With normality gradually returning, Team Mintridge had a wonderful day at Witham Hall School, joined by the incredible cricketer Olivia Rae for her first ever Mintridge Programme. According to the Youth Sports Trust 33% of girls aged 4-10 say that they feel sad most of the time and 42% of girls aged 15-18 feel stressed or worried since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why our Mintridge programmes aim to positively impact the physical and mental wellbeing of young people and why Olivia’s visit to Witham was so beneficial for the students.

Oliva had a fun filled day of cricket planned with the boys and girls at Witham, focussing on batting, bowling and fielding. Throughout the day, each group had the opportunity to perfect their skills, whilst Olivia gave them elite coaching advice. Olivia also taught the students that you must also warm up your mind ready for cricket and she demonstrated this by playing a fun game of head, shoulders, ball. This game developed the students’ reaction times, and hand eye coordination, which is very important in a game of cricket.

As Olivia has played over 70 times for Scotland, she was the perfect person to inspire and coach the students from Witham, especially the fourth group of the day who were preparing for a game the following day against a local school. This meant that this group could learn even more from Olivia, and some of them even asked for her advice in relation to their bowling technique, which they could practise and use for their school game, to hopefully get more wickets for their team.

During the day, Olivia walked around and gave some incredible one on one advice and she was extremely impressed with how well the students listened and took onboard her top tips, as she could see the improvements the students had made during the drills and games. Many of the students left the coaching sessions uplifted and more confident, as they could see themselves how much they had improved, as they were now hitting the ball further with more accuracy and power.

At the end of each session, Olivia set up a small competitive game, which the students at Witham loved and put 100% effort into winning. During these games, Olivia was extremely impressed by the skills, power and accuracy from some of these players and was inspired herself by their drive and determination. According to the Youth Sports Trust, a quarter (27%) of children and young people said that doing PE, sport and exercise had made them feel better during restrictions, which could be seen by so many of the excited children during this programme. Olivia also encouraged the young girls on this day, by explaining to them that she was inspired by her family who also played cricket, including her brother. Olivia, has gone on to play at a higher level than her brother which shocked some of the girls and motivated them to carry on playing cricket and to challenge gender stereotypes at the same time.

The students from Witham asked Olivia some fantastic questions, the best ones are below.

How long have you been playing cricket for?

Where have you travelled with cricket?

What is your biggest achievement?

Who inspired you?

What advice would you give your younger self?

What is the highest number of runs you have scored?

Have you ever felt like you wanted to give up but then you did not?

What was the worst injury you had and how did you recover?

Team Mintridge thoroughly enjoyed being part of this inspiring programme with Olivia today and we are so grateful for the support from the staff at Witham School, and the students for their engagement throughout the day. We look forward to visiting Witham Hall School again in the future for another programme with our amazing Ambassadors.

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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