Fifteen-year-old Jesse Tindall has dreams of one day representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games.
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The Paterson teenager started Year 10 at Dungog High this year while juggling an impressive schedule of training to improve his high jump stats.
Last year Jesse competed at a national level in the Under 16 high jump, representing NSW in the Australian All Schools Championships in Cairns.
He came home with a bronze medal and the determination to keep improving at his chosen sport.
The gold and silver winners at the nationals may have towered over Jesse – who is already standing tall at 181 centimetres – but with the teen still growing as is his determination.
His highest jump has been 198 centimetres and this year he hopes to break 205 centimetres.
At the recent Hunter Track Classic at Glendale, he was the youngest competitor competing in the Open Men’s in which he came third.
Jesse will compete at Regional Athletics Carnival this weekend and then goes to Sydney to compete in the NSW Youth and Juniors Athletics Championships at the end of the month.
“In year 5 I didn’t make its past zone level and then in year 6 I was sixth in the state,” he said.
Every year since then he has been to the NSW championships.
The family jokes about Jesse’s first serious selection to a state camp when he was just 13. The coach told him to warm up and while the other boys all took to the track Jesse sat out in the sun ...to warm up.
Now Jesse is no stranger to the professional aspect of his sport, being coached by Commonwealth games star Nick Moroney.
He has Little Athletics on a Friday and track training in Glendale on a Thursday.
Jesse has started personal training under John Tindall once a week to add to his hectic schedule.
No one in the Tindall family is exactly sure where the athletic prowess comes from, but one thing is for sure, they are all proud Jesse.
Mum Jody is a nurse at John Hunter and Jeff is a builder with siblings Luke 17, and Emily 13 who has competed at state level for running.
“The kids and Jody and I have all been involved in sports at some stage but to get to nationals, we’ve never had something like that,” said Jeff.
“He’s out little champion.”
Through Jesse’s competitions the family had also been able to see some of the country – having enjoyed a holiday in both Carins and Adelaide.
Jody is all too familiar with the Newcastle to Sydney freeway, having driven Jesse to Sydney one day a month for six months when he was selected to train under elite coaches in the targeted talent program for under 18s.
He has also attended the Under 15 National Camp at the AIS in Canberra.
