01 July 2015 

The Great Britain & Northern Ireland team head out to Stadskanaal, Holland this week ahead of the IWAS World Junior Games, which takes place between 2-8 July.

The Games will host swimming, fencing and hockey alongside athletics in the seven days of action and the GB & NI contingent will be looking to build on a successful outing in Stoke Mandeville last year.

One of the highlights in 2014 was Polly Maton (coach: Colin Baross), who secured an impressive haul of three gold medals and will once again be looking to bring more silverware back to the UK. The 15 year old clocked 13.0 on her way to a second place finish in the 100m at the Wiltshire County Schools’ Championships two weeks ago and will head to Holland aiming to repeat the form that saw her claim the T46 100m, 200m and long jump titles 12 months ago. 

A further eight gold medals and 36 in total were won in Stoke Mandeville with Mitchell Dutton (Caroline Price), Millie Forrest (Robert Halliwell), Sheikh Sheikh (Jenny Archer) and Will Smith (Jenny Archer) all returning this year with the sole intention of retaining their respective crowns. 

The fast-improving Julie Rogers (Allen Adamson) meanwhile will have her sights set on improving on a fifth place finish from the last edition of the championships and the world number six will be determined to take another chunk off her lifetime best of 17.40 in the T42 100m category.

Another of GB & NI’s rising stars is Molly Kingsbury (Roger Graham), who at the tender age of 14 is producing the sort of performances that have caught the eye of many watching her following her first full season of competition last year. The T37 athlete has the potential to improve her marks of 16.03 and 4.02m in the 100m and long jump respectively and will be one to watch out for as she embarks on her international bow.

Paralympic Head Coach Paula Dunn said: “The IWAS World Junior Games offers a great platform for athletes to make that next step to the major senior championships. The likes of Hannah Cockroft, Mickey Bushell and Aled Davies have all won medals at this event and it has stood them in good stead in their transition to the senior GB & NI team.

“It is really encouraging to see so many athletes coming through the Paralympic pathway and I’m confident we will see some strong results in Stadskanaal this summer to follow up what was a successful IWAS World Junior Games in Stoke Mandeville last year.” 

For more information visit: http://www.iwasf.com/iwasf/index.cfm/games/iwas-world-junior-games/2015-stadskanaal-netherlands/

The GB & NI team for the IWAS World Junior Games, 2-8 July, Stadskanaal, Holland:

James Arnott (Ryan Freckleton)

Shaun Burrows (Joseph McDonnell)

Amy Carr (Rick Betts)

Mitchell Dutton (Caroline Price)

Millie Forrest (Robert Halliwell)

George Fox (Derek Newton)

Jack Gladman (Caroline Keeble)

Matthew Hamilton (Steve Mitchell)

Molly Kingsbury (Roger Graham)

Dillon Labrooy (Jenny Archer)

Nathan Maguire (Steven Hoskins)

Polly Maton (Colin Baross) 

Michael McCabe (Christine Parsloe)

Anna Nicholson (Claire Buckle)

Javaughn Parkes (Lincoln Asquith)

Ryan Raghoo (Harry King)

Julie Rogers (Allen Adamson)

Jayden Saberton (Lee Walker)

Sheikh Sheikh (Jenny Archer)

Will Smith (Jenny Archer)

Amy Wareing (Jim Edwards)