Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Charlie Peters and Emma Ashley at the National Talent Inspiration Programme

Two STARS squad pupils were selected to attend the National School Games at Loughborough this August and take part in the Talent Inspiration Programme for 3 days, following the Staffordshire Talent Inspiration Programme at Keele University in June.

 

Charlie Peters has wrote this report about the event:

School Games 2016

I arrived at Loughborough University at 9:30am for the first day of the TIP school games. After filling a form out and collecting my accreditation and kit, I had to get changed into my kit and join in with team building games. We were then put into our groups and met our mentors, before being taken to a lecture theatre where we had our TIP opening ceremony and were introduced to everybody and informed of what to expect over the next 3 days.

The first activity we did was classroom work, setting goals and GB athlete World champion Thai boxer, Rachael Mackenzie (mentor for my group) delivered an inspirational speech. After lunch, we went back to the classroom and took part in various activities against each other to test our reaction times, which we then recorded in our booklets.

We were taken to the sports hall where UK SPORT sports scientists put us through our paces in various tests in their UK SPORT talent ID search for the next Olympic and Paralympic champions.  Activities included standing long jump, vertical jump, medicine ball throw and other jump tests which were all recorded.

After having our tea we were taken to our accommodation within the grounds of the university. Once we were at our rooms, we finally got to relax and go to sleep.



Day Two:

We had to be up at 6am to do a 1hour 30mins circuit program before going for a shower and then breakfast. After which we went back to the classroom where we met the male Brazilian Bobsleigh team who told us about their sport and their training and team building activities.

After lunch we went to a 3G pitch where we met the women’s Canadian baseball team, they told us about their sport, we were split into groups and played a game of baseball with them, getting a chance to try out all aspects of the game e.g. batting, bowling, and fielding.

After tea we attended the opening ceremony for the school games, there was a laser show, people performing on stage and various GB athletes fresh back from Rio. I finally got back to my room at 11:30pm.

Day Three:
We had to be up at 6:30am to leave the accommodation with our luggage before having breakfast. After breakfast we went to watch the wheelchair basketball, female rugby and the athletics. After having lunch we then attended the TIP closing ceremony and waited to be collected by our parents.

The things I enjoyed the most were the physical activities and the opening ceremony for the school Games. Overall, I really enjoyed it and it was a great experience although it was very tiring.

Charlie Peters