Ping-pong playing padre Nicola Frail is our guest on Forces Sport this week as she talks about the power of table tennis in the military. Cath Brazier and Julian Evans caught up with her at the Army’s Championships in Aldershot where she talks about combining sport with her job as a minister, the physical and mental health benefits of playing table tennis and how competitive she really is! 

Jamie Miller is the captain of the Army Rugby team, and he juggles that role with being a full time Apache pilot. The men in red will look to defend their inter services title this spring including the showdown against the Royal Navy at Twickenham. On Forces Sport this week, Jamie talks to Cath and Jules about his early days as a professional rugby player, his career switch to the military, and leadership - something he says is learned not natural.

Roger Cruikshank and Nathan Jones both competed for the Royal Air Force alpine team when the inter services snow sports championships first came to Meribel. Now, sixteen years later, they are part of the coaching set up for the RAF team, and in 2022 they enjoyed success with the light blue ladies winning the alpine competition and the men coming second. Both have had very varied lives, both on and off their skis, including Roger’s appearance for Team GB at the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006.  

It was the competition that almost didn’t happen. But after the inter services snow sports championships were cancelled in 2021 due to COVID, the organisers were more determined than ever to make it happen. And so they did. Meribel ISSSC 2022 is underway and the athletes from all three services, across alpine skiing, telemark and snowboard, are keen to get racing. This is the 70th inter services snow sports competition and the 15th time it’s been held in the resort of Meribel, in the French Alps.

Royal Marine Taylor Lawrence burst on to the international bobsleigh scene in January 2020, being fast tracked into Brad Hall’s team as injury cover for a World Cup race in Winterberg. Since then, he has gone from strength to strength and will be competing in his first Olympic Games in Beijing in February. A talented sportsman, Taylor played academy level football and rugby union before joining the Armed Forces at the age of 20. He reveals to Cath Brazier and Julian Evans the military pride that drives him to succeed.

Sarah Hawkes is hoping she’ll be selected to compete in Judo at the Commonwealth Games 2022, which are being held in Birmingham. The Corporal, who serves with the Royal Military Police, will be representing Northern Ireland, and is excited about the prospect of a ‘home’ games. At the moment, she isn’t looking any further than this summer but she says competing for Great Britain at the Olympics is, unsurprisingly, her ultimate aim.

Officials are hoping the current COVID-19 restrictions in France will be lifted in time for the Inter Services Snow Sports Championships to take place in Meribel. The event, which was cancelled last year, is scheduled to start on 30 January but restrictions mean competitors are currently not allowed to travel to the resort. Lieutenant Colonel (Ret'd) Steve Davis, secretary for the UK Armed Forces Winter Sports Association, revealed to Forces News that a postponement until March is being "tentatively" considered.

Martin Colclough’s first experience of para sport was 25 years ago when he as physical training instructor in the British Army. Little did he know then that the Paralympic movement would come to define his life, his career, and his legacy. He is a huge cog in the wheel that connects and develops injured, wounded, and sick serving personnel and veterans with the world of elite disability sport. He talks to Cath and Julian about how it came about and what keeps him going in this ever-changing sporting environment.  

Stu Robinson is a gold medal winning Paralympian. He’s a key member of the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby team who, this summer, became the first European nation to win a medal at the Paralympics. Hear his story here on Forces Sport, from the hospital bed where he woke up with both of his legs amputated, to being crowned Paralympic champions in Tokyo.

Billy Aprahamian set himself a five-year plan to go from the British Army to being involved in the UK’s top horse-racing festivals. After winning the Grand Military Gold Cup in 2018 as a jockey, he went on to become assistant trainer to Nicky Henderson at Seven Barrows stables. Billy shares his story with Forces Sport and tells us how, ultimately, his life is driven by his love of horses.