Table tennis: Samuel has dreams of Olympic success

LUTTERWORTH table tennis starlet Samuel Mabey dreams of one day competing at an Olympic Games - but his immediate focus is on qualification for next year's European Championships. The 15-year-old former Lutterworth College pupil has been recognised as a future Olympian after being named on the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes scheme, from which he will receive a cash injection of £1,000 towards training and competing. And Mabey reckons his recent recognition will be just the confidence boost he needs ahead of a hectic few years. "Being on the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes scheme is really going to help a lot with media and things like that, as well as meeting some new athletes and learning from them," he said. "I am in the English team and we have training camps that come around once every two months. We train hard as a team but it is hard at the moment with funding but Lloyds TSB will help me. "Travelling all the way around the country costs a lot of money but hopefully this grant will make things a lot easier. "I want to qualify for next year's European Championships at junior level so this year is all about getting good experience in order to compete there. "My long-term goal is to go to an Olympics. Any young athlete's dream is to play in an Olympics so hopefully that is a long-term goal for me but this year I will be working hard to make sure I get to the Europeans." PLEASE LEAVE IN FINAL PAR - Lloyds TSB Local Heroes, in partnership with SportsAid, has supported 1,000 of Britain's most talented developing athletes. As part of Lloyds TSB's commitment to helping future sports stars prosper, the programme will continue in 2013. Follow future stars at facebook.com/lloydstsblocalheroes