Scott Jones is rightly regarded as one of the most promising young cricket and football players to come out of Pembrokeshire for a number of years so it is great to know that he is also busy as a Young Ambassador at Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest.

In that role Scott is engaged in trying to persuade others of the value of sporting and active leisure activities and as a year ten student is one of the youngest Silver Ambassadors in Pembrokeshire. He set out in year nine when he was asked if he would like to be involved with helping others by Matthew Freeman, who was then the school’s 5x60 officer.

Scott readily agreed and is now working with Dan Bellis, who has taken over from Matt, under the guidance of PE teachers Meredith Richards and Jonathan Dodd, with one of his roles being to help coach indoor football to younger pupils after school.

He is also using this valuable work as part of his Duke of Edinburgh’s Award bronze medal ‘public service’ section.

When he set out, Scott joined the other new Silver Young Ambassadors on an awareness course at Bluestone where they heard about the work of Jo Williams, from Sport Pembrokeshire (the sporting arm of Pembrokeshire County Council), and the Gold Young Ambassadors who had already been undertaking the work for at least a year before that. One of the areas they covered was the ‘Olympic Legacy’ and the belief that it was the perfect time to try and influence those who saw little or new value to being involved in sport or leisure activities.

Scott then attended the special coaching sessions at STP for aspiring young athletes on the day that the Olympic Torch was carried through the town. He joined many other Young Ambassadors in helping with sessions held under the auspices of Pembrokeshire Harriers coaches and helped with the javelin, among other athletic events. It was a chance to see how it was done because he will take part in either sport leadership or first aid in sport as part of his GCSE PE course or in the ‘learned skills’ section of the D of E scheme.

There is no doubt that Scott is an avid sports lover because, as well as his football and cricket, he plays outside half for the school rugby team (and with Neyland RFC juniors before he had to choose his major winter sport), tennis in inter-school competitions (and he is a previous winner in singles and doubles as a nipper in county tournaments).

Furthermore, he is a useful golfer who says he is a bit of a ‘hacker’ around South Pembs Golf Club, along with friend Greg Thompson when time allows!

But there is little spare time at the moment because as a member of the Swansea City Academy at under 15 and under-16 levels he has to travel to Llandarcy three evenings a week for training and often stays overnight with the rest of the squad at an hotel when they are playing away on Saturdays against the likes of Ipswich, QPR, Milwall, Brighton, Colchester and Brentford in league games.

Scott has also played cricket for Wales for several years and last season was top wicket-taker in his age category with his canny slow bowling, as well as showing his batting prowess as an all-rounder with Neyland first XV, plus scoring 121 not out for Pembrokeshire against Mid Glamorgan in a huge partnership with Dafydd Bevan, who fell just three runs short of his century target.

Again his involvement requires a great commitment to training sessions under the guidance of former Glamorgan player Darren Thomas, with John Prickett as team manager.

After Christmas these sessions will start again and Scott is quick to praise the full support he receives from his parents Yvonne and Martin, who certainly rack up the miles and hours travelling to assist his sporting prowess.

So it makes it doubly pleasing that on top of his own considerable commitment to playing a high level of sport, he is ready to help others achieve their first steps to sport or a return to an activity they had been involved in but stopped for one reason or another. He sings the praises of the 5x60 scheme and so it is nice in return to say ‘well done’ to Scott Jones for his involvement – and long may he continue to inspire others at Sir Thomas Picton School.