A teenage boxer with aspirations to become an Olympic medal winner has been selected for a national scheme which fast-tracks the development of elite sporting talent.
Gateshead College student Brodie Stephenson is now enrolled on the England Boxing Talent Pathway Programme, which helps budding boxers to fulfil their potential and eventually compete on the national stage.
The Carlisle-born 16-year-old, who last year won a championship title in the National Association Girls and Boys Club Finals, is currently studying for an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) at Gateshead College.
It’s a stunning turnaround of fortunes for Brodie, who only got into boxing after collapsing during a running race aged 11.
She said: “The medics thought it was a heart problem but it was my breathing. I had intensive physio and after a period of rest I started boxing to build up my fitness again.
“I’d heard about the AASE course at Gateshead College and I signed up for it, even though it means travelling from Carlisle to the North East every Monday morning.
“The college is the only one in the North East to run the AASE boxing course and it has enabled me to gain a range of vital skills, not just boxing tactics and techniques but also knowledge of health issues, nutrition, sports psychology and general strength and conditioning.”
She will be taught by top England coaches and train at Sheffield’s high-performance English Institute of Sport – a training base for world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Steve Cranston, her boxing coach at Gateshead College, said: “Brodie has demonstrated the strong skills, needed to compete at the highest level in boxing. The AASE Boxing programme is supported by England Boxing. AASE is a level 3 NVQ with attached UCAS points so it’s a really worthwhile qualification”
The Academy for Sport provides sports development programmes for students of varying levels of ability across a wide range of disciplines, including boxing, basketball, athletics, golf, cricket, men’s football, women’s football, netball and rugby.
To find out more about the Gateshead College Academy for Sport, visit http://www.gateshead.ac.uk/academy-for-sport/.