The trials and tribulations of some of Wales’ sporting heroes

Josh Navidi played a starring role in Wales’ 2019 Six Nations grand slam win, former sprinter and hurdler Colin Jackson is a legend of Welsh sport and at only 12 years old, Anna Hursey has represented her country at the Commonwealth Games. These are some of the sports stars who feature in a new book ‘Reset your Goals’ by author and sports producer, Jos Andrews.

The book looks at how some of these inspiring sports stars have managed to overcome challenges with perseverance and determination eventually reaching their goals and making it to the top.

Jos, who has covered major sporting events including the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Six Nations Rugby said:

“This is my eighth book that has been published as part of the Quick Reads collection and funnily enough, all of them have been about sport. I worked closely with athlete Colin Jackson for many years and he is one of the sporting stars included in this new book.”

 

“What always amazes me about sports men and women is their resilience and how they all accept failure and start again. There’s nothing more important to teach young people than to be resilient. What inspired me to write this book is the idea that you can come back from failure by resetting your goals.”

The other athletes who feature in this new publication are Mica Moore, Simon Jones, Laura McAllister, Matthew Jones, Nathan Stephens and Lynn Davies.

“Josh Navidi for example has had some incredibly challenging times due to injuries but he has kept pushing himself and resetting his goals. He went on to shine in the 2019 Six Nations and was named by The Telegraph as one of their top 20 players of the tournament. Anna Hursey is another example of someone who has worked hard to reach her goals. She’s only 12 years old and is the youngest person to ever represent Wales at senior level in any sport, what an achievement!”

 

“Equality is paramount in sport and I wanted to ensure that this book shed light on the successes of men and women of all ages and different backgrounds. I feel privileged to have been able to interview these amazing sports stars and we are so lucky to have them here in Wales.”

The book has been published as part of the Quick Reads collection with the aim of getting people in Wales reading with short, gripping books which are available from libraries, bookshops and online for only £1. Four new Quick Read titles have been published this year, two in Welsh and two in English.

The campaign is coordinated by the Welsh Books Council and supported by the Welsh Government and was launched by the Minister for Education Kirsty Williams AM, at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay, on Tuesday, 30 April.