UNIVERSITY OF WORCESTER'S Jack Long has said it is an 'incredible honour' to be named in the Sports Aid shortlist for the one-to-watch competition. 

The competition recognises Britain's best young sports prospects, and has previously seen winners such as Tom Daley, Alex Yee and Hollie Arnold. The winner of this year's edition will be announced later in December.

"I didn't realise what it was at first, but now I know what it is, it is an incredible honour to be nominated," said Jack Long. "I really appreciate everyone who thought I was capable of being in the top ten of this award, alongside all the other great athletes that are involved."

The wheelchair basketball player is midway through his third and final year at the university, the side have won BUCS gold in every year he has competed. 

"Last year, we had quite a tough run-in in BUCS," he said. "We had Loughborough in the semi finals, so that was a huge game. 

"We knew if we got past them, then no other game would be harder and we could potentially go on to win the finals. 

"We had already lost to them twice in the group stage so to go into that game, the mentality was to go out there and win. We knew that if we won we would have a massive chance to win a gold medal."

Having won in the past two seasons, a 'threepeat' is the goal of the side this season. 

Alongside competing for Worcester, Long also took part in the European Championships for the GB under-23 side, where they triumphed without losing a single game. 

"An insane experience," said Long. "It was out in Madrid so that was crazy. We had a lot of close games, we had two overtime games with Turkey and Italy, so there was a lot of chances for us to not go undefeated.

"But even when we weren’t playing at our best we were able to get through it as a team which is what matters most in the end. We ended up going undefeated and winning a goal medal.

"It is mentally exhausting. You have to just keep pushing through for a week straight.

"Being able to get to the end point and win that gold medal makes it all feel worth it, it is like a relief. You have done all that hard work and to come out and win the gold medal was a great feeling for me and I’m sure for the rest of the team."

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Long will find out in the near future whether he has been selected as Sports Aid's one-to-watch for the year. 

He said: "I don’t think I even think about how I feel if I won it. Getting into the top ten is enough of an unreal feeling. Getting chosen in the top ten out of a thousand-odd athletes is a great feeling.

"If I went on to win it I don’t even know how I would feel, it would be incredible."

Alongside this year's BUCS competition, Long's next goal revolves around the under-23 World Championships in Brazil. 

"Hopefully I get selected for that and I get to go to another tournament, compete for another medal. Winning a medal on the world stage would be incredible.

"I have also been invited to a senior camp in January, so to keep training with them and learning off them – because they are some of the best players in the world – is my plan for the future."

Long hopes to then go on and compete for a spot at the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.