Good to Great scheme unveiled

The “Good to Great!” Oswestry Sports Network aims to attract young people excelling in their sports at a local level, and try to push them on to national and international standard.

It aims to bring them together along with their parents and coaches, to hear from inspirational experts and to share their experiences on topics common in all sports.

Quarterly meetings will be held with expert guest speakers on topics like nutrition, sports psychology, dealing with injury and life after sport.

Stuart Manford, originally from Oswestry, came up with the idea. Stuart represented Wales in the 50 metre swimming in the 2006 commonwealth games. He started his swimming career as a child with Oswestry Otters.

The new initiative will be launched on February 9 at 7pm in Oswestry Cricket Club, with guest speaker, Nick Beighton.

Nick served as a Captain with the Royal Engineers in Afghanistan in 2009 when he lost his legs in an explosion.

He began rowing during his rehabilitation and went on to compete at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. In the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, Nick competed in the Mens KL2 canoe sprint, in which he won a Bronze Medal.

There will be a short presentation from Nick about his sporting career, about facing challenges and maintaining motivation.

Susie Hancock, secretary at the Oswestry Sports Forum, said she is excited about the scheme:

“I am very excited about this new project and I would really like to reach potential members in all different sports, so that we can have a rich base of experiences to share within the network.”