Young sports stars get cash boost

Sisters Alice and Megan Dillon, Shea Hannam and athletes from Lancaster City Swimming and Water Polo Club were amongst those from across the county to be awarded £500 to support them in their chosen sports.

The Lancashire Rising Star Fund grants were handed out at a ceremony at the University of Central Lancashire and are aimed at helping to cover costs such as travel, training, accommodation, 
competition fees and equipment.

Alice, 12, and Megan, 14 are both from Morecambe and are members of Garstang Table Tennis Club.

Alice wants to reach the top 15 of the Cadets U15s with a view to competing in the Cadets Masters and Megan has played in the ESTTA National Championships, Cadet County Championships and for the County Junior team.

Aaron Mason, Eve Simpson, Owain Llewellyn, Stefano Cossutti and Zak Lamb are all members of Lancaster Water Polo Team who were awarded a team grant to support the team to continue to be one of the most successful water polo clubs in the country.

Between them they have competed in the Inter Regional Water Polo Championships, National English Schools Water Polo Competition, Tri Nations Tournaments, European Tournaments and train regularly as part of the GB squad in Cardiff.

Lancaster coach Zak Sly went to the presentation night with the five members.

He said: “It’s great to see the water polo players doing so well compared to the other sports in Lancashire and these five water polo players are just a handful of the success at Lancaster City Swimming and Water Polo Club. ”

Also awarded a grant was Shea Hannam, 13, from Morecambe who competes in Modern Pentathlon with Lancaster City ASWPC Tri Team.

Shea has taken part in a wide range of competitions over the last year including the World Biathle Championships in Cyprus, the National Biathlon and Triathlon Championships, British schools Biathlon Championships and competed in the European Biathle championships as part of the GB team.

He said: “This will go a long way helping towards the cost of training days, competition entries and travel costs.

“I am currently looking into regular fencing training, which will then allow me to also compete in tetrathlon, this is now more achievable with this funding.”