Following a rigorous national selection process, involving club and coach talent identification, a series of selection days were held around the county which had athletes represented from 14 GBWR clubs. As a result GBWR is pleased to announce that the following 12 athletes have been selected for the GB Talent Development Squad
| Louisa Tempest (Yorkshire Lions) |
| Dan Kellett (RGC) |
| Harry Langley (Canterbury) |
| Gemma Lumsdaine (Crushers) |
| Michael Fraser (West Coast Burn) |
| David Barber (Canterbury) |
| Jamie Shaw (Yorkshire Lions) |
| Ed Larkin (West Country Hawks)- pictured |
| Byron White (Yorkshire Lions) |
| Josh Waddell (DMP Bulls) |
| Faye West (West Country Hawks) |
| Josh Tudge (Yorkshire) |
Darren Matthews, the Assistant GB Coach will be the Lead Talent Coach for the programme. This will ensure a common coaching approach and help prepare athletes for consideration for the senior squad.
Darren will be assisted by Paralympian Alan Ash, who has a wealth of international experience as a Paralympian for over 20 years and is now an established coach at Crash.
In addition to the national coaching sessions there will be monthly Regional Training Sessions (RTS) in regional centres. In addition to those selected above, the following who have been selected as part of the talent pathway are also invited to attend:
| Ciaran Pryce (Solent) |
| Luke Cunniff (Tigers) |
| Gary Scholes (Tigers) |
| Kieran Flynn (RGC) |
| Patrick Asher-Relf (Solent) |
| Luke Wilson (Gloucester) |
| Andy Guy (Hawks)
The Regional Training Sessions will be coached by Danny Dawoud (North) and Gary Banks (South). Chief Executive David Pond said: “Congratulations to all those athletes who have been selected as part of the talent programme. The wealth of talent now playing the sport created a challenge for the selectors and also reflects the success of the development work over the last 5 years. A big thank you to the Lottery and Sport England who are funding this programme.” |
