Hi, My name is Connor and I am 16 years old. I live close to a village called Millthorpe which is between Orange and Bathurst in Central Western NSW. I have been selected to represent Regional Australia at the Oceania Championships in Suva Fiji in three events. The U18 100m, 200m and 400m and I am hoping to be selected to run in the 4 x100 relay and the 4 x 400 relay which I am yet to find out about. This has been something I have worked towards for a while and I am so excited to represent my country overseas. It was a very quick turn around from being notified of selection and having to book accommodation, flights, transfers, uniform costs all totalling around $3500. I am hoping family members are able to come and support me with warm up, coaching and getting physically and mentally ready for my races. I am excited to be part of such a supportive team and hope to meet a few lifelong friends during this fantastic experience. My family are my greatest supporters and during peak athletics season they regularly drive me to places like Sydney or Wollongong to compete at Juniors, All Schools, Country Championships and State competitions which is about a 7 hour round trip, this includes continuous accommodation and travel expenses. I compete Nationally also and have recently returned from Adelaide and last year Brisbane which involves flights, accommodation, uniform expenses. I train approx. 4 days a week on a local rugby field and am dedicated to allocating time after school for this to stay competition fit. I am in Year 10 and also like to keep up with my studies, in my one day I have off of training I coach a local soccer team voluntarily which I enjoy. I would like to thank my mum for always being there supporting me in achieving my goals, my coach Jeremy Wallace and Bayden who motivate me and believe in me, and my brothers who challenge me to always do better. I would also like to thank Orange Athletics Club and the Western Region Academy of Sport.

I would appreciate any support that may be offered to go towards my travel overseas to pursue my goals and aspirations of representing my country. Thank you!