Young king Cole sets his sights higher and higher

JAMIE COLE proudly shows off some of the fruits of his 2010 labours.

The 13-year-old archery ace is holding the Observer Community Awards sportsman of the year prize which he won to cap a brilliant year on the shooting ranges.

In front of him are some of the national and regional trophies he has scooped to make it a year to remember. And he is already plotting more success, both indoors and outdoors, in 2011.

Jamie, who attends Chichester High School for Boys and is a member of Chichester Bowmen, was unable to pick up his Observer prize in person - he and dad Nick were stranded in Telford, where they’d been for the UK indoor championships, after Nick’s car broke down.

“We knew we wouldn’t be able to get back so his nan Mary picked up the award on his behalf,” Nick said.

“It completed an excellent weekend for him, too, because he won the under-14 UK compound championship and received his trophy from Nicky hunt, the Commonwealth gold medal-winning archer.

“Because we were stuck there, Jamie also took part in the adult shooting and came 67th out of 93 and was only 19 points off being in the top 32.”

That success came after a third place in the under-18 compound at the Crookhorn event in Hampshire,, second un the under-14s at the Berkshire county championships and second at under-18 in the Surrey event.

There’s little respite for Jamie, who has a string of tournaments lined up to take part in over the coming months.

These include the Sussex and southern counties championships for teams and individuals at Crawley in March and a chance to appear for Sussex against Hampshire in April.

In the meantime, the family are still looking for sponsors to help meet the increasing costs of Jamie’s archery.

An earlier plea in the Observer led to an ex-archer from Bracklesham giving the youngster some of his old equipment.

If any individual or company wants to sponsor Jamie in return for national exposure, they can contact Nick Cole on 01243 539234.