Adam is a member at Lifestyle Fitness Ballymena, and a part of Ballymena & Antrim Athletics Club and also Athletics NI Youth Academy.

Adam is currently ranked 10th in the UK at the 400m sprint, improving his time by 3 seconds from the start of 2021 to the end, and is currently looking to compete at the European level. Adam currently had the opportunity to attend warm weather training in Portugal this Easter with the Youth Academy, and support from the GHMF has assisted him with this!

Callum is a new athlete to benefit from the fund, who has recently smashed a national Judo contest, winning five out of five competitions and gaining a gold medal!

Callum, who is a member at our Stourport branch and competes for Samurai Judo Club, fought in a weight category above his own which also included four higher grade black belt opponents, helping him automatically gain 40 points towards his 2nd Dan black belt. It’s no wonder Callum was nominated for Player of The Year at his local club!

Matthew is a member at Lifestyle Fitness Shildon. Another short distance sprinter, he also specializes in 400m but is additionally competing at the 200m sprint. When asked about what his training looked like, Matthew said that a typical season would include participation in North East Counties, North East Grand Prix, Tyne Tees Grand Prix, Northern Athletics Open, Northern Athletics Indoor Senior Championship and the Scottish National Championship.

Matthew was ranked in the top 50 indoors for his age group and in his time improved for a 400m PB from 52.5 secs to 50.38 secs outdoors, placing him 2nd in the North East! 

Lucy Aston is a member at Lifestyle Fitness Spennymoor who competes internationally for Team GB in Tumbling.

Lucy's latest trip was with Team GB to Azerbaijan for the Acrobatic Gymnastic World Championships, which saw her rank 14th in the world for her age range.

Amy is also a member at Lifestyle Fitness Spennymoor, and currently competes competively in Taekwondo. 

In August, Amy competed in Estonia for a European qualifying event, where she narrowly missed out by one point. Amy has big plans to compete for Team GB in Taekwondo, and has recently began working with coaches on the British Taekwondo team so she can take her training to the next level!

Upcoming plans are for Amy to travel and train with a team based in Sheffield. This is where her BT team coach is based, and Amy will be travelling with her new team to international G2 ranking events, allowing her to build up World and Olympic ranking points.

Casey is a member at Lifestyle Fitness Thorns and swims for Sandwell Aquatics. Recently, Casey was fortunate enough to swim at the Test Event last April and win several Gold Medals. Casey is currently swimming at County and Regional level and is aiming for the Nationals in her breaststroke.

A few words from Casey: "I currently train six evenings a week for a minimum of one and a half hours each session. I recently joined the gym here at Thorns with my sister Morgan who helps me stay motivated in my sessions. My goal is to continue training hard with a view to being on the English Swimming Team ...and possibly the Olympics!" Casey recently made 2 finals in 50m Breaststroke and 100m Breaststroke adding 2 new Regional times and 2nd overall in the County for both events. She has a lot of competitive races coming up this year and we will be supporting her every step of the way! 

Abi joined Ballymena Utd Youth Academy in 2012 at just 6 years old. Her talent was noticed by coaches early on and she progressed for 10 years with the boys’ team and manged to stay at the appropriate level up to U16 when she decided to leave to pursue her football career with Linfield Ladies FC. Abi was the first ever female to play in the boys’ section of the renowned tournament SupercpNI and made it to the semi-finals.

Abi was also invited in the player development programme for Northern Ireland Ladies at the age of 9 where she was playing and training in the above age category. She then captained the squad through several years and has participated in several prestige tournament’s including Women’s U17 European Championships. It has always been Abi’s ambition to take her football career to the highest level and she hopes to study at the university closest to the team she manages to play for!

Izak and Felyx Williams are both members at Lifestyle Fitness Stourport and compete nationally in Mountain Bike 4x racing. Izak and Felyx are recognised as being 2 of the finest young talents in this discipline. Izak put in a solid performance in not only his debut year on the national stage, but his debut year in racing in general. In his first year he raced at 7 events and always placed in the top 10. Felyx came 1st, 3rd, and 2nd in the qualifying motos in round 3, qualifying for the final which he won. In round 4, Felyx came 1st in all three motos, and then 1st in the final. 

Both Izak & Felyx have recently returned from Falmouth where they competed in rounds 3 and 4 of the British 4x Series. In round 3, Izak came 1st in his three motos, then 1st in his semi final and went on to win the final. In round 4, he repeated his results from round 3, winning again. An amazing achievement considering he was racing against the age group above his own. 

Damian is a member at Lifestyle Fitness Clonoe and swims for Dungannon Amateur Swimming Club specialising in Breaststroke. Damian currently ranks in the top 16 swimmers in Northern Ireland and picked up Gold in the 50m breaststroke in his latest Open meet in Monaghan, along with 2 gold medals at the recent Lisburn Swim Festival. 

With support from the GHMF, Damian is currently training for the Summer National Championships which will be held in the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin before turning his attention to the Winter National Short Course Championships. 

 Nick is also a member at Lifestyle Fitness Clonoe and is a middle and long-distance runner, specialising in the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m events. Current achievements include: Irish U20 5000m record, Irish U20 indoor 1500m, 3000m and mile records, Irish U20 outdoor 1500m, 3000m and mile records, European U20 3000m champion 2021 & European U20 indoor Mile record (3:56). 

Nick's upcoming competitions include the European U20 Championships and the European Cross Country Championships. Over the coming year, with support from the GHMF, Nick intends on training at altitude in South Africa, France and Arizona and has a dream of competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

At just 12 years old, Parker Bonnes is making a significant impact in the golf world with an impressive handicap of 5.8. His passion for the sport ignited at the tender age of two, leading to remarkable achievements, including being named the Mid and East Antrim Junior Sportsperson of the Year in 2024. Dedicated to his craft, Parker practices every day after school, striving to achieve a scratch handicap by the time he turns 14.

Parker's competitive spirit has taken him across the globe, from the UK and Ireland to the United States and most recently, Venice. He aims to compete again in the Venice Open this year, where he finished an impressive fourth last year despite facing challenging conditions. With accolades like two-time World Champion and three-time Irish Open Champion, Parker has accumulated over 50 wins in junior competitions, showcasing his immense talent and determination.

I am a member of Galgorm Castle golf club and have been playing golf since I was 6 years old, playing many national events. From the age of 12 I was part of the Golf Ireland Regional Panel until I was 17.

In my junior golf years I have been a finalist of Fred Daly Ulster section a few times and made the All Ireland Irish schools final with cullybackey college back in 2020 after winning the Ulster section to get there.

I am currently a member of the Galgorm Castle golf Club Senior Cup winning side 2024.
 

I am the current AMCC Conference Newcomer of the Year 2024 and plan to play the US Open Qualifier in the spring of 2025 as well as a couple of Clutch Tour Events in England.

Without the help of the Gordon Hall Fund I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play these events and purse my dreams of a professional career in golf.
 

Ben, a 25-year-old powerlifter from Northern Ireland, has made remarkable strides in the sport in just two years. Recently, he competed at the Raw Commonwealth Championships in Sun City, South Africa, where he placed 4th overall and earned a gold medal in the bench press with an impressive lift of 195kg.

Over the course of his career, Ben has broken the National squat record three times and aims to build on this success in 2025. 

With the unwavering support of his family, team, and his new wife, Ben aspires to represent Ireland on the world stage in the years to come.