On Friday the 11th July, a chosen group of Stockland Green School Year 10 students were treated to a fascinating day spent with a professional athlete. Gilly Mara, a professional Canoer and Kayaker who broke her neck in a mountain fall in 2002 before defying the odds to represent her country at both European and World Championships was at Stockland Green School as part of the Sky Sports Living for Sport project.
The nationally run project is aimed at getting young people involved in sport. The Year 10 female students at Stockland Green have been participating in the course for the last term designing and delivering sporting activities to Year 7 students and giving them a different approach to school PE.
As part of the project a Sky Sports mentor, Gilly Mara, came in to spend the day with the girls developing their confidence and self-esteem within sport. The girls spent time learning about the Sky Sports six keys to success which included a mental toughness test before participating in a wide variety of fun sporting activities which they can use in the future when planning sports activities. It was a fantastic day in which the girls got to spend time learning about what it takes to be a professional athlete and how, in Gilly’s own words ‘success is not a matter of chance it’s a matter of choice’.
The girls left with a new enthusiasm for sport and PE and received some invaluable advice on achieving their dreams both academically and beyond.
