Gold Rugby Programme with Justine Lucas at Warboys Primary Academy - November 2021

“Kindess can come in lots of different forms. Being kind to those around you and treating everyone with respect, could really change the way someone feels about themself and make a much stronger team or community!”

What a special day at Warboys Primary Academy with our amazing Ambassador, former England rugby player, Justine Lucas!

Justine spent the day inspiring students at Warboys Primary Academy as part of this brilliant Gold rugby programme, which encompasses the power of sport from start to finish.

Throughout this initial visit, the pupils gained some valuable insight from Justine following her presentation and Q&A, all about her rugby career and the power of kindness and respect, in line with this year’s theme for Anti-bullying week.

Justine inspired the students to work hard to try and achieve their dreams and encouraged them throughout the day to take part in all sports, as sport can provide so many opportunities for you to meet new people, take on new challenges and gain valuable opportunities that you may never have had the chance to do.

With a little help from the teachers at Warboys Primary Academy, the students practised their best tries, tackles and handoffs during their rugby coaching sessions with Justine, who challenged them to keep persevering when faced with a tackle from a defender and also to transfer those perseverance and resilience skills into their school and home lives too.

After their fun rugby sessions with Justine, the students each received a signed autograph card and two lucky students from each group, received a certificate and gift bag, to celebrate their effort and perseverance throughout the sessions.

Lots of the students were inspired by Justine, especially when she explained to them that everyone can be involved in a game like rugby and each position has its own part to play in making a successful team.

As part of our day, the students relished the opportunity to ask Justine any questions they had, to learn more about her career. Some of the best questions from our day were:

How long did you play rugby for?

How many matches did you win?

Why did you choose to play rugby?

If you weren’t a rugby player, what would you be?

What was the first sport you played?

How many tries did you score?

How many different clubs have you played for?

What position did you play?

How many countries have you visited to play rugby?

It was a brilliant day for the staff and students at Warboys Primary Academy. As part of this programme, we are delighted that two new mentees will be joining the Mintridge family and were selected by Justine on the day to receive a six-month mentoring programme with her, so they can talk to her about all things rugby, school and work on their goals with her.

We are really looking forward to hearing all about the progress Justines’ two mentees make during the mentoring programme with her. An added bonus for these mentees and the staff at Warboys Primary Academy is that they will get to watch a live rugby match with Justine and appreciate the sport in all its glory!

If you would like to see the photos and videos from our time Warboys Primary Academy, please contact the staff from the school.

We can’t wait to hear the updates from Warboys Primary Academy about how many of their students go on to take part in rugby and we look forward to visiting them again soon with more of our inspirational Ambassadors!

You can see the links below to the following rugby clubs near Warboys Primary Academy.

St Ives Rugby Club Contact St. Ives RFC (pitchero.com)

Huntingdon Rugby Club Huntingdon & District Rugby (rfu.club)

If you are interested in a virtual or physical Programme with Justine Lucas or 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.