‘PERSEVERANCE, SELF BELIEF AND ENJOYMENT IS THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS!’

Sports days up and down the country play a vital role in enhancing the physical and mental well-being of children. They highlight the importance of team work, self-belief and perseverance, which young people can utilise and use in their future lives on and off the track.

Team Mintridge were delighted to visit Scampton Primary School recently alongside Commonwealth superstar, Iona Lake, who got to witness and take part in their wonderful sports day event.

At the very start of this fantastic bronze athletics programme, Iona inspired the students with her sporting story. Iona spoke about how she started running, what motivated her to continue and the life lessons she has learnt along the way. Iona highlighted how important it is to never give up, even when times get tough and to always find that extra push in you to keep moving forward.

Iona also shared her three biggest life lessons with the students, which are to persevere with the goals you have set, to believe in yourself and to always enjoy the journey. Iona left the students with a few inspiring words of advice, and told them to make sure they try their absolute hardest in anything they do as it is the most important thing when it comes to competitions, which the students then went on to show Iona during their sports day events!

This fantastic, fun filled day at Scampton enabled every student to be actively engaged in a form of physical activity, to win points for their house teams. Iona led some wonderful athletics-based drills, focusing on the importance of a warm up, followed by activation drills, which she does herself in training. The students were extremely enthusiastic and ready to learn from the very best but also to improve their own individual running technique, showing Iona how fast they were throughout the day!

Iona then showed the students how to activate your leg muscles which are very important to ensure that you are strong and powerful during a race. After this, Iona incorporated her speciality, the steeplechase event. The students competed against each other and ran a full lap round the athletics track, jumping over multiple hurdles, which were spread out along the way. All the students loved this part of the session and wanted to race again, again and again. After lots of persuasion from some of the students, Iona was challenged to a race, which she accepted, and the whole school cheered as they ran around the track. It was wonderful to see the students supporting their peers and trying their hardest to better themselves.

At the very end of this amazing morning, the students at Scampton had their own “challenge 100” to complete, in honour of Sir Captain Tom, which they all did extremely well at and Iona was very impressed with their physical and mental strength throughout these challenges. After this, we had enough time for some group photographs which w, timed perfectly with the fantastic appearance of the Red Arrows flying over the school!

The students had the chance to ask Iona lots of questions throughout the morning and some of the best ones can be seen below.

Why do you love running?

What is the longest run you have ever done?

How many medals have you won?

What other sports do you play?

What are your goals for the next year?

Have you ever been injured?

Does running make you tired?

How fast are you?

How do you stay motivated when running?

We would like to say a big thank you to the staff and students at Scampton Primary School for inviting us to spend the day with them, for this wonderful Bronze athletics programme and especially the staff for supporting us to organise this day. We look forward to visiting you again very soon.

If a young person you know is interested in joining a local athletics club, please see the links below that will provide further information on the clubs near Scampton Primary School.

Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club - Yarborough Leisure Centre Riseholme Road, LN1 3SP

Nettleham Trotters - LN2 2TU

Louth Athletics Club - Cordeaux Academy, North Holme Road, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 0HG

If you are interested in a virtual or physical Programme with Iona Lake or any of our other inspirational Ambassadors, then please get in touch via the Mintridge website at www.mintridgefoundation.org.uk or with Katie at katie@mintridge.org.uk.

The Mintridge Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to enhancing life skills in young people through sport. We provide a support network for young people by harnessing the power of positive sporting role models. The Mintridge Foundation assists young people of all ages, abilities, and physical capabilities to develop confidence and resilience, and creates awareness of the importance of mental and physical wellbeing through sport.

Our team of Ambassadors - Olympians, Paralympians and other professional sports stars from over 20 sports, both team and individual - work with young people in schools, clubs and academies across the UK. Starting with visits including assemblies, coaching clinics and classroom sessions tailored to each organisation’s requirements, our ambassadors can then provide one- on- one remote mentoring in a safeguarded environment, delivered via technology such as FitSwarm and Playwaze to build a lasting legacy for individuals.

The Mintridge Foundation’s successes demonstrate the incredible power of sport; from a mentee’s selection to represent Great Britain in their chosen field to enabling disabled children to find confidence and happiness just through participation. Understanding life after sport, we also support our Ambassadors in their transition from active sport to the next stage of their careers.

To find out more about the Mintridge Foundation, please contact Alex Wallace.

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