An Olympic inspiration

More than 300 pupils from 15 different schools across the country were given a day they will never forget when Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill hosted an inspiration day organised by Sky Sports Living for Sport. The free national secondary schools initiative delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust uses sports stars and sports skills to help build young people’s confidence and life skills.
     
The pupils were invited to Get Inspired With Jessica Ennis-Hill at her training ground at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, after winning one of just 15 ‘Golden Tickets’ for schools. The pupils were picked from thousands of entries following a nationwide competition by Sky Sports Living for Sport of which Jessica is an ambassador.
     
The event saw young people take part in nine sporting activities, each led by a world-class sport star in their role as a Sky Sports Living for Sport Athlete Mentor. Excited students had the chance to try out a range of diverse sports including: hockey, judo, basketball, athletics, football, gymnastics, rugby, boxing and badminton. Alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill, more than 20 other world-class athletes were on-hand to inspire the students and share their stories of how sport helped them overcome obstacles in life to achieve great success. They included Olympic sprint legend Darren Campbell MBE, Olympic 100m finalist Jeanette Kwakye, Commonwealth gold medal winning gymnast Craig Heap and World Championships silver medallist Paralympic swimmer Kate Grey.
    
Lasting impact
Jessica Ennis-Hill said: “When I first became an ambassador for Sky Sports Living for Sport I had this vision of getting many schools together with the Athlete Mentors to create a day where we could use sport to inspire young people to try a different range of sports, build new skills and push their boundaries a little further.
    
“Winning my Olympic gold medal was one of the highlights of my career but being able to see all these young people in action, gaining a bit more confidence and self-belief through sport, that’s something that you can’t really put a medal on. It’s just an incredible feeling.”
    
Get Inspired with Jessica Ennis-Hill gave 300 secondary school pupils the chance to experience sport in innovative and exciting ways, but the day is having a real lasting impact on both those who attended and their classmates.

Golden ticket
Lauren Kelly, PE Teacher at Failsworth School in Manchester said: “Our pupils were so excited to hear they were heading to the English Institute of Sport for Get Inspired with Jessica Ennis-Hill, thanks to Sky Sports Living For Sport and the Youth Sport Trust. It really was a Golden Ticket.
    
“I was sure they would be inspired by Jessica Ennis-Hill and all the amazing athletes they met, and the day surpassed my expectations. We know very well at Failsworth School the way sport can help boost confidence and change lives for so many young people - and so it was a wonderful opportunity for our pupils.”
    
“Our pupils were blown away by the experience of joining Jessica and so many sporting legends in Sheffield. It was incredible to see the pupils inspired to try so many new activities and seeing them so proud of their achievements. I believe they will take the experience of this day and the lessons learned with them for many years to come.”
    
Cath Rawstron, PE Teacher and Progress Leader for Year 10 at The Hawthornes Free School added: “The whole day was incredible, it was such a privilege to be able to attend. Get Inspired with Jessica Ennis-Hill has caused a real buzz around the school.”
    
Sarah Rothwell, Head of PE at De La Salle School and Language College commented: “De La Salle pupils had an amazing experience joining Jessica Ennis-Hill and the brilliant athlete mentors in Sheffield. The pupils participated in so many new and exciting activities throughout the day, including sports that our pupils had never had the chance to experience before. They left feeling proud, inspired and motivated. ”

Fellow Athletes
Craig Heap, Commonwealth gold medal winning gymnast and Sky Sports Living for Sport Athlete Mentor said about the event:
“Get Inspired with Jessica Ennis-Hill was a triumph; it was rewarding to see the planning efforts of Sky Sports Living for Sport and the Youth Sport Trust really pay off with an event that had every adult and pupil in the venue wholly enthused by sport.
    
“From my point of view, as an Athlete Mentor, it was incredible to see so many young people able to participate in such a variety of sports in one venue. I saw some pupils getting involved in sports activities that they hadn’t previously known existed! The key to the day was to make sport fun, accessible and exciting for these young people, and it certainly delivered on that.
    
“I hosted a one hour gymnastics session for a group of 30 young people. We spent the first half focussing on the ‘Six Keys to Success’, playing ice breakers and games using different ‘keys’. The latter half of the session was all about gymnastics skills. I was amazed to see members of my group attempting front somersaults by the end of our time together – an outstanding achievement in such a short period of time!
    
“There was nothing but enthusiasm for gymnastics amongst the group I worked with, everyone was keen to follow up on what they experienced during our session, which sums up the success of the Get Inspired with Jessica Ennis-Hill day.

“The day also gave me my first opportunity to meet Jessica, and I’m afraid to say I was a little star struck! We posed for a group photo of Athlete Mentors with Jessica Ennis-Hill and Darren Campbell, so I decided to run around to the front to be nice and near Jessica. Unfortunately, all my fellow Athlete Mentors were playing it cool, resulting in an embarrassing picture of me – but great memories.
    
“Overall, I could not look back on the event more fondly. It was a great experience for everyone involved, and more importantly it opened 300 young peoples’ eyes to sports they had never imagined that they would be able to access. This event showed everyone in attendance that team work can create a success, which is exactly what sport is about.”

Swimming champion
Kate Grey, World Championships silver medallist Paralympic swimmer and Sky Sports Living for Sport Athlete Mentor:
“For me, as an Athlete Mentor, it was a huge privilege to be chosen to be a part of this event – especially as it was the biggest Sky Sports Living for Sport event to date.
    
“There was a lot of anticipation and excitement in the room from the outset. Everyone was thrilled to be a part of such an important day: students, teachers, volunteers, Athlete Mentors, the initiative’s Ambassador Darren Campbell, and Jessica herself. Jessica’s passion for getting young people involved in sport was evident from the moment she stepped out on stage to introduce the day.
    
“My role on the day was to be a host for a group of 30 students. This was fantastic as it meant I had the opportunity to experience the event exactly as it was for the young people I was grouped with.
    
“I was the leader of Team White, a group of Year 10 and 11 students from a combination of winning schools. Each ‘team’ on the day was mixed to ensure that students had the opportunity to meet new people and form friendships, rather than being divided by school only. A huge part of sport is about meeting new people, so it was nice to see the event allowing the young people to share the experience with pupils from different schools and different parts of the country.
    
“It was immediately obvious that my team members were excited to be a part of the event – their passion and competitive spirit out shone any initial nerves. We set about playing some ice breaking games and then moved on to our first activity: a hockey taster session, hosted by Team GB bronze medallist Alex Danson.
    
“The session started off by giving the whole group a chance to learn some basic hockey skills and find out a little about what life is like as an elite athlete. Midway through Alex’s session, Jessica Ennis-Hill came and joined us. It was an incredible moment, as Jessica didn’t just stand on the sidelines and observe, she got well and truly stuck in.
    
There was one boy in my group who was already a talented hockey player and was finding the taster skills a little bit easy. Jessica joined his team for a match to conclude the session – and she was asking him for help. It was wonderful to see a gifted young hockey player sharing his knowledge and skills with an Olympic gold medallist, I’m sure the memory will stay with him for years to come.

Martial Arts
“After lunch, we participated in a judo session run by former Commonwealth and British Judo champion Tom Davis. For most of the group this was their first opportunity to experience judo. They were so enthusiastic, and really took to the sport; I think a lot of the group suddenly realised that they could learn a lot about a new sport in a short space of time. That was a highlight for me, seeing the real impact that the sports taster sessions had on each member of my team, allowing them to experience sports they had never considered.

“I felt like I had won the lottery when I was asked to be involved in Get Inspired with Jessica Ennis-Hill and being there on the day proved me right. The event made me realise how important Sky Sports Living for Sport and the work of the Youth Sport Trust is to so many people: teachers, students, young people and even my fellow Athlete Mentors. My hand has just about recovered from all of the high-fives I handed out – I was made to feel like a VIP.
    
“The day was so special for everyone involved, and a really important reminder of the power of sport to help young people develop their social skills, confidence and self-esteem, discipline and many other valuable life skills. My memories of the day really will last a lifetime.”

Further information
www.youthsporttrust.org