Ben Leitch was doing what he liked and doing it quite effectively.
Óscar Trigo Diez, the top coach of UNES FC Barcelona wheelchair workforce, was watching intently from the sidelines and turning into extra impressed with each passing section of play.
He had not so way back led the Spanish males’s nationwide workforce to fourth place on the 2020 Summer time Paralympics in Tokyo so is aware of a factor or two concerning the sport and what expertise represents.
As Leitch left the court docket on the Palau Municipal d’Esports Juan Carlos Navarro enviornment, quickly a query would come his approach that was merely irresistible to show down.
“I used to be over in Barcelona in June with the under-25 Scotland squad,” Leitch (20) defined to the Perthshire Advertiser.
“I used to be there as a part of an Erasmus journey, which is a undertaking involving schooling as effectively.
“We performed video games towards totally different golf equipment and the Barcelona coach, Oscar, was taking our periods.
“I went over initially to community and my plan was to remain one other yr in Scotland. I wasn’t going to Spain with any intentions of getting a contract.
“However after our ultimate recreation, Oscar requested me to come back and play for them.
“I got here again and came upon extra element however, to be trustworthy, I believe I had already made my thoughts up.”
Leitch, from Perth and a former St John’s Academy pupil, had certainly made his thoughts up and has now signed an expert contract with UNES FC Barcelona. He jets out on the finish of this month.
“After I first began wheelchair basketball and realised I might take it someplace or do one thing with it, then it was all the time a dream to play overseas or professionally in a league someplace,” Leitch stated.
“I've been given the chance to do this now and at fairly a younger age nonetheless. It's good to know that, working in direction of my targets, I’ve been on the best path. The chance is very large.
“The workforce has a whole lot of potential and Spain is without doubt one of the finest leagues on the earth for wheelchair basketball. To be a part of that's unbelievable.
“With Barca being within the second division, quite than the top-flight, it additionally provides me a workforce that I can stick with for longer and hopefully turn out to be a key a part of the squad.
“I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks, come again, then will probably be straight out to Barcelona on the finish of October.
“There's a recreation on October 29 so they need me to be out for then. It will likely be straight into enjoying.”
The expertise off the court docket is one Leitch will savour too.
Apart from being in touching distance of well-known points of interest such because the Sagrada Família, La Rambla and Park Guell, he's eager to embrace being a part of a brand new group.
“It will likely be loopy being over there,” smiled Leitch, who's a private coach and has been a well-recognized face on the Membership 300 gymnasium in Perth.
“I assume the climate will probably be one of many greatest modifications. It's a good metropolis with a whole lot of historical past.
“There are a whole lot of locations to see and issues to do. I’m going on the market with my accomplice and meaning I’ll have a well-recognized face with me too.
“Myself and my mum organised a celebration on Saturday previous and invited everybody from the gymnasium, folks I've performed basketball with over time, family and friends.
“There have been lots of people there so I might say just a little goodbye, which was good.”
That Leitch has reached this stage of success actually comes as no shock. He has been devoted to repeatedly bettering and his journey within the sport displays that.
As quickly as he was launched to wheelchair basketball, he knew it was the beginning of one thing particular.
He knew he had found a contemporary ardour to first totally get pleasure from however, second, one the place the alternatives to progress by means of the ranks fuelled willpower.
“I had an operation to take away a cancerous tumour in my leg,” Ben remembers, opening the story as to how he turned concerned in wheelchair basketball.
“I began enjoying regular basketball as a non-contact sport however couldn’t actually run or sustain with anybody else. It was a little bit of a battle.
“That's once I began enjoying wheelchair basketball and, from the primary session, I assumed: ‘That is it’.
“As soon as I began to get into the Scotland set-up or GB juniors, that helped me push extra.
“It has been tough lately with Covid however positives come out of negatives for probably the most half. That's how I take a look at it.
“My motivation has stayed constant throughout the board. I’ve really in all probability turn out to be extra decided and extra hungry to coach.
“And I attempt to coach each time I can or give again as a result of I understand how folks have supported me all through my complete journey.”
As his departure date grows nearer, pleasure ranges naturally start to rise.
This newest sporting and life expertise will hopefully open up much more doorways sooner or later. Leitch is bold and rightly so.
“This season and yr coming I'd like to see myself going over to Barcelona and assist them get promoted,” he stated. “That's the greatest factor.
“It might be good for me personally however for the membership’s development too.
“Longer-term inside the sport, I'd like to signify GB at a Paralympic stage. I've my eyes on the Paris Paralympics and that has been a objective for a short time.
“Sadly we simply missed out on the Birmingham Commonwealth Video games within the qualifiers this yr so it might be huge to assist Scotland get to the 2026 Video games in Victoria.”
As this reporter prepares to cease pestering Leitch for extra phrases, one ultimate query arises on how he feels about his journey within the sport up to now.
He smiled: “Delight might be one of the best ways to place it.
“I’m happy with the place I’ve come from and the way I’ve progressed throughout my time inside the sport.”