FERNDOWN club professional Scott Godfrey has been earmarked as a potential Olympic Games coach.

The former English Amateur champion is one of only 22 coaches from 16 different sports across the UK who have been selected for the Coach Aspire Programme in 2015-16.

The programme was established three years ago to bridge the gap between sport-specific programmes arranged by Governing Bodies of Sport and the world-class programmes facilitated by UK Sport.

Aspire is for coaches who have a realistic aspiration of coaching athletes at future Olympic, Youth Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to broaden my knowledge on various aspects which contribute to making a world class coach and I intend to make the most of it,” said Godfrey, who joined Ferndown as an assistant in 2005.

Godfrey’s passion since turning professional has been coaching and he was awarded the prestigious position of England under-18s national girls' coach in 2012.

Godfrey, who qualified for the 2003 Open Championship at Royal St George’s, has the full backing from his club.

“We are thoroughly excited for Scott and will support him throughout the year with the programme and look forward to hearing about his progress,” said the club’s general manager Ian Walton.