Meet the Newbies

Hi everyone, my name is Mathew James, I am from Cardiff, and I am a Technology Programme manager for Sport Wales.

Having worked in and around business development, project management and product delivery for several years, the opportunity to combine my love of sport and my ongoing interest in anything digital with a role in Sport Wales was something I’d foolish to pass up on. I now find myself involved in a range of exciting projects surrounded by enthusiastic individuals who share the same passion. Motivated by teamwork, high energy, honest conversations, and the odd biscuit, I’m already seeing opportunities to celebrate success across teams, to share wider within Sport Wales and beyond.

I keep a healthy work/life balance by satisfying my sense of adventure in the great outdoors, be it hiking, running, cycling or open water swimming. I’m big fan of travel and exploring new places, but winter sports also make me happy and given the chance I’d quite happily spend a week falling down a mountain with a snowboard strapped to my feet. Not one to shy aware from a challenge I’ve quite often found myself at the start line of ultrarunning events, triathlons and endurance races raising money for charity and questioning my life choices. Toughest event by far was 10 Y Fan earlier this year, where the goal was to simply ascend and descend Pen Y Fan 10 times within 24 hours. After 21 hours of going up and down, on no sleep with mega blisters, I can confidently say that I will never do that again, although I would highly recommend it to others for the camaraderie and beautiful sunrise if anything.

If there is anything else left in the tank, give me a cup of tea and decent book.

Hi, I’m Anselm Powell, a new Digital Apprentice for Sport Wales. I grew up in Cardiff, Wales, but was originally born on the very small island of Antigua and Barbuda. My family moved to Cardiff when I was 5 years old, and I have lived here ever since. I enjoy traveling, mainly going back to Antigua every summer, and what I look forward to most is big family gatherings, a BBQ, and going to the beach. Those who know me well would probably say I have a very sarcastic sense of humour, I’m friendly and enjoy a good laugh, and love to celebrate special occasions. 

From a young age I have always had a passion for sports, playing football and getting involved in many athletic field sports growing up. By the age of 13 I fell in love with basketball and it's predominantly  been my sport of choice to this day.  I enjoyed it so much that after I left secondary school I would go back to help coach the current students. I played u18 national league basketball where our team went on to win the Welsh 2013 finals. I have been actively involved in sports in my community, coaching basketball and other multiskilled sport games with young children, and over the past 2 years I have started a local team in the area I grew up in, Ely, called Ely Titans Basketball Club. 

I recently graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2020 and, apart from playing and coaching basketball, I spend my spare time doing computer programming; more specifically, application development and web design, making small and large applications in my spare time. I enjoy the constant creative challenges it brings and problem-solving opportunities. The Digital Apprenticeship here at Sport Wales has not only allowed me a great opportunity to improve upon my skills and learn new ones but also to be an asset to a team improving sport participation all around Wales. I have been working at Sport Wales for just over 2 months and since I have been here there is a real infectious energy and enthusiasm to improve Welsh sport participation in all sectors I have interacted with.

Hi! My name is Yusra Hussain and I’m a Digital Apprentice working full-time with the IT infrastructure team. I have started a three-year university course at Cardiff Metropolitan where I attend once a week and work at Sport Wales for the rest of the week. I live in Radyr with my parents, two sisters and brother. My hobbies include cooking, baking, gaming, and learning about technology. From a young age, I’ve been fascinated by technology and really enjoyed studying IT at school. I wanted to know more about computers and how they work, so I studied computer science at GCSE too. What I really love about technology is that it plays a huge role in our daily lives and society and is continuously evolving. I’m aware that I have a LOT to learn about the world of tech and that it’s a never-ending journey of learning; however, that is exactly what excites me! It has almost been three months since I started working at Sport Wales and I love it! Since my first day, I have felt welcomed and at home at Sport Wales. I am learning so many new advanced skills working on the IT infrastructure side such as… turning things on and off again! All jokes aside, I’m truly grateful that I work with the most amazing, funny and intelligent people who constantly inspire me to grow both professionally and as an individual. I honestly love working at Sport Wales and I look forward to meeting new people and learning more about the organisation.