Olympic hockey hero meets with students at Prince William School
Students at Prince William School in Oundle were visited by an Olympic hockey star as part of the East Midlands Academy Trust Torch Relay.
Pupils across EMAT schools were joined by a host of Olympic athletes as part of the biggest ever EMAT torch relay last week as the torch passed from school to school.
Hockey player Grace Balsdon, who scored the winning goal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to secure the bronze medal for Team GB, was at Prince William School for day four of the torch relay, where she met with Year 12 students for a Q&A session, gave an assembly to Year 7 pupils and answered questions from students as part of their ASDAN course, a programme to develop learners' employability, personal, and life skills.
Other Olympians who visited schools throughout the week included Commonwealth Games gold medallist judoka Nekoda Smythe-Davis, Leon Greenwood, who competed for Team GB at this year's Winter Olympics in the bobsleigh competition, and Paralympic gold medallist Laura Sugar MBE, who has competed in athletics, canoeing and hockey.
Chief executive Joshua Coleman said: “Now in its sixth year, our EMAT Torch Relay is a truly inclusive event as it involves every one of our pupils across the trust. These pupils get an unforgettable experience in meeting some fantastic Olympians and Paralympians who are sharing their own stories of resilience and hard work with our learners.
“This has been made possible thanks to our unique partnership with GB Olympians, who have supported us in bringing sporting heroes into our schools to inspire our pupils to work hard and achieve their own dreams.”
This week the trust will host its annual Ability Games, a special event for our pupils with additional physical or communication needs, supported by Great Britain and Loughborough Lightning para-basketball player Siobhan Fitzpatrick.
This will be followed by the EMAT Olympic Day on June 24th, which will bring together more than 500 pupils from 11 schools for an athletics competition, with a special appearance from Olympic silver medallist Jamie Baulch, who was part of the 4x400m team who won silver at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and became world champion in 1999.