YATE and District Athletic Club coach Mark Lodge has just returned from the experience of a lifetime at the Invictus Games, the sports event for injured ex-servicemen and women started by Prince Harry, and held last week in Orlando, Florida.

He was employed as the throws coach for the United Kingdom team.

At Yate, Lodge coaches young athletes in most disciplines and has always shown a passionate interest in athletes with disabilities, but the Invictus Games was a whole different world.

Over 10 days in America, he coached 24 athletes, the majority of whom had lost limbs in combat, in throwing discus and shot.

An athlete called Lammin who had lost both legs and an arm but won a bronze medal in the discus was a standout for Lodge.

Lammin, like most of the athletes, never spoke about how his disabilities – he was just there to compete and represent their country.

Lodge was aware that some of the people he worked with had spent years shut away in their homes, traumatised by their experiences, and only now that they were involved with the Games had they begun to change their lives.

A few of the athletes Lodge worked with could be in line for selection for the Paralympics in Rio. Some of his throwers he described as ‘world class’.

He is hoping that a connection he has made with Tedworth House, the rehabilitation centre, will lead to a tie-up with the Yate club and Yate Outdoor Sports Complex.

The difficulty is transport, given that ex-military athletes tend to live near their old military bases and many are financially stretched.

He points out that he trained six or seven throwers who would form a terrific group with Yate and District’s adult team.

“For many of these athletes, being part of a team once more for the first time since their army careers was the main thing,” he said.

One thing that surprised lodge was the attitude to authority of many of the athletes he came across.

“It’s really sad in some ways, some of them still call you ‘sir’,” he said.

“Even if they’ve had their legs blown off, they’re in a wheelchair and they’ve been out of the forces for 10 years, they still call you that. That got to me a bit.”

Lodge said that what we could really do with is someone to come up with some money that will enable disabled ex-military athletes to travel to Yate to continue their work with him, join the club and further their rehabilitation.

He also said he believes the Invictus Games will become more and more important each year.

“The Invictus Games will definitely grow,” he said.

Next year the event is in Toronto and the year after possibly in Australia, and Lodge said he hopes that he will be selected to coach the UK team again.

He is now back at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex where he not only coaches young athletes, but also, with his partner and family, runs the clubhouse bar and catering.