After a busy few weeks of virtual programmes, we were so excited for an exciting day of hockey and our final physical school programme of the year yesterday. Team Mintridge travelled down to Aldenham School, with our amazing Team GB hockey superstar Shona McCallin MBE.

We started our morning with an inspirational presentation from Shona, about her sporting journey and the highs and lows of competing at the highest level. Shona began her presentation, talking about how she found her love for hockey and how playing a variety of sports when growing up, can really benefit you when taking part in sport at every level. Shona emphasised to the students that having fun and enjoying taking part in sport, is what should ‘fuel the fire in your belly’.

Shona then went on to talk about her experiences with Team GB and the challenges she has had to overcome, when faced with a setback on her journey. When talking about her incredible Olympic Games experience, Shona talked about how she dealt with not being selected for the London 2012 Olympic Games and how that, unknowingly, shaped her journey to Rio 2016. This taught the students that not everything works out the way you had planned it, but that you must pick yourself up and use the support around you to stay motivated and carry on. Shona also taught the students a valuable lesson during this part of her presentation, that when you do experience a setback, step back and think “why” everything happened the way it did. This self -reflection is vital to be able to move forward and change what you can change, rather than giving up and walking away, potentially from a great opportunity.

During the presentation, Shona included a video from the incredible Gold medal winning match at Rio 2016. Shona showed this to the students to remind them that if you want something, you must work hard for it and that nothing comes easily. Shona spoke about how she had missed out on so much to prioritise hockey but this sacrifice has then led her to Gold medal success. Shona also described the four year long process to getting to the Olympic Games and how that can relate to the goals that the students at Aldenham want to achieve. Whether that be in academics or sport, everyone should feel like they walked in the hall or on the pitch giving everything they had.

One of the best parts of our Mintridge presentations, is when the students get to ask the Ambassdors all the things they want to know about life as an elite athlete and what it takes to get to this point in their careers. At the end of the presentation, the students from Aldenham asked some great questions, including;

“Who’s the hardest team you’ve played against?”

“Do you have any regrets?”

“Who supported you during your setbacks in 2012?”

“How did you manage to balance your sport and studies?”

“When you go to training what’s the biggest thing you work on as an individual?”

“What did you do when your motivation and confidence was low?”

“What’s your favourite thing about hockey?”

“Do you get negative comments on social media, if so, how do you deal with them?”

“What one rule would you like to change about hockey?”

After the presentation, the Year 10 and 11 students, who played for the school hockey team, went outside for a coaching masterclass with our GB Hockey superstar. Shona spent time with the small group bubbles, working on how to create and utilise space in the most efficient way and how to work together as a team. Throughout the mini drills, Shona focused on building the communication between the girls and developed their skills, when working under pressure. As this fun game session continued, Shona also included a shooting drill, to test the students against the very agile goalkeeper.

The students at Aldenham School worked incredibly hard throughout this session and listened really well to Shona’s advice and feedback. Shona ended the session with a fun skill game, and it was so nice to see all the girls supporting and motivating each other throughout this game.

Just like all our Mintridge Programmes, the students had the opportunity to take some socially distanced photographs with Shona and we celebrated the hard work and effort of those that took part. The students were extremely grateful to have been chosen to take part in the session and to be able to enjoy their masterclass with Shona.

It is amazing to be able to physically deliver our Mintridge Programmes, despite the current environment and we are working really hard with the schools we work with to make sure we are delivering COVID safe programmes, so that all students can still benefit from the amazing work our Ambassadors do. A big thank you to the staff and students at Aldenham School for their help and support with this programme and for inviting Shona to deliver this special day for them.

If you would like to see any photos or videos from the day, please contact the staff at Aldenham School.

We look forward to working with you again soon!

Team Mintridge

To find out more about our Mintridge Mentoring Programmes that can be delivered remotely, or if you are interested in a school or club visit from one of our Mintridge Ambassadors, then please get in touch with The Mintridge Foundation, via any of our social media channels, or send an email to katie@mintridge.org.uk.

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