England's Dan McLellan looks back at a good year and special nomination

It promises to be an exciting end to 2024 for England Powerchair player Dan McLellan.

Still just 14 years old, Dan has become an established member in the Para Lions set-up as well as for his club Aspire PFC.

And he was recently listed as one of the top ten athletes for SportsAid’s ‘One to Watch Award’ with the winner due to be revealed in the next few weeks.

“It’s been a really good year,” explained Dan, who hails from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

“It started off quietly for the first couple of months, after the World Cup last year, and there’s always a bit of a winter break for Powerchair football.

“But then it really ramped up again around May and June time when we had our final weekend in the Premiership, the FA Disability Cup Finals and Powerchair Champions League, so that was the busiest time for me.

“And to be able to lift the Champions League in June in Paris was my standout achievement of the year.

“I always look back on it proudly and how we were the first English team to win the Powerchair Champions League so that was a groundbreaking achievement.”

The SportsAid nomination followed, with the purpose of the award to shine a spotlight on the stories behind Britain’s brightest young sporting prospects.

Each of this year’s finalists will receive in-person visits at their training environments to congratulate them on their outstanding achievements, with the overall winner being announced in December.

“It came out of the blue,” admitted Dan.

“I was nominated for a grant from SportsAid by the FA but I never even knew about the award until I got an email saying I was in the top ten.

“It came as a shock and looking back at some of the past winners, the likes of Tom Daley, it made me realise how big an achievement this actually is and puts it into context.

“It made me have one of those moments where you think and look around you and realise that you’re on the right path to achieving the stuff that you always wanted to.

“Since I was little, I’ve always wanted to play football at elite level and now I have the opportunity to do that with the backing of SportsAid and the FA.

“It would be amazing to win the award, but just to be nominated with the other people on there is the thing that hits the most.

“I want to improve, be a better player and teammate and as long as I’m doing something positive for the sport, that’s the main thing.”

Tuesday 3 December is also International Day of Persons with Disabilities and speaking on the eve of what has become an important date in the para football calendar, Dan is hoping it can showcase some of the progress made.

“It’s great to have a day like this, to get some recognition and I think it’s important to give people the spotlight,” he said.

“In para sport, we do lots of work behind the scenes that people might not know about and that’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just maybe they don’t see it as much as the Premier League or something like that which is heavily covered by the media.

“So having a day like this is great for giving our sport and para sport in general the focus it needs to go to the next level.”

And McLellan was quick to use the day to pay his own tribute to England and Aspire PFC teammate Jon Bolding, who has helped him on his journey so far.

“Jon is the captain of England and also the captain of my club Aspire and I say it all the time, but he’s really my role model in Powerchair football,” he said.

“He’s a player coach for Aspire and I wouldn’t have had any of the success I’ve had if it wasn’t for him being with me in the England squad and the improvements I’ve been able to make under him.

“He’s taken me under his wing and he’s the one who has played a huge factor in my development over the last few years.”