FIVE athletes from Boston are on the right track to achieving their sporting dreams as part of the Lincolnshire Elite Athletes Programme.

The programme (LEAP), is designed to support and progress talented sports people from our county.

The region's most talented athletes who have been playing consistently at a county, regional, national or international level for the past 12 months are all eligible for the programme.

The programme will be part of Lincolnshire 2012, which supports Lincolnshire's top performers to make it to the London 2012 Games.

There are currently 54 athletes from 19 sports on this year's LEAP programme ranging from nine-years-old to 42-years-old. Applicants to the programme are nominated and then approved by any of 365 national governing bodies.

Each year the scheme costs LEAP between £10,000 and £12,000, so relies heavily on donations from local businesses.

The five athletes from the Boston area are Dominic Beesley, Henry Beesley, Sarah Stanhope, Bernice Wilson and Stephanie Hendy.

Dominic Beesley - Tennis

Dominic first became interested in tennis at nine-years-old, but did not play competitively until the age of 11.

He played for the Boston Men's first AEGON team where the team finished first in their league, securing promoting to the National League.

He trains at Tennis Buddies, Woodhall Spa, and at Boston Tennis Club for between six and ten hours a week.

Dominic said: "I beat a player rated two ratings ahead of me and lost to the number three in UK (U15) in three sets."

Dominic hopes to reach the top 20 for his age group nationally by next year and be able to go on tour when he has completed his education.

Henry Beesley - Tennis

Henry trains for between six and eight hours every week at Tennis Buddies, Woodhall Spa, and Boston Tennis Club, coached by David Williams.

Henry started competing at just eight-years-old and was selected for both the County under-12 and under-14 teams.

He has competed in his first Grade One national competition and won both regional under 12 competitions in Cambridge and Chesterfield.

Henry said: "My National ranking has gone up to 2, which is the highest I have ever achieved."

Sarah Stanhope - Athletics

Sarah trains three times a week to perfect her hammer throws at Loughborough University with coach John Pearson and twice a week at home to build her fitness.

Sarah was encouraged while at school to pursue her athletics career and now throws for Lincoln Wellington AC. Her dream is to throw at the Olympic Games, but ideally, she would like to earn her England or GB vest to win a medal at one of the championships.

Sarah said: "I'm busy juggling training and exams at the moment, but I am finding my sport relaxing in between exam revision."

Sarah is County Champion in both the hammer and the discuss.

She added: "This is a long term sport and I am only just learning it, so hopefully with a lot of hard work, one day, I will get there."

Bernie Wilson - Athletics

At the young age of 18, Bernice represented England in the 200 metres at Cardiff and is now part of the Great Britain relay squad.

From a young age Bernice was keen on sports, including hockey and netball. She said: "I concentrated on athletics from the age of 15 as this was what I loved and had a passion for."

Bernice trains at the Princess Royal Sports Arena and hopes to make the podium at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Stephanie Hendy - Athletics

Stephanie has been carrying out a successful hard winter's training in order to prepare for the forthcoming season.

She took part in her first hammer throwing competition in April where she threw a new personal best – almost four metres more than her previous best.

Stephanie said: "This new personal best has placed me fourth in the UK for under-20 women and 12th in the UK overall."

On April 5, Stephanie came second behind the UK number one with a throw of 47.15 metres.