A GRANT of £1,500 from Dorset Community Foundation’s Lord-Lieutenant’s Fund for Young and Talented will help 15-year-old petanque player Aimee Rickman add to a haul of international honours.
The West Moors prospect has been representing her country since she was 11 and not even being diagnosed with type one diabetes has slowed her progress.
But the cost of travel to training, matches and tournaments all over the UK and Europe takes a heavy financial toll on her mum Claire, which meant she risked missing out on opportunities to take on the very best players to keep developing her game.
She applied to the Lord-Lieutenant’s fund, which aims to support gifted youngsters aged between 14 and 21 to help them overcome disadvantages that might prevent them from making the most of their natural ability.
“The more you progress as a player, the further you’ve got to travel to get to competitions where you’re coming across the best players,” said Claire, who works as a school administrator. “Now with Aimee being diagnosed a type 1 diabetic, I’ve obviously had to go on some of the trips abroad to make sure that she’s okay.”
The Ferndown Upper School pupil began playing aged eight after she went to an open day at Muscliff Park Petanque Club in Bournemouth. Within five months she had won her first tournament and, despite an enforced break due to the pandemic, played so well at a national event she was selected to represent England at a World Cup warm-up game in Germany.
“It was really exciting but it was also quite nerve-wracking,” said Aimee. “People are trusting you to perform well and I’d never played with these juniors before who were all 15 or 16 and they’d always been people I’d looked up to.
“I was told I might just be on the bench but I think I played in part of every game and had experience against some of the top countries in Europe, which was incredible. It definitely put my name out there as one of the juniors to watch out for and since then it’s just kept getting better each year.”
The grant is a massive help,” without it there are competitions I wouldn’t be able to go to because of the cost but now I can
As well as playing for Muscliff Park, she has also been recruited by a team in Chichester to play in an adult Euro Cup competition. She also the first junior to be called up for the England senior side and win a medal, after a doubles bronze at the European Championships in Spain in June.
A bookcase in the living room at her nan’s house, where she and Claire live, bulges with trophies, medals and souvenirs from junior and adult title wins. Upstairs, Aimee’s wardrobe is crammed with shirts swapped at international tournaments.
“I love playing because of meeting people I would never have met otherwise,” she said. “I’ve been to France, Germany, Spain and the Netherland and it’s really a community. There are people I met at my first ever international in Germany that I still message weekly, we’re all still very close with each other.”
She was diagnosed with the type one diabetes in January after being rushed to hospital. She wears a monitor on her wrist and has already learned anticipate how heat, cold, match adrenaline and energy levels will affect her blood sugar level so she can manage her insulin during games.
“It’s a lot of extra thinking I have to do, especially with my sport, but it has happened and I can’t change that, I’ve just had to get on with it and do my best to live with it.”
Winning a world championship at adult level for England remains her ambition. She used part of the grant to buy a new set of boules but the bulk of it will ensure she can be at the tournaments and training camps that matter.
“The grant is a massive help,” said Aimee, who heads to Greece for the European Junior Championships in October. “Without it there are competitions I wouldn’t be able to go to because of the cost but now I can, which is great because I want to be playing against the top players so I can keep improving and one day bring back an adult gold medal for my country.”
Find out more about the Lord-Lieutenant’s Fund for Young and Talented here.
