A TRAMPOLINING prodigy is on his way to compete on the world stage after winning a gold medal in a national competition.

Ryan Brown, 12, is training hard to prepare for the World Age Group Championships in Bulgaria in November, after winning gold in the English Championships Men’s 11 to 12 age group earlier this month.

Ryan, from Seaford, has trained at Up’n’Downs trampoline club in Seaford and Lewes since he was four.

Following a successful year of competitions, he has now also been selected to join the Great Britain High Performance Programme National Junior Squad for the coming season from now until next September.

The schoolboy said: “It feels really good to get this far after all of my training. It feels like it has all paid off now.

“I am now British champion and that just feels great.

“I plan to do my gold winning routine at the next competition because it went so well.

“What I most love about trampolining is the feeling I get when I jump really high and doing cool tricks.

“My favourite trick is a full fall which is a double backwards somersault in the straight position with two full twists.

“I think the World Age Championships will be full of good competition and I am just focusing on what I need to do for that now.

“My family come to watch me compete and it is great to hear everyone cheer and to make people that have helped me get here proud.”

Ryan said his dream is to compete in the 2028 Olympics in LA but that he knows a lot of hard work and training lies ahead.

He added: “To get to that I just have to train as hard as I can, eat well, do lots of body conditioning and make sure I keep my body healthy and that I am fuelling it correctly to be at my best.”

He was undefeated in this year’s domestic trampoline and tumbling competitions when he won his gold medal and became British champion for his age group.

Ryan’s mother, Alka Brown, 48, said it is “still a bit surreal” that her son has been so successful at the sport.

The teaching assistant said: “He has worked so hard to get to where he is now.

“He will now go on to compete against 64 other young competitors from around the world.

“Up’n’Downs has been a really supportive club all along, with great coaching.

“His coach even travels with him for us sometimes when we can’t make events.

“We are very proud to see him enjoying how far he has come.”

The 25th World Age Group Championships will be held in Bulgaria from Thursday, November 16, to Sunday, November 19.