My Race For Life

Filed under Gail Emms - Sports Spy, blog

On Tuesday the July 12 I headed up to Staffordshire on behalf of the Youth Sport Trust to meet another group of girls for a “Girls Active” session. These events are growing massively as everyone realises the impact they are having on the girls. I have already talked about the “Girls Active” session in Sedgefield (just read my previous post) and it was an honour to be asked to the Stafford Sports College for another event.

But this was a little different. There was another agenda on the cards and I had no idea of the impact until I arrived and met the girls and talked in the introduction. The girls were there for another reason - not only to go back to their schools and inspire more girls to take part in physical activity, but they, along with the teachers and other members of staff, had all signed up to take part in the Stafford 5K “Race for Life”. And the reason that 120 girls had signed up - all because of a lady called Clare Skelton.

I had never met Clare before. I had never heard of her before until that day, but Clare was a really good runner, in fact she holds the course record for the Stafford Half Marathon. She worked for the Stafford and Stone Sports Development team, but last year, she found out she had cancer. It was such a rare form of ovarian cancer that the doctors didn’t give a great prognosis.

She battled and was determined to take part in the “Race for Life” on July 12 and raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK, but she sadly passed away on May 25. She leaves behind a partner Ben and a two year old son Luke. Her sister Emma (in the photo above with me), who is also a keen runner, spoke to all the girls before the “Girls Active” event started and it was clear that everyone in the room had met her and was inspired by her in some way. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room after Emma had spoken. The girls all had baseball caps with “In memory of Clare Skelton” and they were all running for her.

My role was to be there to help motivate the girls through the activities and then the 5K race, but somehow, I felt my role was more to support them. I was extremely emotional as I am a mum to a little boy and my heart just went out to the family. Another ex-Olympic athlete was also there - Kerri Lees who ran 400m hurdles in Sydney 2000 - and together we spoke to the girls and it was great to hear that so many girls have got into athletics because of Clare.

I guess there was no turning back in the race for me..! I do jog occasionally but I jog with my dog Rafa who is a West Highland terrier who likes chasing squirrels and I have to stop a lot so he can catch up. I felt really nervous about the event - I felt responsible for helping 120 girls get round the course, I felt responsible about running a good race for Clare and then I felt pressure as an ex-Olympian to make a good time!

When I turned up and saw 3,000 other women mainly in pink and all with the names of loved ones on their backs, I realised the impact that the “Race for Life” has on so many people. Some women were running because they had lost people to cancer, some were survivors and some were in various stages of treatment for cancer, but all wanted to celebrate life.

I set off knowing that there were thousands of other women all doing their bit for their own personal reasons and setting their own goals. Kerri and I ran together. We didn’t set out to but it just happened that way. I guess it felt right to do that and maybe lead the girls. But one of the girls was a very good runner and overtook us as soon as she could! Danni finished in 18mins while Kerri and I crossed the line together in 21mins. Not bad for two ex-athletes and mums!

Me with Danni, the runner who sped past me at the start

I guess I want to highlight the impact us women have in sport. The “Race for Life” numbers have been down this year - not by much, but a little. 3,000 women in pink running/jogging/walking/skipping along a course is a powerful sight. It sends a message to say we care and we want to do something about it.

We should embrace these challenges and celebrate life. Our bodies are amazing and do we want to just sit around and mope or can we get out there and fulfil our potential? Life is short as we all know, and events like this highlight it even more so. Us girls stick together well and by doing so, can inspire, enthuse, motivate and also have fun. So at the next get together, whether it is at the gym, cafe, pub how about suggesting the 5K to celebrate life? If 120 school girls can because of Clare, then I am sure there many of you out there can too.

Gail gets active with the girls

Filed under Gail Emms - Sports Spy, blog

As you are probably are aware, I am an ambassador for the Youth Sport Trust. The Youth Sport Trust is an independent charity with a mission to build a brighter future for young people through PE and sport.

I am very passionate about school sport and truly believe that I wouldn’t have achieved what I have if it wasn’t for school sport.

I love working for the Youth Sport Trust as I get to see amazing initiatives in place and see the effects school sport has on the students. Since the school sports partnership funding has been cut, physical education really relies on the hard work, passion and enthusiasm of the PE staff and school sport co-ordinators (SSCo’s) to keep school sport at a high standard.

I was in Sedgefield recently to meet up with Sarah Price, who was an SSCo before the cuts made her position untenable. She has been a big voice, campaigning to keep funding going to the school sports partnerships. She is someone that has been hugely influential in her area in keeping a wide range of sports and activities going so that everyone can have a go and try something new.

The Girls Active scheme

“Girls Active” is an initiative that is open to schools, and with the support of the Youth Sport Trust, to use to try and keep as many girls in the school sport system as possible. I have been involved with the scheme for a couple of years and it is great to see that schools are not only identifying the problem but trying to come up with solutions.

“Girls Active” is a means of getting girls that are disengaged with sport together and empowering them so they are in control of their physical activity sessions. With girls and sport, it is personal and emotional, so to me, this is a real step forward when teachers have the foresight to ask “What would you like to do or try?” The response has been incredible.

My day in Sedgefield was to encourage the 75 girls involved to try new sports and to go back to their schools and introduce these sports to other girls. The sports on offer were handball, sitting volleyball, boxing and table tennis. I have tried these sports before and was really excited to get stuck in. But as I arrived, everyone was silent and just really unsure about the day. I was so surprised to see this.

Usually, I go into a school and end up losing my voice to try and calm everyone down, but there was a real air of anxiety about. I introduced myself and talked a little bit about my journey to be an Olympian and I could see a few girls start to relax a bit.

Then it was time to get stuck into the exercises. I say stuck in, but when it came to the boxing, I was actually a little bit scared!! We may think of boxing as more of a male sport, but after what I witnessed, bring on the girls! I joined in wherever and whenever I could and tried my best not to get too competitive, but hey, I just can’t help it at times!

Trying not to get competitive at table tennis

It was a great morning and all the girls eventually threw caution to the wind and just went for it. But what really shocked me was that when I was talking to the girls either individually or as a group, there was a real lack of comprehension of why I played badminton.

Even when I was showing my Olympic medal, one of the girls asked me if I played badminton so I could get on TV. Another asked me if I played badminton so I could be famous and another asked about how much money I have earned.

When I replied that I played badminton because I wanted to be the best, there was a lot of confusion. Is it not acceptable or cool to want to be the best? My wanting to be the best meant being the best in the world, but of course, it doesn’t have to be as high as that. Wanting to be the best can mean anything that you set your heart and your goal to. Are we missing that in girls?

It seems acceptable for a boy to say he wants to play football for England and we all support his dream even though the odds are heavily against him, but it is a boyhood dream that is ok to talk about. If a young girl says the same thing, are we as supportive? For me it seemed, that these girls had never been asked what their ultimate goal in life is. If you don’t have a goal, how do you know what you have achieved or where you want to go next? There seems to be so much emphasis on TV, fame and quick fixes to get pots of money that this seems to be the dream. Personal achievement and success should be encouraged and when a young girl says she wants to take on the world….well you never know do you?

“Girls Active” is definitely a start in the right direction to give girls a positive outlook on PE, but maybe it means more than just sport? Maybe it is about challenging yourself, trying to get better, and being the best you can be. This is why sport teaches more than just how to get fit. Let’s encourage our girls to take on the world.

“I reckon I could beat you!”

Filed under Gail Emms - Sports Spy, blog

Professional sport is a very male dominated environment. As a female elite athlete, it seems that you have to prove yourself even more than my male counterparts do.

I always think back to when I was just starting out in my career as a badminton player, I remember meeting someone in a cafe and he asked me what I did. I answered that I was a professional badminton player. The man instantly smirked and said “Yeah, but I reckon I could beat you!”.

Straight away, there was no respect. The man in question was a fireman and I didn’t say to him “I reckon I would be better than you at putting out fires!”, yet he felt it was ok to challenge my skills. I was 21 years old then and had been fighting this attitude throughout university, so this was nothing new to me. But it’s just yet another example of how I had to constantly prove myself against the boys throughout my badminton life.

Maybe this is why I chose to be a mixed doubles player - I knew the way that the men would often try and pick on the woman player but I had learnt to not show any weaknesses.

I had learnt to challenge the stereotypes that taunted my mum, an England women’s footballer, and used them to become mentally strong, but this is not always the case with other female athletes.

Worryingly, some sports are estimating up to 70% of their female attrition numbers possess real potential but choose to give up in the 15 to 21 year old age group. UK Sport has funded workshops to discuss this trend and to try and keep these girls in the programme. I attended one at Loughborough University to give my views on “Managing and Retaining the Talented Female Athlete” as I too, have seen female badminton players not fulfil their potential.

Many sports have noted that the girls that do come through the system are those that respond to the male orientated environment and coaching style. I have to say, that the National Badminton Centre is a great place to train, but the smell of boys sweaty kit doesn’t help (or the fact the boys took over the chill out room leaving the girls to try and find somewhere else, and that boys NEVER wash up! ) but the sports hall didn’t make me want to quit.

The people that were there made the centre great - my coaches Andy and Julian, my partners Nathan and Donna, and together we worked out what worked for all of us. By empowering us as athletes, we had a voice to make sure training was hard, individual, specific, and most importantly, fun.

When I was first invited to train with the senior players, I was over the moon. I couldn’t contain my excitement and I felt honoured and privileged to be there. The younger players now almost expect to be there, show a lot of attitude and it seems that the aura of being in a elite environment has worn off.

Girls especially, grow up so quickly and at 15 years old, often act like 18 year olds and in the comfort of their home environment are often treated as princesses. In sport, you come down to your age, so whilst a 15 year old may act older in life, in the sporting arena she is just 15. And sport doesn’t always go your way, so it is no surprise that the girls that do come through, are seen as the tough and gritty girls.

As society changes, sports governing bodies need to change too and adapt their approach so that girls do not feel isolated, let down, or even dejected and the “spoilt madam” can turn into “strong woman athlete”.

As female athletes, we often put ourselves as second best because technically and physically we are weaker than our male counterparts, but we still want to be the best we can be. The sporting world is a tough one and no-one can change that, but we can make it a little easier by supporting those who are tackling it.

There are very few women in the sport support set-up, few coaches and even fewer as managers, but maybe encouraging outside influences such as school friends, university colleagues and mentors within sport can ease the transition.

I hope the girls that have chosen a path other than elite sport reach their potential in whatever they chose to do and hopefully that environment has listened to their needs more than sport did.

Meet Gail Emms - Sports Spy

Filed under Gail Emms - Sports Spy, blog

Welcome to my blog! I will be writing to tell you all about the amazing projects that I am involved with now since retiring from elite sport. Since my last international competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, I have been actively campaigning for school sport, mentoring young athletes and starting a media career in TV and radio as well as becoming a mum to Harry in March 2010.

Sport is my passion and I was fortunate to have a career as a professional badminton player. Along with partner Nathan Robertson, I won the silver medal at the Athens Olympics Games, and then World, Commonwealth and European titles followed suit. It has only been in the last few years that I have been able to look back with a sense of pride and achievement and realise what an incredible journey I have had to get to be the best in the world. I don’t want to rest on my laurels now, but I want to give something back. I want to say thank you to sport for giving me an opportunity to be me.

I have always loved sport and I tried everything and anything as I was growing up. I loved the way I could be competitive, gave me a challenge and I loved being part of a team. My best memories are being part of the school hockey team and singing Tina Turner “Simply the Best” on the coach to matches. I am still in contact with the girls today and try and play hockey whenever I can a sit had such a positive impact. Now sport plays a different role with me. It is about time for me, time to keep healthy, and time to keep fit.

Sport is personal and emotional, not only for me, but for the many women out there that give it a go. It doesn’t matter if you are an elite athlete or a beginner, your individual journey is special to you. Good luck!