Pictured above: Rebecca Dell with Ben Elliott of Knights BMW

A successful teen Stone rower is continuing to make waves in the sporting world after becoming the first recipient of the Knights BMW Sporting Promise Bursary at the start of the year.

The £500 award from the Staffordshire dealership group has part funded a boat for the St. Joseph's School pupil, Rebecca Dell who is currently taking her GCSEs.

Sixteen year old Rebecca, who continues to train extensively at Trentham Boat Club throughout her exams, has already successfully competed at national level, winning gold medals in over 120 regional events since 2008.

Having received the bursary Rebecca is now training for the National Championships which will take place at the end of the month and if takes the gold medal, will go on to represent the country at the Home International Regatta in August.

Rebecca was chosen to receive the annually awarded bursary in January this year for her continuing commitment and dedication to the sport and used the bursary to part fund a Stämpfli carbon fibre boat which she will use to compete in singles races. 

Knights BMW Group CRM Manager Ben Elliott is delighted that the sporting bursary was able to help someone as enthusiastic as Rebecca.

"The BMW and MINI dealer group has strong links to the community and sports clubs in the area including sponsorship of Stoke City FC, Stoke Rugby Club and Newcastle Town FC amongst others," Ben said.

"It's our aim to help encourage and develop young sporting talent in Staffordshire and Rebecca is a brilliant example of this, having achieved so much already and showing such promise for the future.

"Having awarding her with the bursary in January, it's amazing to see the success she has had so far and we are delighted we have helped her to continue to pursue her rowing career by helping with the boats funding.

"Rebecca also has Olympic aspirations which we are especially eager to support as BMW is one of the main sponsors of the forthcoming London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics."

After a successful year in British competitions, Rebecca is now setting her sights on International titles starting with the GB trials in autumn, where she is one of twenty girls to be invited to a special training weekend with the GB coaching team.

"Being able to purchase my own boat with the help of the Knights BMW Sporting Promise Bursary has helped massively with my training," Rebecca said.

"Racing as part of a team is a fantastic experience but being able to use my own boat to compete in single races is something I'm working really hard towards as I eventually hope to compete in the Olympics.

"The boat cost around £2500 so there is no way I could have got it without the help of Knights and their bursary and having my own boat means I can concentrate on training for single race competitions.

"I'm very proud to receive the bursary from Knights BMW, it's made a huge difference and I hope to continue to bring home medals to make them as equally as proud."

Knights is already on the lookout for another sporting talent in the area to receive the Knights BMW Sporting Promise Bursary next year. Applications can be made for the 2011 bursary to Amy Greenwood, Knights North Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, ST4 4GU.