Shooter Ryan's aiming for 2012

A SHOOTING star from Great Barr has been selected to compete for the GB team this month in the next stage of his quest to be picked for the 2012 Paralympics.

Ryan Cockbill, from Ravenhurst Drive, will be heading to Poland at the end of March to take part in an international target shooting tournament which he hopes will promote his chances of heading to the 2012 games in London.

The 19-year-old suffered a compression fracture in his spine in a swimming pool accident in July 2006, which has left him paralysed from the waist down. But Ryan is determined that his injury will not stop his sporting ambitions and is working hard to achieve his Paralympic dream.

"I am looking forward to competing in Szczecin and it will be a new experience for me," he said. "I shoot up and down the country but doing it internationally should be a bit more fun.

Ryan has already won trophies and glassware from his shooting and enjoys the "buzz" of competition.

He has raised his game from shooting in the 580s, where a competition's maximum score is 600, and is now scoring in the 590s.

"My scores have been high enough to qualify for the team, but to really do well, you have got to get scores of 600," he said. There will be eight of us competing, and then in May there are further competitions in France and Germany when more of the GB shooting squad will take part.

"There is quite a bit of competition to try and get in the GB team to compete at the World Championships in Croatia in the summer, and I think I have got a chance of making it.

Ryan's mum Karen was proud of her son's achievements and believes he can fulfil his ambitions.

She said: "If he carries on the way he has over the next two years, he has a very good chance of being selected for the Paralympics."

To help Ryan achieve his goal of competing in London in 2012, a fund-raising champagne breakfast is being held at Calderfields Golf Club in Aldridge Road, Walsall, on March 20.

Funds are needed to help pay for travel costs and the specialist equipment he needs.

After the breakfast, which starts at 10am, there will be entertainment and a raffle, until noon. Tickets cost £10.50 and more information can be obtained by calling Karen on 07989 612782.