TRAMPOLINING teen Josh Newman has been selected to represent Great Britain at the Australia Youth Olympic Festival.
The Brentwood Trampoline Club member, 13, will compete in Sydney next January against the finest 12-16 year olds the world has to offer.
Josh, who attends The Billericay School, smashed the qualification criteria after scoring in excess of 93.035 out of 100 in three tournaments around Europe.
The Noak Bridge resident is one of only two boys from GB to earn a spot. "I cannot wait to go," he said, "it's going to be the best experience ever.
"The event wasn't something I was particularly aiming for as it was only announced mid-season.
"We didn't think I stood a chance of making it anyway but when I started hitting those scores it came as a shock."
He will compete in both the individual and synchronised events. In the individual he will be marked by five judges on difficulty, execution and time of flight, for the latter a laser is placed under the trampoline to measure the athletes' time spent hanging in the air.
Josh says his development is down to five days' a week hard training and the excellent of the coaching.
He knows though that stepping up to international level is going to be a step up.
"It's going to be tough because I'll be up against the Chinese and the Japanese. There's also a really good boy from New Zealand."
The news comes just two weeks after he won gold in the Under 15 boys category at the GB versus Germany youth match in Poole, Dorset. Fellow Brentwood Trampoline club member Susanna Badley, 14, made her GB debut after a late call-up to the squad.
The duo are the club's sixth and seventh from the club to receive international honours. But although the club boasts in excess of 100 regular members coach Dave Kingaby says they're actually much smaller than their rivals.
He added: "Trampolining can give people huge benefits. It's a very low impact sport, you're not running on a hard surface so there's less damage to your joints. It's very good aerobic exercise, it's good for your cardio vascular system and lympatic system."
