After years of hard work and practice, sixteen-year-old James Adams is one step closer to making his dream of representing Great Britain in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil a reality.
In May, Adams, from the Peckham, South London congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, participated in and won the Glasgow Para Open National Championships table tennis competition. To prepare for the championships, Adams trained three times a week.
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James’ school supported him by arranging his curriculum around training. His academics, though, were not shortsighted by Adams’s table tennis pursuits. Shortly after having returned from Glasgow, Adams was additionally nominated by his school for the Jack Petchy Achievement Award.
“The school nominated James because they were proud of how he has excelled in different areas—academically, in sports and in his attitude towards learning,” said Karen Adams, James’s mother.
Karen Adams said James at first struggled when he moved to Spa School in South East London. The school, dedicated to supporting students with specific learning needs, was a difficult change for James, who suffers from Aspergers. However, by pushing himself, and with the support of the school, James is now excelling.
“When James first started at the school he was very shy,” Karen Adams said, “but during his time there he has learnt to cope with different stresses and his whole attitude towards schooling changed.”
It was through Spa School, in fact that his talent of table tennis was discovered.
“When his sport coach, Wendy, saw him play table tennis she thought he had a real talent and put him onto a training curriculum,” said Karen Adams. “Since then, he has been receiving training for his table tennis and has come on in leaps and bounds.”
At Church, James participates in the weekly Young Men’s programme and regularly fulfils his priesthood responsibility by administering the sacrament."