Forces Sport

‘I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life’ is how Luke Pollard described the crowds at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. They spurred him and Dave Ellis to win para triathlete gold in the summer as England celebrated an incredible home games. On the RAF’s elite athlete scheme, Luke has enjoyed plenty of success with Dave since they paired up together in 2019, but last year they suffered heartbreak at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo when the chain on their bike broke and they couldn’t finish the race. The Commonwealth Games gold has gone some way to making up for that but the pair, England and GB’s best, are determined to come back even stronger for Paris 2024. Luke talks to Forces Sport about the highs and the lows, the challenges and the triumphs, and the addictive nature of elite sport.  

How do professional rugby contracts work for serving military personnel? That's the question Forces Sport put to Chris Fowke, the Chief Operations Officer and Secretary of Army Rugby Union. The likes of Semesa Rokoduguni, who played at Bath Rugby for ten years and went on to represent England, paved the way for a growing number of men and women signing up to the big clubs, but it's generally done on an individual basis. Chris explains the development of the process and how it benefits the player, the armed forces, and the club they've signed for.

The Simpson Cup celebrated its tenth anniversary this year with a win for Team GB on US soil. A Ryder cup style tournament for injured, wounded and sick military veterans from the US and Great Britain, its creator John Simpson was a guest on Forces Sport in October last year. The competition continues to thrive and there were eleven new players involved this year at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey.

Amelia Faulker is 18 years old and is already established as a pistol shooter for Great Britain. She started competing at only 13 years old and after leaving school she needed to make a decision about her future and how she could pursue her chosen sport whilst also making a life for herself…so she chose the Army. But basic training has been intense and, mixed with two years of a global pandemic, she feels her shooting has suffered. But come January she’ll be full time with the Troops for Target programme and aims to be back to her best for the Paris Olympics in 2024

Ali Booker started out in the police force, but her whole life interest in dietetics and nutrition soon bought about a change in career. After studying at university and qualifying as a dietitian she was looking for a way to combine all her passions when the opportunity came up to work, as an Army reserve, with the Defence Nutrition Advisory Service. She now works closely with MOD police and is also a PhD student researching shift work nutrition. In addition, she is an Army powerlifter and has been added to the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS). She wears many hats and she's passionate about all of them and this week, she talks to Forces Sport about how she fits it all in, how she wants to be actively involved in improving the way fitness and nutrition is implemented across the armed forces and, unbelievably, about a couple of new challenges on the horizon for this multi skilled individual. 

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham have come to a close, and without doubt, every home nations athlete has credited the crowd support as being a large part of their success. That also rings true for the forces competitors representing their countries this summer, including medal winners Luke Pollard and Dave Ellis in para triathlon for England, and Scotland’s para powerlifter Micky Yule. 

It is ten years since London hosted the summer Olympic Games. Team GB won 29 gold medals during the two-week tournament including a podium topping performance from Royal Navy star Pete Reed. He was part of the men's coxless four who enjoyed success during the competition. Reed, who had a glittering sporting career that saw him crowned a 3-time Olympic Champion, returned to his career in the Senior Service. But his life changed forever in 2019, when he suffered a spinal stroke, leaving him paralysed from the chest down. The inspirational and determined Pete Reed chats to Cath and Jules about his life and his hopes and aspirations for the future.

It’s only a matter of days until the Commonwealth Games kick off in Birmingham so, for second week running, Forces Sport has been speaking to a couple of our forces athletes. British Army judokas Sarah Hawkes and Victor Ahiavor will both be taking to the mat but representing different countries. Sarah is so proud to be competing for Northern Ireland and says this feels like a home games because her friends and family will be able to come and watch. Meanwhile, Victor is from Ghana, where he started doing judo as an eight-year-old. He can’t wait to wear the badge of his country, but also the Army, to show other Commonwealth athletes what is possible in this life.

The Commonwealth Games get underway at the end of July and, as ever, a select handful of forces athletes will be taking part. This week, Forces Sport speaks to Royal Marine judoka Chris Sherrington, Army boxer Meg Reid and the RAF’s para triathlete guide Luke Pollard. Chris’s journey started by just wanting to be a Royal Marines Commando and yet he went on to win gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Meg, meanwhile, is delighted to be representing Scotland as well as the Army, whilst Luke Pollard teams up again with visually impaired athlete Dave Ellis to try and put the disappointment of the Tokyo Paralympics behind them. 

This month, Billy Thomson stands down as secretary of Army Football - a post he’s held for 21 years. He jokes that he wasn’t much of a player but his love for the game, and his desire to facilitate the game at every level of the Army, has kept him a busy man over the last two decades. He’s overseen a massive push for professionalism in the army set up and even now, only weeks from retiring, he is still looking to the future and, in particular, facilitating more opportunities for women. A brilliant conversation with a Scotsman who’s not afraid to speak his mind on all areas of the beautiful game.