Elite duo enjoy a gain in Spain

Team Elite flew out to the NAGA championships in Spain and added to their impressive array of title holders.

Team ju-jitsu coach Daryl Small performed admirably to beat a number of world class, tough opponents to reach the final in both of his divisions. His team-mate, Matthew White, on his international debut, secured a gold medal in his No-Gi division and a silver in his Gi division.

Head coach Rich Cosgrove said: “It’s a brilliant result, the standard was extremely high, you never really know when you go overseas. The standard is very, very high and you are competing at the highest level. So to come back with four medals is brilliant.”

The club, which has more than 100 members enhanced their international reputation.

“We now have six title belt holders within the club. For such a small town we seem to be doing alright at putting it on the map,” added Cosgrove.

Cosgrove has travelled the world to enhance his craft, training in places such as Brazil and Las Vegas and brought that knowledge back with him to Team Elite.

He helps to train a wide array of classes, for members of varying abilities from professional, world class athletes, to beginners who are looking to keep fit and active.

Elite are already making moves to ensure this current run of champions is not a flash in the pan.

“We are making plans, we have lots of tournaments coming up and as we’ve proved, our guys are a match for anyone.” Cosgrove said.

“We are looking at ways to grow, we’ve had a few planning issues but we are determined to fight through. We need the town to get behind us because we want to continue to put Oswestry on the map in our own little way.”