Meet the city sports club training the next generation of Olympians

It has trained hundreds of youngsters on the slopes since it opened more than 50 years ago.

And Norfolk Snowsports Club in Whitlingham Lane, Trowse, is aiming to train more future Olympians following the success of former regular club racer, Will Feneley.

The 22-year-old sportsman, who grew up near Fakenham, joined the club age six.

The pro no longer trains at the club and was selected for Team GB in 2017.

Team GB's freestyle skier Will Feneley in action (Image: Joshua Himbury)

He competed in his first Winter Olympics this year in Beijing where he came 17th in the second qualifying round in the men's moguls skiing contest.

Afterwards the freestyle skier returned to the club to encourage the next generation of sports stars.

Dudley George, chairman of Norfolk Snowsports Club in Trowse, with Team GB freestyle skier Will Feneley after he visited his old club in February 2022 (Image: Norfolk Snowsports Club)

Dudley George, chairman of the club, who believed the athlete would go on to great things, said: "He is a great inspiration to for the junior club skiers to know that someone who started at their age at junior club had gone on to reach such levels."

A youngster showing their skills on the slopes at Norfolk Snowsports Club in Trowse (Image: Norfolk Snowsports Club)

Mr George added the club, which formed in 1968 under the name Norfolk Youth Ski Club, has 4,300 members and attracts hordes of youngsters though its junior club and family days.

He added: "We get people from five-year-old tiny tots to people in their teens."

The club, which has been based in Trowse since 1976, attracts people from a wide range of backgrounds and teaches snowboarding, freestyle skiing and tubing.

Mr George, who is also an instructor of the club, supported by 200 volunteers, believed the perception of winter sports being an elite sport was changing.

He added: "We are anxious to open the club up to as many people as we can. We are trying to make it accessible for lots of people.

"The Winter Olympics prompts an interest in the club for sure. The Olympics has been great for us because, like so many, we have lost business over the last two years due to Covid restrictions limiting what we did.

"People get a wonderful sense of achievement from winter sports. It is also healthy and gets you outside."

One of the ways the club involves the community is through its work with schools as well as running an adaptive group for people with disabilities.