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Jade Windley Signs Off The Summer Half Term With A Spot Of Tennis at the Scampton Primary School Sports Day
On Your Marks…
Get Set…
Sports Days Are Back! Yippee!
Thank you very much to Mr Hebborn and the wonderful community at Scampton Primary School for inviting the Mintridge Foundation back to your sports day to build on our work together. Previous Mintridge Ambassadors to visit the beautiful Lincolnshire School include Laura Sugar, Grace Harrison, Danielle Brown MBE & last year, the magnificent Iona Lake which you can read about just here and this year it was time for Jade Windley to join in the fun. Jade is the former British Number 3 for Women’s Tennis in Great Britain and she has competed throughout the world including prestigious events such as the Commonwealth Games. There is so much that children can learn from Jade’s valuable insight.
“Why Did I Dream About Tennis? Because I loved it! Find what you love, find your passion.”
— JADE WINDLEY
With the sun shining down on us, Jade jumped straight into delivering a presentation about her tennis journey that took her to the heights of Wimbledon, arguably the greatest tennis tournament in the world. Jade shared important messages throughout centred around passion, perseverance and resilience, key areas that the Covid – 19 pandemic will have upon us all. As Ofsted highlighted, it is through the creativity and tenacity of teachers with different offerings such as Mintridge programmes that will benefit children significantly.
“My favourite trophy that I have ever won was in South Africa – it had two rhinos on it! .”
— JADE WINDLEY
After some brilliant questions from all of the children, everyone moved into their houses for the Sports Day activities to begin. Jade created a fantastic station for the tennis stop off of the Scampton Carousel of Activities. We loved seeing in each house how each year group worked brilliantly together, with such different experience levels, Jade went through both individual and team skills that can be taken away and practiced at home. We just loved seeing everyone so active and with beaming smiles on their faces – which is exactly what we love about sport.
Each of the four houses visited Jade’s station and it is true what they say, time whizzes by when you are having fun! Well done to everyone that took part and we look forward to hearing about all of the progressions.
Before Jade made her way home, there was time to enjoy the water race (a highly competitive addition to the day which we loved) and present Scampton with a copy of our beloved book, Foundations to learn even more from such powerful role models within the Mintridge Family.
Have a restful half term everyone and we hope to see you all again soon.
“Parents have commented what a lovely manner you have with the children. ”
— SCAMPTON PRIMARY SCHOOL HEADTEACHER
Phoebe Law Helps To Bust Myths, Smash Taboos & Support Young Female Athletes At Gresham's School
The Menstrual Cycle is a normal, natural process to be proud of and in the words of Phoebe Law to the students, staff and parents at Gresham’s School; IT IS YOUR SUPERPOWER!
Together, the Female Athlete Pod and the Mintridge Foundation (led by two Old Greshamian students themselves, Lucy Lomax and Alex Wallace) helped normalise the conversation about periods and the menstrual cycle alongside exercise through an online interactive webinar on 31st January.
Phoebe Law has competed for both the Junior and Senior GB teams in Cross Country and alongside her role with Orreco, world leaders in bio – analytics made her the perfect person to speak around this subject. Through simple ideas, hints and tips, she would help optimise remaining active and support performance of the Gresham’s students.
Phoebe delivered a whistle stop tour of a healthy menstrual cycle and puberty, stressing that we are all unique before looking in more detail around advice for exercise and nutrition and the menstrual cycle. Myth busting, lifestyle factors and tracking were all manageable ways that Phoebe encouraged before opening the floor to questions.
With a topic that can be seen as “taboo”, a webinar is a great way to introduce the topic and allows everyone to engage in the way that they would like before moving the discussion forward. Each student will receive a follow up document with the information and further resources, kit ideas and app downloads!
FitrWoman, Iceni Period Wear and the Limitless Bra are just some of the examples given to help navigate this journey together!
“I am a huge advocate for sporting endeavours working alongside my career as a Physician Associate” Saracens Mavericks and The Mintridge Foundation's Georgia Lees Leads The Way With Gresham's Netballers
Saracens Mavericks and The Mintridge Foundation's Georgia Lees made her way to the Norfolk Coast to kickstart the netball season off with Gresham’s School, and she started it in style.
“I want to be the mentor to the younger players like Pamela Cookey was to me when I started in the Netball Super League.”
Georgia, delivers this desire magnificently and far beyond the players in her own team, which is ultimately what took her to Gresham’s on 15th January as she continues to use her platform as an elite athlete for the maximum social impact possible through her Ambassadorial role with the Mintridge Foundation.
A busy day lay ahead but that is how Georgia likes it (she’s a Queen of the Spreadsheet after all…).
The day began with the 1st, 2nd and U15A teams taking to the court with Georgia and her midcourt expertise. Georgia’s philosophy of “We all attack and we all defend” filtered through the coaching session which got each player thinking both on and off the ball.
Georgia’s energy maintained a high work rate throughout the session which meant that the delicious lunch awaiting Georgia and the 1st team was well received. The informal and relaxed atmosphere over lunch allowed the players to get to know Georgia and find out more about what it took to reach the heights of a Vitality Super League Netballer as well as a career as a Physician Associate. There was the odd digression to Grey’s Anatomy too, but it was all for educational purposes, we assure you…
It was soon time for Georgia to present to each of the Senior School Netball squads. She continued to promote her advocacy for the ability of sporting endeavours to work alongside a separate career and how they complement each other well to ensure a balanced lifestyle. There is more to Georgia than Georgia the netballer which ultimately makes her the most happy and healthy person that can be to her family, friends, teammates, and colleagues. Through communication, resilience and above all, having fun, Georgia assured her audience that you can truly be the best version of yourself!
It was soon time to wrap up warm heading outside, so that Georgia could ensure she saw all players in action across the school throughout the day. It was Georgia’s favourite time…match time! The Prep School U12 and U13 players were up against the U14 and U15 B&C squads showcasing the array of talent across all age groups for Georgia to enjoy. Georgia was able to impart her Super League knowledge at the breaks while also bringing her A game for cheerleading which gave the younger players particularly, a huge lift! One lucky player was awarded one of Minty’s medals as Georgia could see great potential in her! Keep it up everyone!
The final coaching session took place back in the sports hall (yippee for warmth on a cold January afternoon) with the 3rd, 4th and U14A squads. Georgia ensured that her messages were the same as her morning session in terms of ensuring versatility no matter what bib is being worn. Everyone worked extremely hard which made Georgia’s next job quite difficult…
…And that was to select two mentees to work with over the next 6 months on a remote basis to develop, empower and nurture the students both on and off the court.
Huge Congratulations to 1st team’s Vice Captain, Kate and U15’s Mojo for this prestigious award, building on the success of Old Greshamians that have taken part in the mentoring programme since 2017. One of which, Esme Papworth (mentored by Mintridge Foundation and Ex England Captain Pamela Cookey), we are delighted to see her name proudly featuring in the Saracens Mavericks U21 Squad. Who knows, she might be playing alongside Georgia soon…
Anything is possible and with a favourite quote of “You Cannot Be What You Cannot See” firmly etched in the Mintridge Philosophy, the Mintridge Ambassadors stood in front of the Gresham’s students showing what they are capable of really does bridge the gap between elite sport and youth.
Kate and Mojo stood out to Georgia because of their hunger to learn, always asking questions, potential on court and the ability to grab the mentoring opportunity firmly and make it their own through and beyond netball. BRING. IT. ON! You can follow the course of this via the Mintridge social channels over the next six months.
Team Mintridge cannot wait to follow the progress of Gresham’s across the rest of the season and beyond. Go well!
Thank you very much to the Gresham’s staff for welcoming the Foundation back, we have loved our netball and hockey programmes as we look to build upon the positive impact that sporting role models have.
If you are interested in Georgia Lees visiting your school or club, please contact Katie Smith to find out more.