Big Oak Trees From Little Oak Trees Grow.

George Handy has been selected for England’s 32-man U20 Elite Player Squad for 2022 and he’s hoping to make his debut in February in the U20 6 Nations. Zach McKenzie has been offered a scholarship at Forest Green Rovers FC based in Stroud. This week we have the heartwarming tale of two of our athletes who joined the club in their primary school days and look well set to go on and achieve bigger and better things in football and rugby respectively. There are also the latest update from the club regarding Covid restrictions at the track. There's a report on our ladies XC team in their recent fixture at Burton Dassett. We also have an initial draft of this year's T&F fixtures across all age groups. Good luck to those of you who are competing in this weekend's Midland's XC Championships in Mansfield and also to those of you who are helping out or competing in the NTRIX. Indeed good luck to any of you who are competing anywhere. Take care Best wishes David Jones View this email in your browser Zach on top of the podium. George Hendy as an U13 and prize giving at KES. Big Oak Trees From Little Acorns Grow Report - Paul Bearman It’s a well known fact that athletics is the base for all sporting activities, encompassing, speed, power, endurance, mobility and flexibility and so it is no surprise when these attributes help to enable some of our young athletes to excel at other sports. Here are profiles of two our young athletes who have been selected to fulfil their potential in other sports at an elite level. George Hendy, with his trademark shock of ginger hair has been a member of the club since his primary school days at the Croft. He has always been a very good all-round sportsman, excelling at rugby and cricket as well as being a very fine athlete. George continued to train at the club whilst playing cricket to district level and rugby at Shipston and at KES. He joined the Worcester Warriors U16 academy after being talent spotted but he was a very unhappy chap when they dropped him and oh what a mistake they made! Undeterred, he continued training at the club and got stronger and faster and with the unwavering support of his family, George joined the U16 - 18 Northampton Saints Academy and has excelled. He graduated to their Senior Academy in 2021 and made his first team debut for Saints in November playing at full back and scored in his second match after “turning on the burners”. By chance his parents were sitting next to the Saints chief exec who said they were very impressed with his speed. His mum told him that he had continued to do athletics for 10 years and that it has complimented his rugby. Now studying Geography at Loughborough, after his impressive first season in the Saints senior squad, 19 year old George has been selected for…