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Derbyshire Talented Athlete Fund supports another 16 sports stars

8 July 2008

The Fund, which is supported by local authorities and other businesses and organisations in the county, provides promising sports competitors with cash to help them further their sporting careers - and in its inaugural year has helped 76 athletes.

The final 16 athletes chosen to benefit from the scheme this year includes sports performers from Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire, Amber Valley, Derby City, Derbyshire Dales, South Derbyshire, Erewash and High Peak.

They are competing in a wide-range of sports, including basketball, cricket, clay pigeon shooting, fencing, golf, gymnastics, motor sport, kayaking, canoe slalom, sailing, tennis, ten pin bowling and wheelchair basketball.

Each athlete will receive £300, which they can use to help meet costs associated with training and competition such as coaching fees, travel and equipment.

Cllr Clive Moesby, Chair of Derbyshire Sport, said: "It is fantastic that the Derbyshire Talented Athlete Fund has been able to help so many promising sports performers in its first year.

"The athletes and their parents tell us that the bursaries are a tremendous help, and they also appreciate the recognition that the Fund gives.

"The Fund is only available thanks to the generous support of all the funders, and is a great example of partners working together across the county."

All the chosen athletes are competing for England or Great Britain or have the potential to do so within the next 18 months.

Performers from all sports recognised by Sport England were eligible for bursaries, except those already receiving individual lottery awards or TASS funding. Athletes from 26 priority sports (listed below) were nominated by their governing bodies of sport and performers in non prioirty sports applied directly to the Fund.

All local authorities in the county have contributed to the Fund, along with a number of other local organisations and businesses. The Fund is managed by Derbyshire Sport.

The Fund was officially launched in December 2007, when the names of the first 18 recipients were announced. A further 42 athletes were chosen to receive a bursary in March.

Applications for 2008 have now closed. The process for 2009 applications is expected to begin in September.

The following local authorities have financially supported the Talented Athlete Fund: Derbyshire County Council, South Derbyshire District Council, North East Derbyshire District Council, Derby City Council, High Peak Borough Council, Amber Valley Borough Council, Bolsover District Council, Erewash Borough Council, Chesterfield Borough Council and Derbyshire Dales District Council.

A number of local companies have also contributed, including Derbyshire Building Society, Derby College, Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Lorson International, East Midlands Airport, Electrical Contractors Association, Fairgrove Group, Spirita, East Midlands Development Agency, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Rolls-Royce and the University of Derby.

The 26 priority sports are: athletics, boccia, cricket, girls football, hockey, orienteering, rugby union, swimming, triathlon, badminton, boxing, cycling, golf, judo, rowing, sailing, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, canoeing, equestrian, gymnastics, netball, rugby league, squash and tennis.

More details about each of the 16 athletes can be found below:

AmberValley

Alice Sharp (Hockey)

15-year-old Alice, from Duffield, plays for the Belper Ladies first team in the National League North, and was part of the Belper U18 team which won the England Hockey National Club Cup Finals in May. She has also already played 11 matches for the England U16 team (five as Vice captain), and has been selected to represent England U16 girls at the European Youth Nations Championships at The Hague in Holland in July. She has also been invited to attend an U18 England Selection camp in August.

Ryan Hewitt (Motorsport)

During his first season as a rookie 12-year-old Ryan, from Heanor, gained 2nd place in Formula 6. He was also placed 2nd in the South East Championships representing England, and won the East Anglia Winter Championships. This enabled him to move into the Super 1 Elite series this season, and he hopes to achieve a top three ranking. He also hopes to compete in the ABKC 'O' Plate in Kent in September, bettering last year's 7th place, and in the London Cup in October, when he hopes to improve on last year's 6th place.

Chesterfield

Jake Meakin (Clay pigeon shooting)

Jake, from Walton, (17), competed in the World Championships in Cyprus in September 2007, his first international competition, and will be considered to compete again for GB this year. He has been selected to the British International Clay Target Shooting Federation Training Squads for 2008 in the Olympic skeet junior men squad.

Michael Torkington (Tennis)

15-year-old Michael, from Chesterfield, currently trains at the High Performance Centre at Nottingham Tennis Centre. He has won a number of national tournaments including Aerial Grand Prix events and is currently ranked within the top 20 junior players of his age in the country. Michael has also performed successfully in a number of European Tennis Association Tournaments. He was a member of the Nottingham Tennis Centre team that was crowned national champions in the final of the National Junior Club League in 2007. He has led the Derbyshire junior county teams on many occasions and has also represented Great Britain at U12 and U14 level.

Derby

Rema Lascelles (Basketball)

15-year-old Rema, from Oakwood, is a member of the Derby Trailblazers U16 and U18 team. He represented England U16s in an international tournament in Majorca in April, and in Austria in May 2008. He is a part of the current England U16 squad that is training towards the 2008 European Championships in August. He played for the Midlands regional team in 2007 and East Midlands in 2006 and 2005.

Gabby Bates (Freestyle Kayaking)

15-year-old Gabby, from Mickleover, is part of the GB junior ladies kayak team. She will compete in the European Championships in Spain in July, and in the European Cup in Switzerland in August. She will also compete at the British Championships in Nottingham in September.

Katy Jones (Sailing)

Katy, (17), from Allestree, teamed up with 2005 World Champion Ross Kearney in the Mirror class last year, and had success with a 2nd place in the UK National Championships. Katy and Ross also competed at this year's Mirror National Championships in May, taking second place again. They will also compete at the 2008 European Championships in August. In addition, Katy was a winner at the 2007 Welsh Nationals and Southern Area Championships.

Derbyshire

Craig Young (Golf)

Craig, (16), won the Derbyshire Boys Championship, the Derbyshire Boys Matchplay and the Derbyshire Boys Order of Merit in 2007. He also came second in the Midland Golf Union's U16 Champion of Champions. He has since graduated to not only play for the County 2nd Team as well as Derbyshire Boys. He will also compete in the McGregor Championship in July.

Derbyshire Dales

Charlotte Horton (Cricket)

22-year-old Charlotte, from Matlock, is in the England Women's Development Squad and is also Captain of the Derbyshire Women's team. She is part of the Diamonds squad which is currently competing in the women's Super4s, and has been asked to return to the Western Australia Women's Cricket Squad for the 2008/09 season.

Erewash

Sam Woodford (Gymnastics)

13-year-old Sam, from Long Eaton, competed at the Pegasus Open in Maidstone in June, and came 5th on Floor 4th on Parallel Bars and 11th overall. He also competed at the Wales International in Swansea, where despite an ankle injury he came 2nd on Parallel Bars, 5th on the High Bar and 4th on the Rings, and his team, Notts Gymnastics Club, came 1st overall. Sam will soon compete at the County Championships before taking a short break until October, when he hopes to compete at an International competition in Croatia.

Zach Walker (Gymnastics)

Zach, (14), from Long Eaton, travelled to Belgium last October to represent Great Britain in the Wase International Cup, where he won three gold medals. He also won a silver medal with the U14 team at the British Championships in Ipswich earlier this year, and gold in the individual floor and vault at a county competition in Nottingham. He recently travelled to Swansea to train with the Welsh team, but was unable to compete due to a back injury.

HighPeak

Madeleine Thompson (Wheelchair Basketball)

At the 2007 National Juniors Championships 13-year-old Madeleine, from Hope Valley, was awarded the most valued player of the year. She has recently attended the GB training camps at Stoke Mandeville, and competed at the European Junior Championships in May.

Anna Miles 'Malti (Fencing)

15-year-old Anna, from Glossop, was selected to join the Cadet Potential Programme in March as she is ranked in the top six in her age group, gender and weapon in the UK. The CPP is funded by the British Fencing Association and involves 3-4 training weekends per year. Anna attended her first session in March. In April she took first place in the North West Championship Ladies Sabre Open, after coming second at the British Youth Championships Sabre finals (U16) in February.

North East Derbyshire

George and Leo Marshall (Canoe Slalom)

George, (18), and his younger brother Leo, (16), from Dronfield Woodhouse, have been competing in canoe slalom for around 16 months in the C2 category. They finished last season ranked 8th nationally in the premier division of the national ranking system (3rd Juniors). They were selected to represent England in this year's Pan Celtic Cup, a home international series in England, Scotland and Wales, and have been selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior World Canoe Slalom Championships and the Junior European Championships this summer.

South Derbyshire

Katrina Maciver (Ten Pin Bowling)

17-year-old Katrina, from Swadlincote, has represented England in both UK and European tournaments, including the European Youth Championships in Greece in 2007. Her goals for the next 12 months include qualifying for the England U18 Triple Crown Team, which will compete against Scotland, Ireland and Wales in August.