Alex helps Team GB win European wheelchair basketball crown

Former Coleg Llandrillo student Alex Marshall-Wilson helped Great Britain win the European under-23 wheelchair basketball championships.

The 20-year-old from Deganwy played every game as Team GB won the competition in Madrid with a 100% record, beating Germany in the final.

Alex, who studied Level 3 Sport at Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhos-on-Sea campus, said on Instagram: “What an experience this week has been. Going undefeated across the whole tournament shows how much work we invested as a group in every camp leading up to the championships.

“We also qualified for next year’s U23 World Championships for which a location is yet to be determined.

“I am so incredibly proud of every individual in this team and a special thanks to the coaching staff Joe Bestwick, Ade Oregbemi, Mark Stevenson and Nathan Payne for everything off and on the court.

“Now some time to rest and recover before pre-season starts again!”

Team GB beat Poland, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Israel and Italy in the group stage of the European U23 Championship. They then won 68-48 against Italy in the semi-final, before triumphing 60-40 over Germany to win the championship.

Alex recently returned to Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhos campus with Ffit Conwy disability sport officer Mark Richards, putting on a wheelchair basketball session for learners studying Sport (Performance & Excellence) and Sport (Sport and Exercise Science).

While at the Rhos campus, Alex talked about his time at Coleg Llandrillo, saying: “It was absolutely amazing - everyone was so inclusive from tutors to classmates.

“I was coming from school where I wasn’t included in a lot of things. The mindset was completely different here - the teachers were like ‘how can we get him to do this?’

“My classmates were so open and honest about stuff. They wanted to ask questions and I was actually able to get a few people involved in the sport - some of them took on volunteering roles.”

Alex won the Sport & Public Services category at Coleg Llandrillo’s FE Achiever of the Year Awards in 2022, and at the ceremony was named Overall Winner for the college.

He said: “I couldn’t quite believe I’d been nominated for the sport one, and then to go on and win the overall Achievers’ Award was something I’d not really expected.”

Alex is now studying Sport and Exercise Psychology at Loughborough University.

Alex plays as a forward for Sheffield Steelers, and his ultimate aim is to represent GB in the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.

Interested in studying sport with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai? Click here to learn more about our courses.