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Elite Young Disabled Athletes go for Gold in Brazil

A team of 25 elite young disabled athletes from Great Britain are heading to South America to compete in the Paralimpiadas Escolares de 2013, a major multi-sport event in Brazil for promising school age competitors.

The event takes place in São Paulo between 26 and 30 November and will see competitors from 27 regions of Brazil compete in 10 sports. The GB team, which departs for Brazil on Saturday (November 23), has been invited to compete at the event by organisers in Brazil following the close links that have been formed between the countries due to their common interests as host nations of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In September this year a team from Brazil competed against 1,600 UK athletes in Sheffield at the Sainsbury’s School Games, a multi sport event for disabled and non-disabled competitors which is funded by Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust.

The Great Britain squad travelling to Brazil will consist of athletes who will compete in boccia, CP football, goalball and swimming. Many of those competing at the Paralimpiadas Escolares de 2013 have ambitions of going on to represent their country at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.

One of the swimmers taking part is 15 year old Amy Marren from Essex. She will compete in the Disability Sport Events' National Short Course Championships before flying out. This event takes place in Sheffield this weekend.

Colin Allen, Chef De Mission and a Project Manager at the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), said:

“It is a pleasure to be taking some of our best young disabled athletes to Brazil so they can experience an international multi-sport competition. I am sure that competing in an event like this, hundreds of miles away from home, will be a fascinating learning experience for them. Some of the athletes that are travelling have high hopes of competing in Rio at the Paralympics in 2016 so this will give them a taste of what life will be like should they make the team in a few years time.”

18-year old Kieran Steer from Fife in Scotland, who will be competing in the boccia competition, said:

“Competing at the Paralimpiadas Escolares in Brazil is a fantastic opportunity and it will be very different to anything I have done before. Being away from home, experiencing a different culture and competing against different athletes will be a great learning curve that I’m sure will help me develop my future career.”

Minister for Sport Helen Grant added:

“The School Games is a key part of our sports legacy from hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games as we want to create a culture in this country where people play sport for life. The partnership and student exchange programme between the School Games in the UK and Brazil is strengthening both the international and domestic legacy from London 2012 - good luck to those athletes competing from Britain in São Paulo.”

Hockey international Josie Inverdale, a TASS-funded athlete, is also joining the delegation in Brazil and will speak at a parallel seminar being run by TASS National Director, Guy Taylor, for the Brazilian Ministry for Sport. She will talk about being an elite athlete and the measures she takes to combine top-level sport with study. Andrew Scoular, Chief Executive of British Judo, will speak at the same conference. He will give an insight into how his sport interfaces with the University sector.

For more information contact Lee Murphy: 07825 065 179