May 7 - The winners' podium in front of a packed Olympic stadium – and with the strains of the national anthem ringing in your ears.

That's the dream for a group of talented young sportsmen and women from Suffolk who have completed the Sports Leaders UK Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership.

The teenagers, from The Ashley School in Lowestoft are in the England National Athletics squad and they're hoping to represent Great Britain in the Paralympic Games thanks to their hard work, determination and record-breaking feats around the racetracks of Europe.

"It started in such a small way," explained Jackie Milton, PE Subject Leader at The Ashley School, "and their progress has been amazing to watch."

The school teaches pupils with moderate learning difficulties and is always looking for new ways to instil much-needed self-confidence. In this instance, it came through the involvement of Sports Leaders UK.

"We decided to trial the Sports Leaders UK Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership to see if it would help the students in other aspects of their lives," said Jackie. "Remember, these are children who have struggled to make progress in the mainstream system - but having moved to The Ashley School, they've grasped their opportunities with both hands. Some of them were painfully shy to start with, didn't want to communicate and had very low self-esteem."

But the basics of the course from Sports Leaders UK – planning creative training sessions and helping other young people – really brought them out of their shells.

"They ran training sessions for both our school and local primary schools, held Top Link Festivals, skittleball competitions and a number of other athletic events. They have also acted as ambassadors for the local Sports Partnership," continued Jackie. "You could see their confidence grow."

Soon, a close-knit group was formed and the Sports Leaders UK course dovetailed nicely with the physical athletics work Jackie was also coaching.

"They all had some skills in athletics and we let them find the event that suited them best. We held regular training and coaching sessions, and before we knew it, we had a cracking little athletics squad on our hands."

The team entered the National Athletics Championships for athletes with learning difficulties and travelled up to Manchester to enjoy their first competition. A day later, they had been transformed.

"We entered 18 events, from sprinting, long distance, long jump, javelin and discus – and we won 12 golds, three silvers and two bronzes!" laughed Jackie. "Literally overnight, they realised what they could achieve and things really took off from there."

The team's talent was instantly recognised, and they were invited to travel to Sheffield and train with the Mencap England squad. Several more records were smashed at subsequent events and the team were full of confidence when they travelled to Paris for a French Open meeting.

In the 16 events entered, 12 golds were secured and the Suffolk young people were the talk of the Championships. On their return, they were welcomed into the very successful City Of Norwich Athletics Club, a mainstream athletics club.

"It's wonderful to see them now making new friends, chatting to new people and enjoying themselves like other youngsters of their age," said Jackie, who travels everywhere with the team, along with an enthusiastic band of mums, dads and grandparents.

Several more tournaments have seen similar successes and four of the athletes were selected to represent Great Britain in the Senior World Indoor Athletics Championships in Sweden in April, and will compete in the Senior European Track and Field Championships in Croatia in July. Finding enough funding to keep the team on the road is difficult, but Jackie is determined they will be attending.

On the horizon is the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Depending on the events chosen for the Games, these young Sports Leaders could well have an excellent chance of standing on that podium as the Union Flag is raised and the anthem strikes up.

"It's a wonderful thought," admits Jackie. "But they're only 15 and 16 now, which is something we tend to forget because they've done so well. They could be in their prime, though, for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio!"

(The End)