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Summer of sporting success for local stars
The summer of 2019 will be one to remember for these local sports stars, as they have enjoyed
the sporting season of a lifetime. From football and lacrosse to underwater hockey and
judo, Michelle Kight look at how they have made an impact on the sporting world.
Basketball
Mollie Campbell, of Whitworth, and the
Great Britain women’s basketball team made
history in July by finishing fourth in the
EuroBasket tournament, the best placing by a
British team at a European Championship.
Their placing means that team GB is now
guaranteed to play in February’s qualifying
tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Mollie was the youngest player of England’s
basketball squad that won a silver medal at
the 2018 Commonwealth Games in
Australia.
Her basketball career began at the age of 12,
when she followed in her brother’s footsteps
and took up the sport, playing for
Manchester Mystics. She now plays for
Leicester Riders in a centre forward position,
and hopes to take part in the next Olympics.
REAL ROCHDALE - AUTUMN 2019
Underwater Hockey
Football
Rochdale-born midfielder Keira Walsh, 22, played
an integral part in this year’s England Women’s
football team, which finished fourth in this
summer’s FIFA World Cup.
England’s opening match of the 2019 World Cup
– Walsh’s World Cup debut – was watched by
6.1 million viewers on BBC TV, a record for the
women’s game.
She signed her first professional contract in 2015
with Manchester City and made her debut for
City in a 1-0 win over Notts County Ladies in July
2014.
Since then, she has blossomed and has gained
international experience at youth level with
England.
In 2016, Walsh helped City to a league and cup
double, also making her Champions League debut
and scoring the match winner in a last 16 triumph
over Brondby IF.
Defender Axel Tuanzebe, 21, signed a new
contract with Manchester United in July 2019
after a year on loan at Aston Villa.
Tuanzebe was raised in Rochdale after he was
born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A former pupil at St Cuthbert’s RC High School,
Tuanzebe was signed by Manchester United
when he was just 11.
Mixed Martial Arts
Kyran Sturrock, 18, of Castleton, came home
in June from the Mixed Martial Arts European
Championships in Rome with a bronze medal.
Sturrock, who plans to pursue the sport at a
professional level, has been involved in the sport
for six years, training at the Full Contact Perfor-
mance Centre (FCPC) on Queensway and the
SBG gym in Manchester.
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Judo
At the time of printing, three players from Rochdale Judo Club’s Isobel Kitchen, 16,
Rochdale Underwater Hockey Club have Jake Brearley, 14, and Dave Hulme, 26, will
been selected to play for Great Britain in be competing at the Commonwealth Judo
the Underwater Hockey World Age Group Championships in Walsall in late September,
Championships in Sheffield in August. the first to be hosted in England since the
inaugural edition in 1986.
Tiegan Alexander, 18, and Ella Tomlinson, 15,
have been selected for the women’s under Isobel, who has been training for around nine
19s team, whilst Isaac Rhodes-Dawson, 17, years, placed ninth in the 2019 European
has been selected for the men’s under 19s Youth Olympic Festival in Azerbaijan in late
team. July, after she was selected as one of the Brit-
ish Olympic Association’s 44 athletes
Tiegan has been playing underwater hockey representing Team GB.
since she was 10 years old and Ella since
she was nine, and they have both played for The European Youth Olympic Festivals sees
Rochdale’s junior teams at all age levels. around 2,500 athletes from 48 European
nations compete across 10 Olympic sports.
Isaac joined the club when he was nine and
has played for the Rochdale junior teams and She also won silver at the British
currently competes with Manchester A team Championships earlier that month, following
at the highest-level competitions. on from previous golds at the 2019 English,
Scottish and Irish open tournaments.
One of the only sports to be played in three
dimensions, underwater hockey is a team- Jake and Dave were also selected for the
based sport, played with a plastic-coated lead British Teams Championships, winning
puck on the bottom of the swimming pool. bronze medals.
The puck is moved using small bats approxi-
mately 30cm long, players wear a mask,
snorkel and a pair of fins and are required to
hold their breath while underwater and play-
ing the puck.
Lacrosse
Three Rochdale Lacrosse Club players were
part of the England squad who won the
inaugural LAX Under 20s European
Championships in July.
The team, which included Rochdale
players Daniel Madeley, 18, Tom Teal, 17, and
Alex Halliday, 17, beat Germany in the final,
whilst their fellow Rochdale teammate, Josh
Croney, played for Wales in the same contest.
The Rochdale Lacrosse Club is one of the five
oldest clubs in the UK with the sport having
been played locally since 1888. Photo: Team GB
39 REAL ROCHDALE - AUTUMN 2019