By Mrs Mason-McLeod (Director of Sport)

On Thursday 19th September, we took 10 Lower Sixth students to the annual GSA Girls Go Gold conference, hosted this year at Sherborne Girls’ School. The day kicked off with an energising 'shake and wake' session, where the students enjoyed a nutritious smoothie followed by an aerobics warm-up led by Olympic athletes.

The event featured an impressive line-up of speakers, including Sue Anstiss, MBE - author, director, podcaster, and entrepreneur - and Clare Balding, CBE, an esteemed broadcaster, author, and advocate for gender equality in sports. Both speakers inspired the girls with their powerful messages. Clare Balding emphasised the value of learning from failure and encouraged the students to embrace opportunities to unlock their true potential, while Sue Anstiss debunked myths surrounding women’s sports, celebrating the strength and physicality of female athletes.

Throughout the day, the students participated in masterclasses in tennis, hockey, lacrosse, swimming, cricket, and netball, where they received specialist coaching from current and past elite-level athletes and coaches, many of whom had just returned from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. These included Eboni Usoro-Brown, Heather Fell, Liz Cann, Jade Windley, Justine Lucas, Georgia Lees and Grace Balsdon.

The girls also had the unique opportunity to hear from Olympic athletes about 'life in the athlete village,' and a number of students spoke with Dr Gemma Parry from the University, using a growth spurt calculator to predict their future height.

The students left feeling part of the unstoppable rise of women’s sports, empowered by the skills, advice, and inspiration they gained throughout the day.