University of Exeter Sport support Ghanaian athletes in the lead up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games

The four athletes have been training at the Right to Dream Academy since June 2011 on a mission to represent Ghana; last month, they all achieved qualification to the London 2012 games. Speaking on their arrival in Exeter, two-time Ghana Paralympian, Raphael Botsyo, commented: “We are excited to begin our final preparations ahead of the Paralympic Games. We are very grateful to the many people and organisations in Exeter who have made this training camp possible.”

University of Exeter Sport has granted access to its High Performance Unit and strength & conditioning facilities, together with offering sports specific advice to the team. A number of performance volunteers, including two University of Exeter undergraduates, George Furzer (3^rd year, Sports Science) and Nathalie Hickman (3^rd year, Psychology), are providing the athletes with daily assistance.

Dr Andrew Middlebrook (Exercise Science Consulting Ltd) is assisting with the design and delivery of the athletes’ training programme while they are at Exeter and commented: “‘It is essential to provide a high performance training environment to allow these athletes to reach their potential at the London 2012 Paralympics, and the use of the superb facilities at the Sports Park makes this possible.”

Right to Dream Paralympic Coach, Alex Main, who has been training with the athletes in Ghana for the last 12 months, commented: “The Paralympic spirit is very much alive in Exeter. The response and support for the athletes has been incredible – they have been provided with a fantastic opportunity to reach the Paralympic Games in peak condition.“

Competing at the London games is not the end of the athletes’ mission however; they are determined to use this opportunity and platform to change the perception of disabilities in Ghana and inspire the next generation of para-sporting talent to become world-class athletes and leaders of change: “It is our dream to lay some seeds for the up and coming children with disabilities and we believe the journey is not ending in London 2012” said Raphael Botyso.

Right to Dream is a registered charity in the UK whose mission is 'to offer talented, underprivileged athletes the opportunity to reach their true potential in life and claim a better future for Africa.’

Through their elite training programmes, international education, personal development and leadership philosophy Right to Dream nurtures the exceptional into future role models for Africa.

The squad will be training at the University until the end of July after which the team are scheduled to enter a national team camp.