Gunnedah youngsters Cleal and Jayden are excelling in athleticism.
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Eight-year-old sprinter Cleal is heading to Sydney on October 31 for the Primary Schools Sports Associations (PSSA) Athletics Championships and in November, his 10-year-old brother Jayden will try-out for the Northern NSW Football side.
Cleal is heading to championships because he broke four records at St Xavier’s Primary School’s athletics carnival in August.
In the 100-metre race, Cleal broke Jasper Thomas’ 2009 record of 16.07 seconds by 0.01 of a second and in the 200-metre race, he broke Oliver Regan’s 2001 record of 34.24 seconds by 0.93 seconds. In the long jump, he broke Hayden Jaeger’s 2001 record of 3.48 metres by 0.01 metres and in the high jump, he broke Ben Northy-Baldwin’s 2010 record of 1.06 metres by 0.11 metres.
After breaking the records, Cleal headed off to compete at disocesan, then the Polding Athletics Championships in Newcastle where he recorded a time of 15.23 seconds in the 100 metres. He then went on to win the final and secured a place in the PSSA Athletics Championships in October.
Cleal is now training twice a week and said his favourite sprinter is Usain Bolt.
“I just like beating people, just winning,” Cleal said.
On the field, Jayden has just finished his first soccer season in Gunnedah. He first tried out for Northern Inland Football at the age of seven and trains twice a week in Tamworth.
On November 10-11, Jayden will attend a Northern NSW Football under 12s camp in Coffs Harbour from which players will be selected to represent the club at the Tasmania Skill Acquisition Program (SAP) Festival in February 2019.
Ahead of the camp, he has a trial in Tamworth on October 19 for Northern Inland Football’s under 12s metro team. If he’s successful, he will need to travel most weekends to Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Cessnock and Tamworth for game time.
I just like beating people.
- Cleal Bender
His mother Krystal Campbell said it was "a big commitment”.
Jayden said he enjoyed soccer because “I like playing with my friends and going places”.
“I usually play in mids but I play better in the right wing,” he said.
The 11-year-old’s favourite player is Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portugese professional footballer.
“He’s really good with the ball and he scores lots of goals too,” Jayden said.
Jayden said he would like to improve his “shooting and skills”.
