The Mintridge Foundation

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The Mintridge Ambassadors joined the students at Studfall Infant and Junior Academy for an active and fun filled Sports Week in June 2021

Alex Wallace

After a year of uncertainty for young people up and down the country, Youth Sports Trust have identified that taking part in sport and physical activity is paramount to enhance mental well-being for all of those impacted by the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. Team Mintridge have been working hard this year to try and change that narrative and support young people up and down the country as much as we can with our team of inspirational Ambassadors.

Day One

This week, Team Mintridge were delighted to be part of Studfall Infant and Junior Academy’s School Sports Week, where we were joined by seven of our wonderful Ambassadors, leading seven different presentation and physical coaching sessions over the period of three days.

This inspiring active week, started with Jordan Jarrett-Bryan and Justine Lucas. Jordan and Justine spoke to the students at Studfall during the whole school assembly about their elite sporting careers, the amazing people they have met and the challenges they have both faced. From this, they inspired the students to always dream big, work hard and always try their best.

After this initial assembly, Jordan led some wonderful Wheelchair Basketball sessions with the students at Studfall with a little help from The Wheelchair Basketball Experience and they were all incredibly excited to try it for the first time, showing off their turns and twists in the chairs. Throughout these sessions, the students were very supportive of each other and had lots of fun cheering on their team mates during the fun relay races.

Jordan gave the students some elite top tips about the importance of having control of the chair but also having the ability to multitask and bounce the ball at the same time. The students at Studfall loved these sessions with Jordan and one student even said

“Can I do this for a living? How do I sign up?”

Meanwhile outside, Justine was also leading some incredible rugby sessions working on movement, securing possession and speed. Justine led a very active warm up that consisted of running, jumping and skipping, followed by some skill based rugby activities. The students learnt how to present the ball, how to score a try and how to dodge and they were incredibly enthusiastic when doing so! The students were inspired by our former England Rugby player, Justine, and were very keen to show her their quick feet when they took part in the fun relay races. Justine was very impressed with how well they all worked together as bubbles and how everyone got fully stuck into the rugby-based drills, throwing themselves on the ground to score a try.

At the end of these incredibly active and fun sessions, the students at Studfall asked Jordan and Justine some great questions about their sporting journeys and the best ones were;

Who inspired you to play rugby?

When did you start playing rugby?

What position do you play?

How many years have you played for?

Why do you love basketball?

How many basketball hoops have you scored?

Who is your favourite person you have met?

Have you ever been injured?

Day Two

On day two of this amazing week, we visited Studfall again but this time with Paralympian Dan Powell and Ireland Cricket Coach Ben Smith.

Being a British Champion in Judo, Dan instantly inspired the students when he bought his GBR Gi (robe) with him to the school and showed them the kit he will be competing in when he heads to Tokyo this year for the Paralympics. Dan then led some fantastic judo sessions and all the students found the ‘Mune Gatame’ (also known as a chest hold), very fun to do on each other. As Dan is visually impaired, he explained to the students that this has never stopped him from competing in judo and that because it is a very tactile sport, he focuses his attention on movements and skill, which has paid off form him and enabled him to become British Champion. Throughout these sessions, Dan highlighted the importance of respecting your competitors as well as your coaches, teachers, friends and family, explaining to the students that you always have to appreciate your support network around you as they are the ones who help you on your journey to success.

Our cricket Ambassador, Ben Smith, also got the students from Studfall moving during sports week and led multiple fun cricket sessions with the students outside. The students loved the game of head, shoulders, knees, ball and Ben was really impressed with their fast reaction times and their perseverance to keep trying. Being an experienced cricket coach himself, Ben then set up some fantastic cricket drills, focusing on the students’ throwing and batting technique and with the help of our wonderful partners Little Big Sports, Ben incorporated the Feed Buddy into these drills where the students got to practise hitting the ball as far as they could.

At the end of this second fun packed day, Dan delivered his inspirational sporting story to the students at Studfall, speaking all about how he got into judo, the barriers he has faced and how he has been resilient when overcoming them. He ended this inspirational assembly with the amazing news that he has been selected for Tokyo 2021 and the students were extremely excited for him.

The students again had lots of questions to ask our Ambassadors during the day, some of the best ones are below

Have you ever hurt anyone when fighting?

Why did you chose judo?

How many medals have you won?

Do you prefer batting or fielding?

If you could play another sport, what would it be?

Who is your role model?

How did it feel when you didn’t get selected?

Who is your favourite cricketer?

Day Three

Finally, on day three of this incredible Sports Week at Studfall Infant and Junior School, Team Mintridge returned alongside Danielle Brown MBE, Iona Lake and Clemmie Cooper for another action-packed Bronze Programme.

Our Ambassadors started off this Friday with a joint virtual whole school Assembly, where all three of the Ambassadors talked to the students at Studfall about what sport has given them, the importance of setting goals and what lessons they have learnt on their journeys to success. Danielle and Iona brought their shiny medals to show the students, who were all extremely amazed by them and how hard the athletes had worked to get them.

The Bronze Programme then began and the Ambassadors had a fun activity filled morning planned for the students in the hall. Danielle taught the students how to load the bow and shoot the arrows, as well as sharing her top tips, such as having a high elbow to ensure accuracy and power when firing the arrow. The students were incredibly keen and excited to practise and to show off to Danielle their skill and talent. It was great to see the students show high levels of perseverance during these archery sessions and a lot of them were successful in hitting the bullseye by the end of the programme, sometimes even with their eyes closed. The students loved these session with Danielle with one saying…

“Can we do this all day?”

Meanwhile, former Mintridge mentee now GB Modern Pentathlete, Clemmie Cooper, led some fantastic fencing sessions with the students at Studfall. Clemmie taught the students to perfect their footwork technique and how to efficiently lunge when using the epee, which they practised on each other. Clemmie also showed the students her GBR kit and her own epee, which they loved to see and they were inspired a lot by. One student asking where the nearest fencing after school club was so that he could go and get involved himself.

At the same time, Iona Lake, our Team England Steeplechase athlete, led some wonderful fundamental movement drills linked to athletics and the students were fantastic at showing Iona their quick feet and skills when running, jumping and hopping up and down the agility ladder. Iona used her elite experience and highlighted the importance of controlled movements and using the power in pumping your arms when running and the students did a great job in listening and practising this!

At the very end of this Programme, the Ambassadors handed out some medals to the students they thought tried their hardest, persevered the most or were great in supporting their friends around them and they were thrilled to receive these from the team!

They then asked the Ambassadors some wonderful questions and the best ones are below;

Who inspired you?

Why do you like running?

How many medals have you won?

Does fencing hurt?

What was the Paralympics like?

What other sports do you like?

Team Mintridge always encourage young people and students to join local sports clubs around them, please see the list below for some local clubs related to the sports demonstrated this week close to Studfall Junior Academy.

Rugby

Wheelchair Basketball

  • Northants Phoenix, Thomas Becket Catholic School, Becket Way, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN3 6HT

  • Leicster Cobras Leicester Community Sports Arena, 31 Charter Street, Leicester LE1 3UD.

Judo

Cricket

Archery

Fencing

  • Northampton Fencing Club Pitsford Road Site Sports Hall (Gate 4), Moulton College, Pitsford Road, Moulton, Northampton, NN3 7QL

  • Frisby Fecners Frisby on the Wreake,, Melton Mowbray,  LE14 2NP.

Athletics

We had such an inspiring and amazing active week at Studfall Junior Academy, as part of their sports week and we are so grateful that they invited us to be part of this. Thank you to the staff at Studfall for helping to organise this triple programme and to the students for being amazing and putting in so much effort and enthusiasm. We really appreciate the support, which in turn allows us to continue our work up and down the country and we hope to be back to visit all of the students at Studfall Infant and Junior Academy in the next academic term.


If you are interested in a virtual or physical Programme with 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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