Mintridge and Limitless Presentation Programme with Shona McCallin MBE

We are so pleased that we can continue to support young people up and down the country during this time and we are really looking forward to being able to visit our schools again soon.

This week, we had the pleasure of virtually visiting Cheltenham Ladies’ College with the incredible Olympic Gold Medallist Shona McCallin MBE. Cheltenham Ladies’ College organised a fantastic webinar, where they invited members of the CLC community, parents, and their local schools to listen to Shona’s inspirational story and take part in a Q&A session. We are extremely grateful for our partners at Limitless Kit who supported this programme and enabled this morning event to go ahead.

With lots of enthusiastic hockey players on the call, we were very excited for Shona to share her sporting journey and to be able to relate to the members of the audience. Shona spoke about the sacrifices she has had to make on her journey and how she has had to prioritise hockey over her social life, family events and celebrations, highlighting that it is not an easy road to elite success. From this, Shona highlighted the importance of having and using your support network around you, like she did when making big decisions in her life. Shona got the audience to think about who is a part of their support network and which family and friends they would turn to for support and advice.

Like most journeys, there are highs and lows. Shona explained to the audience about times in her career where she fell out of love with the sport, and when this happened, she turned to her support network to explain how she was feeling. This led to Shona encouraging the audience to think about their “why”.

“When faced with a tough time, it is always important to step back and think “why” I am doing this and “why” do I feel like this.”

Shona gave some top tips to the members on the call about how to stay motivated and stay focused on your goals. Towards the end of her presentation Shona really inspired the audience with her stories about the run up to Rio 2016, which led her to Olympic gold success and shaped her future.

We were delighted that Cheltenham Ladies’ College invited one of their brilliant students, Rebecca, to lead this webinar and to ask questions on behalf of the community and students watching. Some of the best questions were;

What do you do when people are doubting you? 

If you were to start your journey again, what would you do differently?

Who was your inspiration and role model growing up? 

Do you think you should have picked football over hockey? 

How do you train and maintain fitness during lockdown? 

Has the profile in women’s sport changed whilst you have been involved in hockey and has it improved?

Why did you choose hockey as your main sport?

What would you tell your 16-year-old self if you could go back and talk to them now?

What was the hardest thing about committing to be a full-time athlete?

How did you balance intense training and your studies at university? 

How many injuries have you had? 

In a short space of time, Shona managed to talk a lot about her sporting journey and relate this back to the audience watching the webinar. This programme was really well received by everyone involved and we are delighted that we could still engage with the CLC community virtually during this time. We hope that we are able to visit them in person in the future, but in the meantime, Shona has left the audience with lots to think about and help them with their own individual journeys.

Thank you again to the staff and students at Cheltenham Ladies’ College for inviting the Mintridge Foundation to deliver this programme, we hope you enjoyed listening to Shona’s inspirational story.

Also a big thank you to our partners at Limitless Kit, for helping to organise this programme and supporting the Foundation. Limitless Kit have supported lots of Mintridge programmes like this and we are really grateful for the partnership we have with them.

To find out more about the Mintridge Foundation, or any of the other programmes we have delivered across the country, please contact Katie at katie@mintridge.org.uk

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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.

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