READING's current lack of top-class sports facilities has been once again exposed.

When winning the Excellence of Sport trophy at the Wokingham Borough Sports Council awards last Friday, it was revealed Ethan Jones has to travel far to train.

Albatross Diving Club's gold-medal winning star spends much of his weekend training in Hemel Hempstead or Luton on a Saturday, followed by Southampton on a Sunday. Sometimes, he's at Southend.

"Since Central Pool closed down, it has made training a lot more difficult and strenuous," said the 15-year-old schoolboy.

"It's really frustrating we don't have the facilities we used to have in Reading. It makes my training incredibly long, but as I love the sport so much, I put up with it."

Ethan, who has qualified for the GB Junior Elite Championships next April, spends much of his weekday evenings training either in a pool at Abbey School or doing dry training at Rivermead Leisure Centre.

The trouble with Abbey is they have only one and three-metre platforms, while Ethan normally dives down from seven-and-a-half or 10 metres.

The difference in the height of the diving boards virtually sums up the facilities offered to Reading residents. They are low when compared to many other towns, though the Borough Council are planning to build a brand new pool in the future.

YOUNG Reading hockey player Peter Scott accepted a late invitation to become the guest speaker at the Wokingham Borough Sports Council's awards ceremony last Friday after the initial choice had been forced to withdraw due to an engagement overseas.

It was a daunting task to be faced by a packed theatre, but Peter came over extremely well as he answered questions from the audience.

FORMER Reading FC Academy coach Geoff Warner took over as manager of Bracknell Town this week after Carl Davies had decided he wanted to concentrate on playing.

Geoff's first game was the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup tie against Reading Under 23s on Tuesday. His side put up a terrific performance and were unlucky to lose 2-0.