A 30-year-old high-flying Grasscroft man has been given a one in a million chance to compete against some of the world’s toughest athletes.
Richard Hill, a former RAF Flight Lieutenant, is the only Briton to ‘try out’ for a coveted place in the exclusive American Grid League.
The league is the world’s first professional spectator sport with co-ed teams competing in strategic athletics racing.
It’s a hugely-popular US mainstream sporting league that is fan, TV and sponsor friendly.
Each two-hour match features two teams of seven men and seven women, one of each being over 40 years old.
The teams go head to head in 11 fast races with athletes competing in qualifying events and finishing in the top few per cent to gain a place.
Grid races are easy to follow for spectators and are played with pre-set rules and unlimited substitutions designed to force teams to use competitive strategies.
And Richard, who has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, was invited to take battle for a place despite not competing in the qualifier.
He explained: “The owner and coach of one of the teams, San Francisco Fire, requested my attendance after watching my social media posts.
“The Grid League responded and I’ll be tested over two days with all sorts of weightlifting, gymnastics, speed, skill, fitness, then hopefully drafted to a team.
“I am the only Brit invited to try out, with the possibility of being the UK’s only signed athlete,” he said proudly.
“It’s like going for a trial at Manchester United after playing at Saddleworth Rangers – a real David vs Goliath test.
“It’s the absolute dream, a real million to one chance, and it very much rewards the hours of sacrifice learning and training on freezing cold days in the gym.”
Richard, whose mother Sybil trained many of Oldham’s best netballers at Oldham Sixth form College, quit the RAF after six years to closer to his family and start own his own functional fitness gym.
He is already taking on clients for one-to-one training and offering support to local teams and athletes until he can focus on premises and investment later in 2015.
In the military, Richard offered coaching and support in training facilities around the world and so donations for his US dream have come from the UK, Australia, and East to West coasts of America.
He added: “Family have chipped in what they have, and I’ve invested entirely in the project. Any extra funds raised relieves the financial burden and tricky transition from civilian to military life on my own.”
Richard competes on March 27. Check out his CrowdFunder page and find out more about the competition at: www.npgl.com
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