Kelly Holmes promoting sport in Cumbria
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11th October 2007
OLYMPIAN Dame Kelly Holmes visited Cumbria to inspire teenage girls to reach their own goals in sport.
Dame Kelly – double gold medal winner at the Athens Olympics in 2004 in the 800 and 1,500 metres – visited the Newton Rigg Campus of the University of Cumbria, near Penrith, to put the girls through their paces yesterday. The visit was part of the GirlsActive programme, organised by the Youth Sport Trust and supported by Norwich Union. GirlsActive works with girls between the ages of 13 and 16 and their teachers to identify the issues that put them off sport. Dame Kelly said: “It’s great to be in Cumbria, especially in the sunshine, working with a group like this. This whole thing is about giving the girls a voice and an a opportunity to get back into sport. “There are all sorts of different things for them to try – not just traditional things like football and netball, but all sorts of other ways to get them active. “There was some research that showed 40 per cent of teenage girls were dropping out of sport. “The survey showed that there were all sorts of reasons why this was happening – from things like not liking PE kit, through to lack of confidence, or worries about body image.” She said the scheme wanted to help girls build confidence and be more positive about sport. “The message is that we don’t expect everyone to be a champion, but we do want people to do the best that they can do,” she added. “I tried lots of different things before I discovered running. “At swimming I sank like a brick, and when I tried ballet I was like an elephant. “But I started running when I was 12 and it changed my life. “Everyone has something special in them, it is just a case of trying different things until they discover it.”
Kayleigh Stanborough, 14, from St Benedict’s School, Whitehaven, said: “Kelly has been really lovely. “I have always liked her and when she won her gold medals I was really pleased. “I was supporting her and cheering her on and it’s great to meet her. “There are lots of reasons why girls don’t get involved in sport. “ I think one of the main ones is the kit. “People don’t get a choice about what they wear and if they are worried about their figure they should be allowed to wear what they want. “There are all sorts of ideas that we have picked up. There is no dance at our school so that would be something that we could work on introducing.”
Finlay Dirom, 14, from Whitehaven School, said: “Another one of the problems that people have is the changing rooms. “If you have been doing PE in the morning then you don’t want to spend the day all sweaty. “But the changing room showers are broken so that puts people off doing sport.”
More than 100 girls from all over the north-west took part in the day.