IN the space of less than a year Alex Beck has gone from splitting his time between athletics and football to competing for Team England in the Caribbean.

The 16-year-old from Four Marks found it hard to pick between spikes and studs but some impressive performances over 400m in 2022 earned him a call-up to England Athletics’ Youth Talent Programme.

Something had to give, and Beck made the decision to focus on the track at the expense of the football pitch – a decision that has paid off.

An impressive indoor season was backed up by more impressive results outdoors – with a recent run of 47.3 seconds at the national championships earning selection for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.

Beck will form part of a 59s-strong English contingent at Trinbago 2023 alongside more than 1,000 young competitors aged 14-18 from Nations and Territories across the Commonwealth.

“I’ve become more focused on athletics,” explained Beck, who made the decision with input from coach Mark Upton. 

“I’ve played football since I was five years old but this year I gave it up to focus purely on athletics.

“Last year I was training two days a week but this year I’ve been more focused, doing three, four, five days a week to really achieve my goals. 

“Me and my coach said that anything we do in the season needs to push me towards my goal. Whatever I need to consider, ‘is this going to help me achieve my goal?’  

“At that point, playing football wasn’t helping me achieve my goal, it was a bigger injury risk, so we decided we were going to give it up and focus on athletics and I’m glad I did because I’m at a way higher level as an athlete than I ever would have been in football so I’m really happy.  

“It was hard because I still love playing football, but it was one of those things where I thought that I’m not going to get this opportunity again, to be at this level, so I’m just going to take it and see where I can go with it.” 

The seventh edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games will take place on the Islands of Trinidad and Tobago between 4 – 11 August.  

And Beck cannot wait to get out to the Caribbean to get his first taste of competing overseas.

The Peter Symonds College student added: “My goal running-wise is to get to the final. When you are in the final, anything can happen. I want to see what I can do and prove myself abroad because that’s something I’ve not done yet. Faster times usually come abroad, especially in the heat of the Caribbean against really good competitors. 

“I also want to soak up the experience and realise how much of a privilege it is to go out there.”

Follow Team England’s performances at Trinbago 2023 at www.teamengland.org #BringItHome.