Mintridge Presentation Programme with Eboni Usoro-Brown and the Howell’s School Sports Scholars

We could not think of a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day, than a programme delivered by one of the most inspirational women we know, our Ambassador, Eboni Usoro-Brown.

As an England Netball player, superleague netball captain, qualified solicitor and new mother, Eboni is certainly an incredible role model, especially for the budding young sports scholars from Howell’s School. Team Mintridge had the pleasure of joining the students and teachers at Howell’s School for an inspirational presentation and Q&A, to talk all about Eboni’s experiences, on and off the court, that have taught her some valuable lessons along the way.

On her journey to winning a Commonwealth gold medal, as part of an incredible England Netball team, Eboni has worked hard on her path to success and experienced lots of highs as well as lots of low points in her career. With these low points come a lot of challenges that she has overcome, including the setbacks that have been caused by injury or not being selected for a squad. It is some of these stories and the advice that she gave to the Sports Scholars at Howell’s School, that really resonated with the students and has helped them to be better equipped, when they too face challenges during their own journeys.

At this point in the presentation, Eboni spoke to the students about how she always keeps trying to move forward and stay positive. In order to reach her goals so far, she has always remembered that, “small steps lead to BIG gains”, which was a really important message for the scholars to hear.

As a very busy woman, not only in her personal life but also in her professional life, Eboni was asked by the students all about how she manages her time and the sacrifices she has had to make throughout her career to be where she is now. As Eboni reiterated to the students, it is the support network around you that helps you to manage and keep on top of everything you have on your list and that communicating to them what is going on and what you need from them to help you, is how you can fit in a lot of the things that you want to. It was really beneficial for the students to hear that Eboni has also had to miss out on key events and social occasions, to make sure she is ready to perform at her best, but that all of it is worth it as you only have “one chance to win that gold medal at a Commonwealth Games!”

Although we had to visit the Howell’s School students virtually, the Scholars were still able to listen to some important messages from Eboni’s presentation and take away a lot of key tips and advice, that could help them in their own lives and their own sporting journeys.

We loved that the students engaged throughout the call, but also asked some amazing questions for Eboni to answer. Some of the best ones were:

How did you respond to your ACL injury?

How do you respond to a bad training session?

How do you deal with the missing the social events?

How did you manage your school work between training and matches? 

How did you start as a Goal Defence?

Do you have a team or opponent that you dread playing against? 

How do you deal with pressure? 

What is the most annoying thing a WA and GA do when you play against them? 

How do you deal with people asking for your time when there are so many other areas of your life that require your time?

How have you coped with lockdown and training? 

How do you get yourself mentally ready for a game? 

In your opinion, who is the hardest team you have played? 

How did you keep your composure during the Commonwealth Games?

We were so pleased that the Sports Scholars at Howell’s School could listen to Eboni’s journey and her words of advice for them during International Women’s Day. We really loved that Eboni reinforced the need for these young women to take some time that is just for them and encouraged them to do things that make them happy, as these are the things that can positively impact your life and your performance at home, school or work.

Thank you to the teachers at Howell’s School for helping to organise this wonderful programme. We are really looking forward to our next presentations with the Howell’s School Sports Scholars, which will be delivered by five more of our inspirational female Ambassadors, throughout the summer term!

If you would like to find out more about any of our programmes, please get in touch with a member of the Mintridge Team and they would be happy to chat through our amazing Ambassadors and how they can inspire the young people you know or work with.

******

To find out more about Eboni or the Mintridge Foundation, please contact Katie Smith.

RELATED POSTS