Coach's pride after para-athlete nominated for 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games

The coach of para-athlete Rosie Porter has spoken of her immense pride following her nomination for Team England at the 2023 Commonwealth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.

The 16-year-old will compete in both the T38 100m and the F38 long jump at the Games which take place between 4-11 August.

Rosie, who races for Herts Phoenix and is on the England Athletics Paralympic Talent Programme, will be part of a 32-strong England Team heading to the Caribbean.

For Cathy Walker, Rosie’s personal coach based out of Hertfordshire, it will signify another huge step on the journey of the young sprinter and jumper who has future ambitions to compete internationally on the senior stage.

“Rosie was thrilled to hear she had been nominated to represent England at the Commonwealth Youth Games and so was I,” said Cathy, who is a coach working on the England Athletics Talent Pathway.

“From her point of view, it’s stratospheric. I couldn’t be happier for her, she worked really, really, hard.”

“In terms of future ambitions, she wants to make it to a senior games. She wants to either do a Paralympics or Commonwealths. The Paralympics would be the pinnacle.

It tops a remarkable year for Rosie, who has cerebral palsy, after she was selected to represent Team Special Olympics GB (SOGB) at the Special Olympics in Berlin, in June.

For Cathy, it’s the second time she has seen one of her para-athletes achieve nomination for a Commonwealth Games after Maria Verdeille competed in the T35 100m event for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, finishing sixth in the final.

Trinbago 2023 is the first-time para-sport has been included in the Commonwealth Youth Games competition schedule and Cathy believes Rosie will be determined to make her mark there.

“She goes into competitions with the mindset ‘you don’t go there to come second - I am going there to win. If I don’t win, fair enough, but that’s why I am going’.”

“The experience for her is going to be immense.”