John has Rio in his sights as net closes on TeamGB glory
A Maidstone student is heading to Rio to help athletes competing in the Paralympic Games.
John Francis, 25, a former Maidstone Grammar School pupil, will work with the British wheelchair basketball team, using his expertise in performance analysis, which forms part of his PhD in sports science.
Mr Francis has been working with wheelchair basketball squads as part of his research and will continue in Brazil, hoping to help them win medals.
He said: “I will be utilising all the information I have been compiling as part of my PhD in performance analysis in wheelchair basketball to ensure both squads achieve their performance targets.
“It is a great honour and privilege to be given the chance to transfer the skills I have learnt as a student as well as putting the research findings from my PhD into practice on the world’s largest sporting stage.
“I hope my involvement with both the men’s and women’s British wheelchair basketball performance squads during the Rio Paralympic cycle has had a beneficial and contributing impact towards their continual medal achievements at the European Championships.
“It is now time to transfer these skills to the world stage, unlocking opponents’ patterns and styles of play in order to find the marginal gains that will help the teams achieve their true playing potential and smash their performance targets.”
Mr Francis is at the University of Worcester and will travel to Brazil with fellow research student Nathan Payne and student athletes Sophie Carrigill, Jude Hamer and Leah Evans, who are in TeamGB’s women’s wheelchair basketball squad.
He started the PhD in 2014 after completing a masters degree in sports coaching at the same university.