Denise meets young athletes

Thursday, 14 January 2010

As part of her role as Youth Sport Trust School Sport Ambassador, Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis visits Harefield Academy today to speak about her career and passion for sport at an assembly for Lewis House; a school house group named in her honour at the school.

Denise will explain how sport can be a powerful vehicle to help achieve dreams and address elite young athletes to talk through the challenges of her own sporting journey, illustrating how important it is to stick with things even when the going gets tough.

The heptathlon champion at the 2000 Sydney Olympics will view and participate in a range of activities throughout the day and meet students from across the school. As well as talking with elite young athletes she will meet with a variety of students including a year 8 PE group and senior students who will lead some of the activities.

The Harefield Academy operates an Elite Sports Programme alongside development and grassroots squads and has a flexible approach for elite young athletes in both their training and competition programme as well as their education to ensure they achieve the best possible results in and out of the classroom.

Denise said: “The sporting journey for many Olympians and Paralympians begins at school and it's a crucial time for any young athlete’s development as they learn to balance training and competition with the other pressures associated with teenage life. I faced many challenges during my sporting career and the support of others was vital in helping me realise my dream. I am pleased to see young people at The Harefield Academy succeeding in an environment that strives to bring out the best in them, whatever their goals are."

Denise is visiting schools and sporting events across the country to support our initiatives and help increase young people’s enjoyment of sport as participants, competitors, coaches, leaders, volunteers and young officials.

Pat Cottis, Director of Specialism at Harefield Academy said: “We are delighted to welcome Denise Lewis to our school today to share her passion for sport. The specialism of PE and sport has been used as a vehicle for change at The Academy providing a focus for students and this has impacted on all aspects of school change from attendance, behaviour and achievement to the attitude and aspirations of our cohort.”