Mitchell Adshead (swimming), Simon Briars (archery) and Emma Wilkins (swimming) from Cannock

Young Olympic hopefuls receive sporting recognition

Young Olympic hopefuls from across Staffordshire received an award in recognition of their exceptional talent recently.

A special ceremony took place at the historic County Buildings in Stafford, Staffordshire on Friday 3 April where 36 young athletes were presented with a cheque, as part of Staffordshire County Council's Young People's Sports Grant Scheme.

Each year the scheme provides funding to support young sportspeople who either live or go to school in Staffordshire and have proven to excel in their field.  The money awarded is used to support the cost of their training and participation in competitions, including expenses such as travel, equipment and accommodation.

This year the successful applicants' sporting talents range from athletics, swimming and cycling to canoe slalom and volleyball

Each of the young sportspeople being awarded has one thing in common, an ambition to represent their country at a senior level and compete at future Olympic Games with some targeting London 2012.  Some of the young people who were awarded have also played a key part recently to launch the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Legacy Action Plan for the 2012 Games which provides a framework which can be used to engage people within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

At the awards ceremony, the young people heard first hand what it is like to represent your country, as they listened to Charlotte Craddock, the youngest member of the Team GB Hockey squad talk about her Beijing Olympic experience.  Charlotte, aged 18 from Wolverhampton has played club hockey for Cannock from the age of 8 and played for Staffordshire under 12s when she was 10.  She has since played for various Staffordshire aged teams winning many tournaments. 

County Councillor Robert Simpson, Deputy Leader said: "I am very pleased to be able to recognise and support so much sporting talent in the county.  While we encourage every young person to participate in sport as part of a healthy lifestyle, it is a real privilege to be able to support our elite competitors.  I hope very much to see Staffordshire represented in London in four years time."

Page Last Modified: 09/04/2009 10:16:06

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