Young Goalball star named in London 2012 team

15 year old, David Knott from Southampton, is gearing up for the moment of his life, after being selected for the men's GB Goalball Squad for the London 2012 Paralympics.

David, who received a grant from the Beckwith Scholarships, run by the Youth Sport Trust, will compete alongside his brother, Adam, in the six man squad in less than seven weeks time.

The Beckwith Scholarships aims to provide financial support to exceptionally talented young athletes (14-18) and help them to achieve their future sporting potential. Since 2001, Sir John Beckwith, founder of the Youth Sport Trust, has been supporting exceptionally talented young athletes and over 100 young athletes have received financial support at critical times in their early careers.

Former Beckwith Scholars have gone on to achieve considerable success, notably swimmer James Goddard who won backstroke gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Tom Lucy who won a silver medal in the Men's eight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Mark Lewis Francis who won an Olympic gold at Athens 2004, in the 4x100m relay.

A very talented young athlete and a member of the team that went to the Senior Europeans in Poland in September 2011, David is glowing with pride: "On the call, my coach was winding me up five minutes before, saying I was too young and didn't have the experience to compete at the Paralympics, but then he broke the news and I just couldn't believe it.

"Three years ago, I didn't know what the sport was and here I am now, still at school and gearing up to compete at the London 2012 Games, playing at the top level of the sport; it's incredible. Going to the event with my brother is going to be great; we train at home together and have been to tournaments together, so it's a great advantage to have going into the competition."

"It's a fantastic achievement for David, as he is only a handful of young people who are school aged, representing team GB at the London 2012 Games" noted Guin Batten, who manages the Beckwith Scholarships programme at Youth Sport Trust.

"We'd like to congratulate him on his hard work and recognise the important support from his coaches, parents and teachers on his journey into elite sport. We wish both David and Adam the best of luck at the Games."