A Gwendraeth Valley graduate has helped make sporting history, thanks to his involvement with a new training discipline.

Mike Newman, of Gorslas, has been campaigning across the country for the past seven years to get parkour recognised as a sport and all his hard work has paid off.

The 35-year-old said: “History has literally been made and I am so pleased that all my efforts has helped towards this achievement.

“Parkour has been an official recognised sport since January 10 this year. This has been a monumental effort from multiple campaigners throughout the UK backed up by our National Governing Body Parkour UK’s CEO Eugene Minogue.”

Parkour focuses on developing the attributes required for movement which include balance, endurance, precision and creative vision.

The sport is also a discipline of self-improvement which reveals the physical and mental limits of an individual.

Mike, who is one of the only parkour instructors in the country and has taught the sport in many schools and communities throughout Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Pembrokeshire, said: “I started my journey in 2010 when I became a qualified parkour instructor.

“I met up with Wyndham Williams from Sport Pembrokeshire, who helped me bring parkour into the 5x60 programme.”

The instructor has also worked alongside University of Wales Trinity St David sports departments, Physical Literacy Wales, Dragon Sport Wales and Sport Wales to help achieve his goal.

He said: “I worked closely with each organisation, not only to get parkour recognised but also to develop Wales’ first Parkour Development Pathway (PDP) for schools and academies.”

Mike began a Sport Management Degree in 2012 and started to develop his PDP the following year with help from his lecturer John Schropher.

“One of the schools in Pembrokeshire was so impressed with the positive outcomes of my development they allowed me to teach my PDP as part of their weekly PE sessions.

“After I finished university in 2015 I was contacted by Dr Nalda Wainwright of Physical Literacy Wales and started working with her to get more students active,” He said.

Mike now runs his own company called Kinetics Body and Mind Ltd and hopes to continue coaching in schools: “My next goal is to have my own purpose-built academy and mobile units,” he added.