Young Shropshire Athlete seeks sponsors to secure a new wheelchair – can you help?

Did you know we have a budding athletics star in our midst?  Ben Rowlings lives in Newport,  is 15 years old, has cerebral palsy and is already in the Top Five in the UK and thats with a very old wheelchair borrowed from someone else!   Where would he be with the state of the art racing wheelchair with carbon wheels that his competitors use?  We hope that by promoting this promising young star through SDN someone will pick up his details and think about helping him out.  The cost of this Chair is £3,695 and Ben and his family are wondering if there is anyone out there who can help him fulfil his dream.  The purpose built chair would enable Ben to kneel when racing which reduces the spasms in his legs and of course allows him to focus on going even faster! 

At 15 years old Ben is ranked in the top 5 for 100m and 200m in the U.K. Ben was identified through Playground to Podium by Job King in 2010, he started training in March/April just in time for a debut at the London Mini Marathon! During the course of the season Ben competed 24 times in UKA recognised competition, plus the DSE National Junior Championships at Blackpool, reducing his PB’s from 27s to 21.77s for the 100m, and a staggering jump from 53s to 41.36s in the 200m.   

Ben has travelled to competitions across the country, and represented CP sport at the Irish National Championships in Dublin. Ben’s highlight of the year was at Sainsbury’s UK School Games in Sheffield representing the Manchester team, where he finished 2^nd in both the 100m and 200m, and ahead of GB international athletes. These results took Ben over 700 points and he got an invite to UKA Talent ID Squad Days in Manchester. 

After initial coaching from retired Paralympic WCR Coach Tony Williams, Job King now coaches Ben.  His training is split between Telford Athletics track and twice weekly trips to the University of Warwick, for group workouts on a Mondo track.

To get Ben started he has borrowed 3 second hand chairs one of which is as old as him! These have allowed Ben to explore a variety of seating positions. More recently Ben has tried a kneeling chair which has reduced spasms in his legs and allows a better pushing technique. Having a custom made chair will of course benefit comfort from day to day in training, plus competition performance through modern technology and improved power transfer to the wheels.  

Ben has also supported a number of activities as a young ambassador for Youth Sport Trust and helped other athletes take their first steps into sport. English Federation for Disability Sport and Youth Sport Trust are using Ben as a case study in Play ground to Podium.    

So if you can offer any funding, ideas or promote Ben’s need to others who might help, please do so.  It would be wonderful to help this dedicated young man, who is full of  ambition and determined to overcome any obstacle to fulfil his dream.  In the first instance please contact Ben’s Mum  Claire Rowling on 07854 609 244  78 Hampton Drive, Newport, Shropshire.