Mintridge Silver Mentoring Programme with Asma Elbadawi - A Programme donated by The Sudborough Foundation at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy, February 2020

Team Mintridge paid an extra special visit to the staff and students at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy on their first week back after half term. As part of this extra special Silver Mentoring Programme, we visited the school with our fantastic basketball Ambassador Asma Elbadawi, who is also a Adidas global brand ambassador and spoken word poet. We were delighted that the school were able to benefit from this wonderful Programme, all thanks to the kind support from The Sudborough Foundation, who we are very grateful to for their donation.

Asma was a part of the small but incredible team that manage to secure the backing and support that lifted the Hijab ban as part of the FIBA rules and regulations in 2017. As well as this Asma has worked in a variety of different settings as an Adidas global brand ambassador and has been recognised by the BBC and numerous other organisations for her raw and personal poetry. This was Asma’s first visit to Sir Christopher Hatton Academy, as part of her role as a Mintridge Foundation Ambassador. With a passion for inspiring young people across the world, not only with her poetry but her sporting story, Asma delivered a powerful Silver Mentoring Programme throughout the day for over 500 students at the school.

The day began with the older students from Sir Christopher Hatton Academy, who were welcomed to the assembly hall to hear all about Asma’s sporting journey but also about the steps she has taken to be where she is today. It was an incredibly inspiring presentation for the students, who are very close to sitting their major exams and face a lot of external pressures outside of school, within their peer groups and through social media. As Asma explained her story, it was evident that the students could resonate with the challenges she has faced, not only whilst playing basketball, but also when trying to challenge stereotypes and identity and when lifting the FIBA ban on wearing a Hijab whilst playing basketball. These stories of resilience and perseverance were part of a theme that would continue throughout the day and encourage the girls in the room to speak up and follow their own dreams.

“People forget I’m just one human, I can only do so much. I believe you can all achieve your dreams if you stand up and make your voice heard. There will be someone somewhere that feels and thinks in a similar way to you, so you have to stand up and challenge the perceptions and the stereotypes, and don’t stop until you have achieved your ultimate goal.”

As Asma progressed through her presentations, which she delivered to a wide variety of groups throughout the day, each group were given an insight into some of Asma’s award winning poetry, that she delivered at the front of the hall. Transforming herself into a confident performer and empowering those around her.

It was inspiring to see some of the students coming to the front of the hall after the presentations had finished to share their thoughts about Asma’s presentation but also to connect with her and share how they had been effected by the story and the journey Asma had taken them on in the short presentation time. It was especially rewarding to see the young Muslim women in the room talking to Asma about the Hijab and feeling so empowered by her presence throughout the day.

After each of the presentations, the students were given the opportunity to ask Asma about her story and the journey she has been on so far. Some of the best questions from these sessions were;

What was your initial feeling when the Hijab ban was overruled?

How did you feel when you went to that first basketball session with your Hijab on?

What inspires your poetry?

How often do you write poems?

Do you ever get abuse on social media or in real life?

Do you think adverts could encourage more sport for women?

What was the biggest barrier you came across and how did you overcome it?

Did you ever hide part of your personality to get to where you are?

What was your inspiration for taking up basketball in the first place?

How does it make you feel when you do sport or poetry?

Did you ever think you would be here inspiring us?

Are there any famous basketball players who inspired you or inspire you now?

Do you play basketball when you’re fasting?

As part of this full Silver Programme day, Asma delivered a basketball coaching session with a number of students in the afternoon. This was a very fun and exciting session for the boys and girls involved, as they were able to show off their skills to Asma and also see a little flourish of what she does best…which is to shoot some hoops!

As like all of our Mintridge Programmes, the students had the opportunity to take selfies and group pictures with Asma and take away a signed autograph card from our day. Some of the students from the practical session, also received a certificate, medal and keyring for their efforts in the session and their courage when taking part in an unfamiliar environment.

After lunch, Asma was joined by the Gifted and Talented English students to do a short poetry workshop and introduce some of the students to what it sounds like and feels to write spoken word poetry. Asma supported the students in their poetry creations and encouraged them to share their work. It was incredible what the students produced in a short amount of time with Asma’s guidance and it was so great for them to feel empowered by Asma’s very own personal poems.

As part of a Mintridge Silver Programme, two students gain remote access to their Ambassador for six months after the initial visit. To round off a very special Programme, Asma and the school staff selected two mentees who had been involved in the day to be awarded this very special opportunity. Asma and her mentees sat down together to look through their Mintridge Mentoring packs and look at the gifts that were included as part of their packs. They were lucky enough to receive a Moodbeam, Squadkit waterbottle, Nibble Protein Bites and Crazy Catch resource pack, which they can use throughout and beyond their six month Mentoring Programme. We can’t wait to see the impact of this Mentoring Programme on these too aspirational young women.

Thank you very much to Miss Smyth and the staff at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy for enabling this Programme to take place and to The Sudborough Foundation for supporting this very special Programme.

If you would like to see the video from the day, please visit: https://youtu.be/JeLstzcRrAM

The full album of photos is with the staff at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon. Thank you for a wonderful day!

#TeamMintridge