sport Archives - Page 5 of 9 - The Stray Ferret

New Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre opens

The newly refurbished Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre opened its doors today after a £13.5 million project.

The facility, which was previously called the Harrogate Hydro, had been closed since April last year as part of a renovation scheme.

Now, the centre off Jennyfield Drive is open under a new name.

The refurbishment included a 400 square metre fitness centre, a new sauna and steam suite, improved reception and café, as well an overhaul of the existing gym, spin, leisure and swimming facilities.

Local man Alan Harwood was among those visiting the newly opened leisure centre this morning.

He told the Stray Ferret he had never been to the facility before, but took up one of the swimming membership offers advertised by Brimhams Active, which operates the site on behalf of North Yorkshire Council, as part of the opening.

Mr Harwood said:

“It looks good. I had never been to the Hydro before but wanted to try it out for swimming.”

The centre is open for swimming from 6.30am until 9pm Monday to Thursday, 6.30am until 8pm on a Friday and 6.30am until 7pm on a weekend.

Meanwhile, the gym will be open from 6.15am until 9.30pm Monday to Thursday, 6.15am until 7.30pm on a Friday and 6.15am until 6.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Prices include £5.45 for an adult swim, but there are also membership schemes available at £33.95 a month.

The centre also offers all inclusive memberships, which includes access to the gym, for £44.95 a month or £35.95 for concessions.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, said:

“There will be an increase to membership fees, but we are committed to keeping fees as low as possible and we have additional discounts for students, people who are unemployed, disabled or aged over 65.

“The increase delivers an all-inclusive membership fee with access to unlimited swim, gym and group exercise at all Brimhams facilities that remains lower than our 2021 prices, as we temporarily reduced prices upon reopening after covid.”

The golfer championing Knaresborough on the world stage

With the PGA tour in full swing and the Ryder Cup around the corner, the likes of Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Scottie Sheffler are prime time viewing.

But Knaresborough has its own claim to fame when it comes to golfers on the world stage.

John Parry picked up his first club when he was six years old.

The 36-year-old spent most of his early career training at Harrogate Golf Club, where he cut his teeth as a teenager, before going onto to compete around the globe.

These days, John competes on the professional tours and finished joint fourth at the World Invitational 2023 in Northern Ireland last weekend.

We sat down with him at Knaresborough Golf Club on a morning fit for a tee-off on the first hole to find out how his uncle helped him pick up a set of clubs as a boy and how he went on to line up alongside Tiger Woods some three decades later.

Picking up the clubs

It was in Birmingham where John first set eyes on a golf ball and clubs.

Just six years old, his uncle introduced him to the sport as something to do with his brothers.

“He just got us a lesson and we played a little bit. Then we moved back up to Harrogate from Birmingham.

“We just sort of took it from there and played on par three courses. Then we eventually joined Harrogate Golf Club.”

John grew up in Knaresborough and attended King James’s School.

John teeing off at Knaresborough Golf Course.

However, he had little interest in anything other than golf. In fact, aged just 10, he was picked to go on a regional coaching course.

The Yorkshire coaching made him realise that he had something that other boys his age didn’t.

“I think when I went there, I remember I was doing certain things better than most kids that were doing it.

“You realise that ‘I must be reasonably good’.”

John worked his way up through the ranks through to England under 16s.

At this stage, he says he started to figure out what standard he was at as he started to compete in tougher competitions, such as county championships.

But, despite testing himself against higher standard players, he still felt he needed to improve.

“For me, when I was that old, it was about hitting the ball further and growing a little more because I was so small.

“It only really happened once I got to 17 and 18, then I started playing in national events.”

Making the green was one of John’s aims as he was working his way through the different age groups.

For him, being able to hit the ball long complemented his ability to make the put. This then helped him to win national tournaments once he was in the under 18s age group.

Working on his shots helped him make up ground on older players, he says.

“You see the opposite of this. Lads can be unbelievable when they’re in the under 14s or under 16s and they’re six foot tall.

“But then when everyone starts catching them up physically, it flips round because they maybe have not developed other skills that you need.”

Starting from the bottom

John turned professional in 2007.

Prior to turning pro, he was picked for the Walker Cup – the equivalent of the Ryder Cup for amateur golfers.

But turning professional meant rising up through the rankings again. He uses the analogy of a football team being promoted up the divisions to the Premier League.

In his first year, he played the Euro Tour which offers a first prize of £10,000.

For John, turning professional took some getting used to. In particular, the difference in standard of courses.

“That took a bit of adapting, because the courses are different from amateur golf.

“In amateur golf, you tend to play links golf courses that are keep it in play, shoot level par because the conditions are hard.

“Whereas, in pro golf, the courses are longer and you needed to make a lot more birdies to shoot lower scores. That took a little bit of adapting to.”

Despite the difference in courses, John says there was not a huge difference in the standard of golfers.

However, there is more pressure – which is key to those that do well.

“You could almost say that the amateur league is better than the bottom of the pro-league.

“But then there is a lot more pressure, because now it’s your livelihood.”

Making a living for golfers is about performance and the tour that they are competing in.

The higher up the ladder, the more money there is to win.

By 2009, John had seen a few promotions up the rankings and found himself on the European Tour.

At this stage, aged 23, he is playing in front of crowds and television cameras as there is more attention on the competition and those competing in it.

“When you’re that young, you don’t really think about it.

“You’re just like: ‘this is good’. I was living at home still and it was something that I always wanted to do. You just get on with it.

“Plus, within reason, I had done it from such a young age and I had done a little bit of travelling. It just becomes normality.”

Starting again after covid

But John’s career has not always been an upward trajectory.

In the year before the covid pandemic, he was relegated down the rankings twice.

He had to start from the bottom league, where it’s difficult for golfers to make ends meet.

“First of all you have got to find your form. That’s the hard bit, because you know how hard it is to get all the way back up.

“But the hardest bit was the year I was going to play on the bottom tour again covid hit and they cancelled the tour.”

During the pandemic, John was forced to play in one-day events to make a living.

The competitions were pay to enter and sometimes saw 30 players competing for prize money – which in some cases was as little as £1,000.

“It was a real grind.”

The pandemic showed how a lot of golfers have to perform in order to make a living.

John makes the comparison with professional footballers, where most are under contract – although they can see their wages drop if they are relegated.

“The difference with golf is you have to perform, because no one is paying you. You have to do well. You’re not under a contract, unless you get a sponsorship, so you are always having to play well to earn a living.”

Competing in the Open

Perhaps John’s biggest achievements are making it into two US Opens and a British Open.

The latter, which took place last year, saw him go up against the likes of Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau.

The major was John’s first British Open where he competed to make the cut to play at St Andrews in Scotland.

John going through his final Open preparation at St Andrews. Pic: Harrogate Gold Club

For John, the tournament was a chance to test his metal against the big names.

The major was an eye opener, particularly witnessing the likes of Woods playing on the same course.

He described watching top golfers apply their trade as like “playing a tournament like a practice round” as they “didn’t care about the outcome of each shot”.

“For me, it’s the mentality of them. I think you could say that for most sports.

“You could look at how professional they are and if they do anything to look a lot better, but for me it’s got to be the mentality.”

The experience playing alongside big name golfers was a milestone for John.

The journey from being six years old and chipping it around a local golf course to competing to make the cut against multiple major winners is one to tell the grandkids about.

Some golfers may see playing alongside Tiger Woods as a chance to compete against their idols.

But Woods doesn’t even factor into John’s role models.

Instead, he points to Spanish two-time major winner Jose Maria Olazabal and his golf coach Mark Moore as among those who helped him.

John remembers watching Olazabal win the 1994 Masters, which has stuck with him to this day.

But perhaps his biggest inspiration was his brother, who is now a professional golf coach in Australia.

“I think the best thing for me growing up was having an older brother who is four years older than me.

“When you first start out, you think: ‘he’s better than me’. That was one of the big things for me. There’s nothing worse than losing to your brother.”

If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured in Sporting Spotlight, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Harrogate Town want £500,000 for Luke Armstrong, Carlisle manager claims

Harrogate Town have asked for £500,000 for star striker Luke Armstrong, an opposition manager has claimed.

Paul Simpson, manager at Carlisle United, said the Cumbrian side was told the Town forward would be “way out of our budget”.

In an interview with the club website, he also claimed Harrogate asked for bids in the region of half a million pounds for Armstrong.

Addressing rumours that Carlisle were interested in Tyrese John-Jules from Arsenal and Armstrong from Harrogate, Simpson said:

“The second one, we’ve been told that’s way out of our budget. I’m led to believe they’re talking close to half a million for him, and salary wise is way above.

“We like Luke Armstrong. I don’t think you’d need to be a genius to say that Luke Armstrong would be a good signing for Carlisle. But he’s way out of our budget.”

Armstrong, who scored 16 goals for Harrogate last season, made himself unavailable for Town’s opening day EFL League Two trip to Doncaster.

At the time, Town manager Simon Weaver said the 27-year-old made the request amid “a number of transfer bids from other clubs”.

However, Armstrong has since been involved in Harrogate’s last three league games and started in the trips to Tranmere and Accrington Stanley.

Weaver said previously that Town would require a “significant fee” for Armstrong and a replacement player who is “not just a stocking filler” before he is sold.

He said:

“The offer is still on the table from us for him to sign a new deal, but our position is clear; we have informed him and his agent that two things have to happen before Luke is able to leave the club, we have to do what is best for our club and get a significant fee for him and secondly we need a replacement that is going to make the fans proud.”

Harrogate’s Rachel Daly set for World Cup semi final showdown today

Harrogate’s Rachel Daly could be set to make another major tournament final as England’s Lionesses play in a World Cup semi-final today.

Daly and her teammates face host nation Australia in Sydney for a place to play Spain in the final on Sunday.

England sit four places above the Australians, known as the Matildas, in the world rankings.

However, Australia will be backed by a bumper home crowd and have built momentum throughout the tournament.

The 81,000 capacity Stadium Australia in Sydney is expected to be sold out.

Daly, who has started all but one game of England’s matches so far, could feature on the left hand side of midfield again.

The former Killinghall Nomads star helped the Lionesses reach the semi-final in a 2-1 win over Colombia on Saturday.

England, who have reached the last two Women’s World Cup semi-finals, will be hoping to make it one step closer to a second major trophy after clinching the Euros at Wembley last year.

England kick off against Australia at 11am today live on BBC One.

How Harrogate’s hockey club coach made his passion his full time job

It was a mixture of trying to avoid rugby and suffering from concussion which led to Harrogate Hockey Club coach Jimmy Greenwood to pick up a stick.

The 51-year-old, who was born in Garforth, was forced to play rugby union when he moved to Harrogate and attended the grammar school.

In an effort to avoid being on the school team, he joined Harrogate Hockey Club as soon as he turned 14.

From there, it has been his love for more than three decades.

But, sat in the club on a Thursday afternoon as the pitch outside is packed with kids learning from Olympic gold medal hockey star Maddie Hinch, Jimmy says he never thought it would get to a stage where it became his full time job.

Picking up the stick for the first time

“I think I got concussed three times,” Jimmy says as he recalls his early rugby days at Harrogate Grammar School.

He had never picked up a hockey stick before turning 14.

But, to get out of playing rugby, he felt he should join the hockey team.

“I thought, if I’m in the school hockey team then I can’t get picked for the rugby team.

“So I began my hockey career.”

Jimmy’s school teacher Mr Sutton was a coach at Harrogate Hockey Club when it was based at Harlow Hill.

He took up a trial offer and ended up playing in the men’s side.

Jimmy in action for the men’s side.

Some may look at Jimmy’s story from player to full time coach as an accident given how candid he is about how he got into the sport.

But for him, hockey itself requires skill, technique and time to master.

“It’s an addictive sport. Once you’re in, you’re in.

“It’s an amazing journey when you start. Every other sport I played was just in your age group.”

Jimmy was playing with players much older than him when he joined Harrogate Hockey Club at aged 14.

At that age, he was able to play with adults – some of whom were into their 40s and 50s.

As a junior, he played on the wing because he was quick before he gradually moved to centre forward as he got older.

In the 1980s, the club was playing against the likes of Ben Rhydding, Thirsk and York – teams within the Yorkshire region.

It wouldn’t be until much later that Jimmy would test himself against tougher sides in Birmingham and further south when he studied at the University of Durham.

Much of Jimmy’s playing career was playing in the North Premier League for Harrogate.

However, in 2004, the club were promoted to the National League – which saw them pitted against the likes of Lewes and Birmingham.

For Jimmy, the move into the next division, which moved them outside of the north of England, was an eye opener.

“It was mainly decision making.

“There’s a level of skill that everyone can get to in hockey. There’s only so quickly that you can move a ball, like footballers.

“But then it comes down to how quickly the brain works.”

His passion for the sport took him as far as England trials – although his career never reached that level.

Turning to coaching

These days, Jimmy takes his hockey playing more casually.

However, he had his eye on becoming a coach when he was 18.

“I’ve sort of coached off and on for my whole career.”

He describes himself as a “technical” coach and has long argued that there is a difference between technique and skill when it comes to players.

“When I say technical, most people would call that a skills coach.

“Making sure people are stopping the ball correctly, holding the stick properly and showing them some tricky moves to do against opposition players.

“In my head – and I will argue this with everybody – that’s technique. The skill is picking the right thing to do at the right time.

“I like to empower anyone that I coach with as much technique as I can give them so that they are the best player that they can be. Then it is up to them, they can be world beaters if they can make the right decisions.”

Amid the part time coaching and playing hockey on evenings and weekends, Jimmy had a day job.

Before the covid pandemic, he ran a book publishing business.

He worked for himself and enjoyed it, but then the covid pandemic hit and the world turned upside down.

“I have always run my own businesses and I wound one up about two years ago.

“It had done quite well through covid, but coming out the other side of covid the education sector changed quite drastically. The business couldn’t cope with the changes.”

Jimmy did not know what to do and tried to work for other people, but did not like it.

He turned to his passion in the hope that it may offer him work.

Fortunately for Jimmy, the club was in a position where it needed to offer support to its development officer, Megan Reid.

“She needed a coach to help her to do some of these outreach programmes into schools and to help do some of the club coaching here and to develop the juniors.”

Two months in, Jimmy says the job is a labour of love and something he feels he is well suited to.

“It is in some ways not like working because it is something that I absolutely love doing and I have done it for so long.

“But it is kind of strange to have never done it as a job before.”

While his new job involves coaching, it also involves helping to build the club back up from covid.

Like a lot of sports, Harrogate Hockey Club was hit hard by covid.

Some members did not return and the junior teams lost their way with no sport to play.

“To get everything back on track, it needs that extra support.

“I think it is happening in all sports now. Being able to rely on people’s goodwill to run teams nowadays is quite hard.”

The club has been fortunate enough to have stars like Maddie Hinch, who won gold for Great Britain at the Rio Olympics in 2016, hosting training sessions at the Ainsty Road pitch to help generate interest in the sport.

Despite the task in hand, Jimmy still has goals in mind.

He wants to try and play beyond the age of 55 and to help to grow the club and its membership.

“Having run businesses over the years, it’s like growing a plant.

“First and foremost, you need to grow it. You can get rid of some bits that are a bit unwieldy and then make it nice.”

If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured in Sporting Spotlight, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Barbie and Spiderman to attend this weekend’s Harrogate Town match

Harrogate Town’s first home league match this weekend will be attended by Barbie, Spiderman and Mario.

The club is celebrating the launch of its junior membership scheme and the ongoing school holidays.

Under-12s can attend from £6, and under-fives are free with a paying adult.

As part of this, the likes of Barbie, Mario, Spiderman and Sonic will be meeting young fans shortly before Saturday’s kick-off against Forest Green Rovers,

The club said in a statement:

“Having just been granted silver award in the EFL family excellence scheme, this is the latest offering from the club looking to attract more families to the EnviroVent Stadium.”

Harrogate have made a good start to the season.

A Jack Muldoon penalty helped to seal a 1-0 away win over Doncaster Rovers in the opening league fixture last weekend.

Simon Weaver’s men then beat Carlisle United 1-0 in the Carabao Cup to earn a home fixture against Blackburn Rovers in the second round.

Harrogate Town star striker set to leave after weekend withdrawal?

Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong looks set to leave the club after making himself unavailable last weekend.

Armstrong was the club’s top scorer last season, scoring 16 goals.

The 27-year-old was left out of the starting 11 at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday after making himself unavailable. Fans were only informed shortly before kick-off.

In a statement, Harrogate Town said Armstrong made the request amid “a number of transfer bids from other clubs”.

Manager Simon Weaver said:

“We had tentative enquiries at the start of the week from other clubs about Luke and those have now led to proper offers.

“Those offers came after we had offered Luke a renewed contract and a three-year-deal, because he deserved it.

“He has been a dedicated and fantastic player for us and we would love to keep him, however on Thursday he informed us he wanted to go and didn’t think he was in the right mindset to perform at his best today, which was disappointing news at the time.

“He has been honest with me and told me he wants to move on and thought it would be detrimental to the team if he took to the field today.”

Weaver added that a three-year contract offer to Armstrong “is still on the table”.

He added:

“The offer is still on the table from us for him to sign a new deal, but our position is clear; we have informed him and his agent that two things have to happen before Luke is able to leave the club, we have to do what is best for our club and get a significant fee for him and secondly we need a replacement that is going to make the fans proud.”

Weaver told BBC Radio York in a post-match interview that he had “softened” his approach to Armstrong from a “no sale” position following his request.

However, he reiterated that Town would still require a “significant fee” for Armstrong and a replacement player who is “not just a stocking filler”.

Despite the absence of Armstrong, Harrogate made it a winning start to the 2023/24 EFL League Two season with a 1-0 win at Doncaster.

Jack Muldoon scored the only goal of the game with a penalty which saw Town take all three points.

Harrogate Town begin fourth football league campaign tomorrow

Harrogate Town fans are optimistic of their side’s chances of avoiding relegation as the club enters a fourth campaign in the English Football League.

Town take on Doncaster Rovers away from home tomorrow in a tantalising Yorkshire derby to open the season.

The club has bolstered its first team with the likes of striker Abraham Odoh from Rochdale and winger James Daly among the summer recruits.

Phil Deighton, a long time season ticket holder at Wetherby Road, said Harrogate should be in a position to avoid the drop again this season.

He added that the additions to the squad during the summer transfer window, in particular Odoh, had pleased him.

Mr Deighton said:

“I am a season ticket holder and have been watching Town for a a long time. Just watching league football is brilliant for me as most of my time watching it has been non-league.

“The preparations for the new season look good, it is nice to see a couple of players that were on loan re-sign permanently and I was pleased that Mr Weaver added in the striking department – I looking forward to seeing Abraham Odoh, he looks a skilful player.

“Overall, I think the pre-season has gone well, just a shame none of the game have been at home, and I think we will do slightly better in the league this season and not have the worry of relegation.”

‘Strongest squad in 14 years’

Town will head into the new season with an away trip to the Eco-Power Stadium to face Doncaster.

Manager Simon Weaver said the squad was the strongest he had in his time at the club.

He said:

“I think it is quite honestly the strongest squad I’ve had at the club in 14 years.

“I’m proud of the efforts of the players in pre-season. The new lads have settled in well, they have integrated into the changing room really easily which is great. The vibe is strong.”

Simon Weaver, Harrogate Town manager.

Weaver also has a fully fit squad going into the new season, with the exception of long term absentee Stephen Dooley who is on the sidelines with an injury.

Ahead of the clash with Doncaster, Weaver said there was massive appetite for the derby but warned that it was “no more important” than any other match.

He said:

“Everybody builds up the first game of the season and that’s because there is massive appetite for it.

“But it’s no more important or no less important than any other game in a 50 game season. We have to stick to what we’re good at and be organised, hard working and have loads of energy and be an exciting team to watch.

“But at the same time, not put too much pressure on because there’s so many games this season and so many points to play for.”

Harrogate head coach hoping to turn around rugby club’s fortunes

From Japan to New Zealand, Sam Fox’s love affair with rugby union has taken him around the world.

As early as he can remember, he recalls being taken to his local rugby club in Cornwall with his dad where he would kick balls into the river.

These days, he’s tasked with leading Harrogate Rugby Club as head coach.

While most sportsmen tend to swap the pitch for the touchline after retirement, Sam had his eye on coaching well before his last kick of a rugby ball.

He hopes his ambition for improving players and Harrogate as a whole will bear fruit in the coming years.

Taking rugby abroad

Sam grew up in Cornwall and has been playing rugby since he was three-years-old.

The love for rugby was bred from an early age. His dad was an ex-England schoolboys player and his mum a big supporter of the sport.

At 16, he went to college in Truro and started playing for Exeter Chiefs RUFC where he spent his formative years in the academy.

His most memorable experience was spending time in New Zealand after a stint in Japan, where he played in a world championships.

Sam played for Wellington Lions under-19s alongside guys who would go onto elite rugby.

However, it was the developmental side that caught Sam’s eye and led him onto a career path in coaching.

“It was amazing. In the UK, you’re coached and taught in a very similar way the whole way through. To see how differently it’s done in Japan and then New Zealand, you can see why they are one of the best teams in the world in the way they go about their coaching.

“It being their national sport out there, every kid has a ball in their hand from the second they’re born. Whereas here it’s football.

“It was really interesting to see and probably what pushed me down that route of coaching and wanting to explore different coaching methods and how to improve players.”

The standard of rugby at Wellington was high.

Sam was lucky enough to count Thomas and Peter Umaga-Jensen as teammates. Both are nephews of former All Blacks captain, Tana Umaga. He said:

“They were just a different level altogether.

“They are both playing Super Rugby now in New Zealand. What they can do with a ball, I have never seen anything like it.

“It was great. I was playing 10, they were at 12 and 13, and I’d just give them the ball and they would score.”

Returning home to study

Sam returned to England in 2017 and enrolled at Leeds Beckett University.

It was here that he started to embark on his ambition for improving players and started to study sports coaching alongside playing for Harrogate.

About three years ago, Sam says he accepted that he was not going to make it as a professional player.

“There were people that were just a lot quicker and a lot more skilful than me at that stage.

“Knowing that I wanted to be involved in rugby for the rest of my life, coaching was the next best thing that I could do.”

For Sam, coaching is a craft and something that can be explored beyond just teaching players how to play rugby.

There is academic theory behind it and the application of that theory when it comes to improving players.

But it’s also about relationships with people and those that work with you on a weekly basis.

“A lot of the advice that I’ve got is it is a lot about relationships.

“If you can form good relationships with your players and coaching staff then you are already one step ahead of everyone else.

“Maybe you would see in the 80s and 90s, when the game was starting to turn professional, it was very much a dictatorship where the coach says ‘this is what you’re going to do and you do it’. No questions asked.

“Whereas now there is a lot more back and forth. There is a lot more challenges of what you’re doing and making sure your practices are as good as they possibly can be.”

Sam Fox playing for Harrogate Rugby Club.

Alongside his colleague Aled Jones, Sam launched the academy at Harrogate.

From there, he was made head coach of the first team for the 2021/22 season.

Harrogate were promoted to the Northern Premier League during the season which was effected by the covid pandemic.

However, the last campaign saw Harrogate relegated after a 24-12 loss to Tynedale.

For Sam, his squad, which had an average age of 22, lacked the experience to see games out. However, he added there was a lot the team could take into next season.

“While I was pleased with a lot of the things that we did, ultimately we conceded too many points and lacked the experience to see out games where we were within the seven points range.”

Preparation for next season has started in earnest.

Promotion will be the aim, but for Sam it will also be about improving the players enough so that they can maintain themselves in the next division.

Improving players is a thread that runs through much of Sam’s philosophy.

From setting up the academy with Aled to drawing up a curriculum for the younger players, much of the emphasis is on creating a squad that starts at Harrogate and, hopefully, finishes there.

This is the fifth article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

How Brazilian jiu-jitsu changed Harrogate instructor’s life

Brazilian jiu-jitsu changed the life of Harrogate instructor Lewis Matthews.

The 33-year-old has been practising the martial art for 17 years and owns the Gracie Barra club at The Zone on Hornbeam Park.

Lewis is a black belt grade one in jiu-jitsu and has competed in the British Open, where he won a silver medal just last month and has an ambition to achieve gold.

To get to this point, Lewis has had to make choices in his life from work to family life.

Despite having a steady job in construction which took him around the country, he decided to settle in Harrogate to pursue his love of jiu-jitsu.

‘It was something to do’

Lewis grew up in the village of Scackelton, a small village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire.

He started karate before he caught the jiu-jitsu bug after he went with his mum to Ampleforth College, where he was initially taking up swimming.

“It was something to do, really. I lived out in the sticks.

“My mum used to go this gym at Ampleforth College on a Friday. I used to go with her to go to the swimming and then there was a karate class on and I got signed up to that.”

To help himself get around, Lewis got a moped and began to go to the next village over to another karate class.

After finishing the session, he noticed more people turning up for another class – it was jiu-jitsu.

“I turned up, did the karate class and a couple of guys started piling in for this next class.

“I remember asking ‘what’s that?’ And they said ‘it’s jiu-jitsu’.”

Lewis (right) with coach and programme director, Jack.

Lewis was asked to stick around and join in the practice. From that moment, he started to take up the martial art as a hobby.

He left school and took up a joinery apprenticeship in Malton.

After completing his apprenticeship and a higher national certificate in construction at college, he took a career break and went travelling to South America.

At this point, he was a blue belt in jiu-jitsu – the first belt in the martial art – and he continued to practice and compete on his travels.

When he returned to the UK, he worked his way up to become construction manager at a firm in Leeds.

It was here that Lewis had a sliding doors moment.

‘I’ll leave my job before I leave jiu-jitsu’

After tendering a project for Bettys and Taylors at its factory in Starbeck, he allowed himself more time to commit himself to jiu-jitsu at the club in Harrogate – which was part time.

“That project allowed me to put the time in here on an evening.

“I was so close [to the club], I had never been so close before. I had always had to dot around to different clubs wherever I was working.

“But because I was two-and-a-half years in Harrogate, I was there every day and would come here on a night.”

Lewis demonstrating jiu-jitsu. Picture: Gracie Barra Harrogate.

After he finished working in Starbeck, his wife became pregnant.

At the same time, the club on Hornbeam Park, which Lewis founded with his friend Geoffrey Cumbus, had also grown while he was working on the project.

“It had become something that I was really passionate about. We had built a community with a lot people training.

“If I had continued to work for this company, I wouldn’t have been able to continue to do this.

“It was kind of a fork in the road. We’re going to have a family, so you can’t work all day and do jiu-jitsu all night anymore. Your next project might be an hours commute away. You won’t be able to get back to do all these classes that are two minutes from your current job.

“So, I handed my notice in.”

Lewis had already long been considering going full time at jiu-jitsu.

During the covid lockdowns, he was furloughed for eight-weeks and took time with his wife to consider what he wanted to do.

“We sat down in the garden and we wrote down what was most important to us if we were to do our perfect day.

“We wrote it down separately and told each other. It wasn’t having a massive expensive car and a flash holiday. It was time with each other, train jiu-jitsu, family and community. The things that we have already.

“I remember my wife saying at the time ‘you can’t continue to work two jobs and have a kid’. I looked at her and said ‘I’ll leave my job before I leave jiu-jitsu’. That’s when I decided to leave.”

Jiu-jitsu for everyone

The club on Hornbeam Park became affiliated with global martial arts organisation Gracie Barra in October 2017.

It forms part of a network of schools across the world offering the highest standard of BJJ instruction.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy allows people to develop the martial art and earn belts as part of their development.

The belt grading is at the discretion of the jiu-jitsu professor – Lewis was awarded his black belt in December 2017.

Lewis took over the club fully after the covid pandemic and is now head instructor.

He takes pride in welcoming new people to the martial art.

“The good thing that we do here is that we teach people of all levels.

“You might get the 21-year-old who comes in. He goes to college and lives and breathes jiu-jitsu.

“Then you get the 40-year-old professional who has got two kids. He trains two nights a week and has got a mortgage, a wife, kids and a business to run.

“The 21-year-old might come in and kick his butt on the mat in a rolling session and think that he deserves to be a higher grade than him, but it’s all relative because their individual journeys are different.”

The club caters for all abilities and needs. It teaches self-defence, physical fitness but also offers a social element.

Techniques taught within BJJ focus not on striking, but on grappling and defending yourself, without the need to punch or kick someone.

But, for Lewis, jiu-jitsu is more than the martial art itself.

While he continues to compete in competitions, such as winning silver in the British Open last month in Coventry, and has ambitions beyond that – jiu-jitsu has always meant something more.

He said:

“It’s provided me with something through my life that’s kept me on a path all the time.

“We all have choices to make, don’t we? Every time we want to go for a beer, get drunk or buy that something that we don’t need.

“Jiu-jitsu has always been ‘you can do that or you can do this’. I want to do this more, so I’m not going to do that.

“It has kept me on a good path to where I am now.”

This is the fourth article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Picking up the clubs

Starting from the bottom

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Starting again after covid

Competing in the Open

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Picking up the stick for the first time

Turning to coaching

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‘Strongest squad in 14 years’

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Taking rugby abroad

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Returning home to study

‘It was something to do’

‘I’ll leave my job before I leave jiu-jitsu’

Jiu-jitsu for everyone

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