John Leeuwangh

The person I am nominating is my father. I know every dad is their sons hero but my dad really deserves this honour. He used to coach me rugby as a youth and mini player.'

We moved to an area - Hereford where the local rugby club did not have a junior section. He set one up and has always been involved since. He is life president of the club and is well respected by everyone he meets. Throughout my upbringing, everybody that has met my dad thinks he is a fantastic guy, this is on a personal level, but from a sporting perspective, he is a well known guy in rugby circles and is very deserving of this chance to carry the Olympic torch. He is now a loving grandfather to my brothers kids and enjoys taking them to various sports practice's the way he used to with myself and my brother. My father introduced me to rugby when I was three and was often my coach as a child however, he always victimised me (in a nice way) so as not to show any favouritism. Then when moving to Hereford, he set up the youth and mini section without any support from the club. This was over twenty years ago and it is still going strong down to his foundations. The amount of times I have heard that my dad is ace from friends etc is verging on the ridiulous and I can't reiterate enough how deserving and right it would be for my father to be given the chance to carry the torch and when seen by others that know and love him, they would just think that it is wholley right that he be chosen for this great event.