Local athlete shares journey from Wigan Youth Zone to becoming a professional in Germany

Louis Telford, 22, from Wigan, is currently living in Germany and is a professional wheelchair basketball player for RSV Bayreuth.

Telford has cerebral palsy and started visiting Wigan Youth Zone when he was 11, and has recently shared his journey that started there.

Speaking to the Youth Zone’s media as part of Youth Work week 2024, he said: “I came here for the sports aspect, but not really wheelchair basketball.

But then I met a few people here that thought we could start it here, go against other clubs and youth zones and represent Wigan and tried it in the sports hall here and just loved it.”

Telford has thrived in a number of sports as an athlete, having played for Wigan Warriors wheelchair team and being ranked third in wheelchair padel in the UK, and is in the top 10 across Europe.

Talking about his time after leaving the Youth Zone, Telford said: “It was a very good journey after leaving. A lot of the people at the Youth Zone said there’s a Wigan wheelchair basketball team that I can join and I loved it.

“I moved to play for a team in St Helens, and then I played in Manchester and that was one of the best times of my life. From Manchester, I decided I wanted to go to university.”

He moved to London to complete a degree in content, media and film production at MetFilm School.

“I played for two teams down there and now being in Germany playing in an under 23s team, playing for a really good small team, where I can develop, play with really good players,

“It’s just the best journey I ever could have been on.”

With a place on the England pathway, he discussed his hopes for the future.

“I’ve played for my hometown Wigan. Now I just want to achieve playing for the national team in wheelchair basketball, because playing for your country and playing for your hometown is the biggest dream I’ve ever wanted to achieve.”

He launched a fundraiser in October with hopes of raising £6,000 for a bespoke Padel sports wheelchair, to help progress from his high rankings in the UK and Europe.

Sharing his advice to the next generations of the Youth Zone, he told them ‘you can achieve anything’.

“You can overcome barriers and achieve anything. If you want to get somewhere, you have to surround yourself with people that are positive and people that want to achieve the same as you.”