20 of the youngest and finest

RYA Volvo National Youth sailors to attend the National Talent Orientation Camp next month

Around 20 of the most promising young sailors in the RYA Volvo National Youth Squad will get a unique insight into what it takes to become an Olympic medallist when the fourth National Talent Orientation Camp (NTOC) is staged at Loughborough University next month.

Alongside the cream of the country’s top young sporting talent in seven other sports – canoeing (slalom and sprint), cycling (track and BMX), hockey, netball, rowing, rugby union (men’s and women’s) and wheelchair basketball - the sailors will get expert advice and guidance from a host of former Olympic, Paralympic, World and European champions, including former world indoor sprint champion Jason Gardiner, and current Olympic, World and European Laser champion Paul Goodison, when the four-day camp starts on Wednesday 6 January.

An initiative of the Youth Sport Trust (YST) aimed at preparing young athletes for the personal, sporting, academic and vocational challenges that lie ahead of them, the first NTOC was staged in 2007 and each year since has grown on its initial success attracting more and more athletes and national attention.

The 2010 camp will see around 130 young athletes, aged between 14 and 18 enjoy a combination of cross-sport training sessions and competition with motivational workshops, keynote speeches on education and lifestyle planning and advice on drugs-free sport while a British Army Unit has also been enlisted to put the youngsters through their paces in a series of command tasks.

RYA Youth Racing Manager Duncan Truswell commented: "We’re really pleased to be involved in the camp again this year having received such positive feedback from previous years attendees. We’re sending even more of our young sailors along this time all of whom will be reaching a point in lives where they need to start balancing the conflicting priorities that inevitably arise between school work, training, competition and family life. To be able to make the right choices they have to really understand what it will take to be the best.

"With the camp focussing on the four key areas of making it to the top successfully, (talent and ability, attitude and ambition, pathway and education and lifestyle support) the athletes will leave with a much better appreciation of what is required of them to attain their goals of making it to the very top," he concluded.

Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: "The National Talent Orientation Camp helps deliver one of the Youth Sport Trust’s key priorities in terms of supporting young people with a talent in sport. It provides a unique opportunity for some of Britain’s potential future champions to meet and work closely with successful Olympians and Paralympians from their sport as well as find out from these role models exactly what it really takes to be the best."

Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe said: "This Camp gives young people an experience that they’ll never forget. Being mentored by your sporting heroes and hearing about the dedication it takes to win a medal is the sort of inspiration that can last a lifetime – and is the kind of opportunity that every young person with elite potential should have. That’s why the Government is putting record investment into sport - and it’s fantastic to see the difference it is making on the ground."

Among the sailors invited to Loughborough are 16-year-old Sam Sills who sailed a sensational year picking up both World and European titles in the Techno 7.8 class and fellow 16-year-old future talent Laser 4.7 Junior European Champion Tom Britz.

RYA Youth Racing Manager Duncan Truswell will be delivering workshops at the camp along with Skandia Team GBR’s Paul Goodison who is also a Youth Sport Trust Ambassador. Physiologist Adrian Campbell and Physiotherapist Helen Draper will also be representing the RYA at the camp.

National Talent Orientation Camp 2010 sailors:
Tim Gratton (420)
Ed Riley (420)
Mike Wood (420)
Hugh Brayshaw (420)
Amy Seabright (420)
Hermione Stanley (420)
Henry Lloyd Williams (29er)
Sam Batten (29er)
Tom Britz (Radial)
Cameron Douglas (Radial)
Jack Wetherell (Radial)
Elliot Hanson (Radial)
Rheanna Pavey (Radial)
Hannah Tilley (Radial)
Aaron Smith (Radial)
Phil McCoy (Radial)
Connor Bainbridge (RS:X)
Charlie Money (RS:X)
Sam Sills (RS:X)
Chloe Bennet (RS:X)
Matt Brown (RS:X)