At a previous SportsAid Cymru Wales fund-raising lunch, organised by the charity’s hard-working West Wales Committee in Carmarthen, SACW Administrator Linda Chamberlain-Jones outlined the achievements of some of the region’s young sportspeople who are doing Wales proud with their commitment and progress. They were:
Daniel Clarke aged 13, of Carmarthen (Badminton). Daniel is the current U13 Champion. At the Junior Welsh Nationals he also took the Mixed Doubles title with partner Lowri Hart. Daniel is following in his elder brother Jac’s footsteps – Jac (also a SACW grant recipient) competes for Wales at U17 level in badminton and is now coaching the junior players.
Bethany Bennett aged 11, of Llanelli (Road & Track Cycling). Bethany was ranked GB number one at under 10. Dedicated to her sport, she competes most weekends, has many midweek races and trains every Wednesday evening at the National Velodrome in Newport. She is currently training hard to prepare for the 2016 European Junior Tour of Assen in Holland, a challenging six-day event. (Bethany has an inspiring role model in Nicole Cooke, Beijing Olympic Gold Medallist in 2008, whom SportsAid Cymru Wales supported when she too was a young schoolgirl).
Emily Shawyer aged 14, of Carmel (Shooting – Air Pistol). At just 14 years of age Emily is an exceptional talent. She recently competed for Wales in Luxembourg and the Netherlands qualifying for two Junior U21 Finals. In the last few months Emily qualified for the Finals at the British Championships, won Bronze at the North Wales Championships and became Scottish Junior Champion.
Emily Stradling aged 16, of Porthcawl (Basketball). Emily has recently been named Captain of the Wales U18 team that will be traveling to Georgia this summer (2016) to compete in the European Championships. Emily said “I am over the moon that I will be receiving financial support from Sportsaid Cymru Wales. I know it will help my family greatly in funding my tournaments abroad this summer. Thank you very much”.
Jac Perry aged 18, of Llanelli (Gymnastics – Tumbling). Jac had a very successful 2015 coming 4th in the British Championships and he was a member of the GB Team that came 2nd in the French Championships in November. He is on track to be selected for his first World Championships later this year. This is the third year that SportsAid Cymru Wales has supported Jac.
Hana Davies aged 15, of Llanelli (Gymnastics). Hana is a very talented gymnast coming 1st Overall (1st Beam, 2nd Bars, 4th Vault) in the British National Challenge Cup in July last year. Welsh Gymnastics Head of Performance & Excellence, Jo Coombs, expects Hana to be selected to compete for Wales during 2016. Hana’s home is in Llanelli but, along with her sister Carys, who is also a talented gymnast and a SportsAid Cymru Wales recipient this year, lives and goes to school in Cardiff during the week so she has access to Welsh Gymnastics top coaches and facilities.
Lewis Fraser aged 15, of Swansea (Swimming). Lewis is GB Champion at 100m breaststroke and GB No.3 at 200m, competing at Age 15 level. In 2014 he was GB 1 and 2 competing at Age 14 level. He is a member of the Welsh National Development Squad (Youth) and his ambition this year is to retain his GB title at the British Championships in Glasgow. This is the second year that SportsAid Cymru Wales has supported Lewis.
One of the highlights of the event, which is expected to raise more than £5,000 for SACW funds, was an address from Steven Jones of the Football Association of Wales. Steve donated for auction a ball signed by the fabulous Wales squad who qualified for the Euros. May turn out to be a better investment than £50 on Leicester!