Young York athletes awarded with bursaries to help them keep training

Ten young athletes in York who were part of this year’s Valhalla Throws Academy have been presented with bursaries to put towards sports equipment thanks to support from TalkTalk Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO).

Valhalla Throws Academy, which was started last year, welcomed local youngsters of all abilities aged 11 and over to learn or improve their skills in discus, shot put and javelin.

Participants have been taught by guest coaches including

• shot put professional Scott Lincoln, who represented Great Britain European Team Championships 2019
• Mick Hill who has represented Great Britain in javelin in four Olympics
• and Jade Lally, a discus professional who competed in the 2016 Olympics for Great Britain.

Sport nutritionists and psychologists also presented at the event days sharing their top tips on keeping a healthy mind and body in sport.

TalkTalk UFO has supported Valhalla Throws Academy as part of its community programme in the city, while connecting residents to the lightning fast full fibre network which makes York one of the top digital infrastructure cities in the UK.

Developing their skills

Six Valhalla Academy event days were due to take place over six months. However, the final session has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was decided to award the athletes with the bursaries before the final event day in the hope that they carry on training and developing their skills during this time.

Paul Wilson, Head Coach for Valhalla Throws Academy, said: “It’s been a pleasure training and supporting the young, talented athletes during our academy event days and we’re delighted to present a bursary to these worthy youngsters.

“It was a really difficult decision to postpone our final day to 2021 and so we hope awarding the bursaries early will help the athletics keep up their training and development.

“Thanks to TalkTalk UFO, the coaches and team for their support.”

Marketing manager at TalkTalk Ultra Fibre Optic Helen Fletcher said: “We’re proud to support Valhalla Throws Academy’s bursary programme and to be here today to recognise the young athletes’ achievements.

“We’ve been committed to supporting community initiatives that make a real difference and the Valhalla Throws Academy’s bursary is a fantastic step towards making athletics in the local area more inclusive and accessible.

“Well done to all involved!”