New weightlifting academy in Devon

Opportunities for girls thanks to council funding

It is easy to stand on the sidelines and moan about the state of sport, physical health and the lack of opportunities for young people: I prefer to do something about it.

I’m very pleased to announce that Excelsior Athletic Development Club has been awarded funding to run a weightlifting academy for year 7 and year 8 girls in Mid-Devon. Devon County Council liked my application bid because it ‘broke stereotypes’ and ‘focused on the community.’

Me, two of our club lifters, and our mascot: Stanley Bear.

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The funding will allow the girls to train twice a week for 12 weeks, free of charge. I am working with the two local secondary schools to promote this. We shall start with a trial/taster session on Saturday, 13th December, in Willand.

I asked for the funding because I wanted to give girls from all backgrounds the chance to learn a new sport for free. Cost is a major barrier to participation in all sports: transport, fees, equipment and membership.

We are giving the girls the chance to train, and if they feel like competing, we will pay for their British Weightlifting membership fee and entry to their first competition.

If they don’t feel like competing, they will all have benefited from 24 supervised exercise sessions: enough to make physical and behavioural changes.

I grew up in a low-income, single-parent household and never had the chance to do anything outside of school. I was lucky in that we had excellent p.e. programmes in my schools with plenty of opportunities to participate in several sports.

Unfortunately, this is not the case nowadays: children are sometimes labelled as either “sporty” or “non-sporty” by teachers when they start secondary school. The non-sporty children are consigned to the dustbin, while the ‘sporty’ children are selected for many events.

I aim to rectify this, in part, by teaching whoever comes to the trials. I am not selecting on ability. If the girls are keen to learn and try their best, I am happy to help them.

We have to overcome many misconceptions, with even p.e. teachers not knowing what ‘weightlifting’ is (it was dropped from the GCSE p.e. syllabus several years ago but may be reinstated after the current review, so they’d best learn!). Plus, negative comments about strength training for girls still exist (sigh!) amongst all levels of society.

It’s an uphill battle, but thankfully Devon County Council and a few committed teachers are helping me.

I made this flyer to help promote the cause locally. Please read and share if you are in our area.