A GROUP of Dronfield wrestlers is to hold a series of five shows at Sheffield’s Library Theatre, after training for six months.

The National Community Wrestling Alliance (NCWA) formed in October and registered as an official charity in November.

Its members are all wrestling enthusiasts aged between sixteen and twenty-five from Dronfield.

The NCWA trains weekly at the S18 Gym on Callywhite Lane and the Sheffield shows starting on the 10^th of March will be their debut.

Instructor Andy Hogg, 33, said the NCWA offered local people “a wealth of opportunities” to improve their sporting and performance skills.

“There are huge generations of young people that are lost, that aren’t particularly academic, and that aren’t interested in doing sports,” he said.

“The NCWA is a sneaky way of getting young people to exercise, of getting them used to being in front of crowds, and of getting them used to being around other people,” he said.

The group receives funding from the European Development Fund and free costumes and equipment from an Australian company.

Its leaders hope to transform the group into a community sports club with its own gym.

The shows will feature a series of scripted fights between characters who are either heroes or villains.

They will finish with the presentation of an NCWA championship belt to the winner.

Wrestler James Bettles, 25, who plays a villain, said performing allows him to escape the reality of his daily life.

“It’s like playing a character from a pantomime and it’s a great release when you can be someone else and let out your aggression,” he said.

“Also, if you’ve been watching wrestling on the T.V. like I have, you sometimes have to nip yourself to make sure you’re actually doing it.”

Mr Hogg said: “I’ve been in the wrestling business for about fifteen years and it can be quite a mercenary world.”

“We want to give some thing back,” he said.