Girls go Gold

On Thursday 24 September a group of Pipers girls were amongst the 400 girls and teachers from other GSA schools attending the GSA Girls Go Gold sports conference at Headington School and Oxford Brookes University. This annual conference aims to encourage young female athletes to reach their full potential and follow their dreams in their chosen sport.

The day began with Olympian Amy Williams, winner of Great Britain’s only gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  She spoke to the delegates about her achievements in the Skeleton Bobsleigh and the challenges she had to overcome in order to achieve them.  The girls then had an interactive lecture on Sports Nutrition from Dr Charlie Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science at Oxford Brookes University, where they learnt about the importance of nutrition and the effects of sports drinks on performance.

During the day the girls had the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops at Oxford Brooks University, focusing on the impact of technology in Sports Science.  The looked at how altering their technique can make their sports performance more effective.  Following this they worked in groups to look at how different training intensities has an impact on heart rate and performance. 

Other workshops and keynote speakers included:

• A talk about “careers off the pitch” by Caroline Rae, manager of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
• Introduction to mindfulness in sport.
• “100% Me” workshop, looking at issues of doping in sport and how drugs testers try to make clean and fair.
• Two members of the England team that brought home the Women’s Rugby World cup in 2014: Captain Rocky Clark, MBE and team mate Katherine Merchant.
• England and Great Britain Hockey player and star of the London 2012 Bronze medal winning team, Alex Danson.

The day ended with the girls participating in an Olympic rowing taster with Katie Greves, who finished 5th in the women's eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics.  Katie also talked to the girls about her successes and route to the Olympics.

Sports Captain, Victoria H (Upper Sixth) said “It was a fantastic day and it gave us a great insight into high performance sport and the different careers in the industry.”

Rosie O (Year 10) said “I really enjoyed the day and found it very inspiring and motivational.”

For more information contact:

Rebecca Conroy, Senior Marketing Executive, Pipers Corner School. Telephone 01494 719850 or email [email protected] | www.facebook.com/PipersCornerSchool | @PipersCornerSch