sports Partnership area are dreaming of the big time after being selected for the Playground to Podium programme. The scheme is a national initiative and is designed to identify and develop young people who have a disability. The aim is to maximise their potential and help them get the best out of themselves.

It is hoped some on the scheme will even go on to become top Paralympians, competing alongside the best in the business.

Jack Booth, of Humberston School, Jamie Carter, of Caistor Yarborough, and Sam Waters, of Oasis Academy Wintringham, have all been picked out after catching the eye of coaches at special 'ability days' – which seek to identify possible stars of the future.

Now on the scheme, the athletes will benefit from high-level coaching. Jack, 12, excels at wheelchair basketball, and has also recently tried sprint racing. He said: "It is a good chance for me. Opportunities like this don't come about every day. It is a long shot, but eventually I would like to make the Paralympics. It is just a dream – it is up to me to make it a reality."

Jack travels to the north bank each week to train with the Hull Stingers basketball team.

He added: "My friends and family support me. My mum makes the effort to take me to training each week and my mates think it is all good. I want to improve my all-round game now. Hopefully I can learn from others, and maybe others can learn a bit from me too."

Meanwhile, Jamie, 15, is also hoping to go on to bigger and better things in basketball and wheelchair racing. He said: "The next step is to hopefully benefit from the coaching. I would love to get to the Paralympics one day. I am hoping to be at London 2012 as a volunteer. I have applied to help out, which would be great. I've just got to keep the training up now, it's the same with any sport. I do around five hours a week of basketball training, plus the sessions I do at school. It is a lot of work, but if you want the medal, you've got to do the training."

Sam, 14, is another hoping to make the most of the opportunity. The table tennis talent is determined go from strength to strength after being identified as having sporting potential.

Karen Hames, disability school sports co-ordinator for the North East Lincolnshire Schools Sports Partnership, said: "Playground to Podium enables young people to progress and show off their skills to a wider audience. Who knows, we may have a future Paralympian in our midst. We encourage young people in mainstream schools to attend ability days, where their talent can be spotted. The Playground to Podium scheme can then give them the opportunity to go further with opportunities that would not necessarily be available within a school setting."

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