This year, Youth Sport Trust has collaborated with the True Athlete Project to design and deliver a holistic mindfulness-based programme of enrichment. Mentors from The True Athlete Project will work alongside Youth Sport Trust athlete mentors to deliver this experience. The True Athlete Project is a charity dedicated to reimagining sport with a focus on compassion, mindfulness, and social impact. This approach to athlete development unleashes sport's potential to change lives, across diverse contexts.

The enrichment programme will focus on a range of themes throughout the weekend including mentor-led workshops and talks on;

• Effort & Attitude
• The Values-Led Path
• Self-Compassion
• Mindfulness
• The lived experience of being an athlete
• A parents panel

As well as hosting an Athlete Lounge where athletes can engage in various wider enrichment activities.

We will be releasing more information about the School Games National Finals 2024 Athlete Enrichment Programme on our website soon.

Below you can find out a little more about each of the mentors:

Alex Ullysses: Goalball

Alex is a talented goalball athlete who competes both nationally and internationally. She is also part of Goalball UK’s This Girl Can Project Group, which encourages more girls and women to participate in sports. Beyond her athletic pursuits, Alex volunteers as a young leader with Thomas Pocklington’s Young Voices Group, advocating for individuals with visual impairments.

Alistair Patrick-Heselton: Football/Para Football

Alistair Patrick-Heselton is a former professional footballer who overcame a life-threatening car accident to represent Team GB at the Paralympic Games. Starting his career at Wycombe Wanderers and Queen’s Park Rangers, his promising trajectory was interrupted by a severe injury and later a coma-inducing accident. Defying odds, he became a standout player for the CP team, playing a pivotal role in major international tournaments. Now, Alistair mentors young footballers and was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2017.

Ama Agbeze: Netball

Ama Agbeze is a highly successful netball player with over 100 caps for England. Appointed captain in 2016, she led the Roses to their historic Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2018. Ama is an empathetic leader who, despite not being the loudest in the room, motivates each individual by giving them her time, understanding their unique contributions, and selecting the right person for the right situation. She believes in judging people based on their actions and words rather than preconceived stereotypes.

Anna Turney: Para Alpine Skiing

Anna is a two-time Paralympian, World Cup medallist, and TEDx Speaker who achieved Britain’s best-ever result in Women’s Sitting Alpine Skiing at the 2014 Sochi Paralympics. She finished sixth at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics and went on to win six World Cup medals and 25 European Championship medals throughout her athletic career. Now, Anna delivers corporate team-building and management training, using resilience, compassion, and positivity to motivate others and facilitate high achievement.

Caitlin Chang: Fencing

Caitlin Chang, a former member of the GBR Fencing team, is a multiple-time national champion and Junior Commonwealth champion in the discipline of Sabre. Now a coach, she enjoys watching musicals in her spare time.

Chris Leonard: Rowing

Chris Leonard is a former GB lightweight rower having competed at the World Championships in 1996. He still competes as a masters level and recently won the British Masters Championships. Professionally, Chris has worked for international businesses around the world and coaches senior executives daily.

Claire Burley: Rowing

Claire is a former professional rower for the Hong Kong National Squad who now works as a coach. She believes in treating all athletes equally and prioritising an individualised approach which nurtures wellbeing. She is also a DMA school trained professional actor.

Jenna Downing: Inline Skating

Jenna Downing is a World Champion Inline Skater, an X-Games silver medallist and a 10 x British Champion. At 12 years old, Jenna was the youngest female skater to turn professional and was the first female to have her own signature pro skate. A natural competitor, Jenna has competed in inline skating events since the tender age of 7 and has amassed a lifetime of awards competing across the globe in televised and major international events. After turning professional at the age 12 (making Jenna the youngest female skater in the world to ever turn pro) there was no stopping her and Jenna has gone on to become an institution in British rollerblading. Her ‘Jenna Downing’ signature pro skate, Sporting Ambassador award and her UK Freesports Athlete of the year award are testament to her fantastic ability and commitment to her chosen sport.

Joe Roper: Goalball

Joe is a visually impaired athlete and a key member of the senior GB goalball team. He is also an experienced coach and a certified personal trainer. Joe enjoys playing games, reading books, and indulging in all things nerdy.

Josh Saydraouten: Athletics

Although not a current or former elite-level athlete, Josh competed at the national level in athletics and now serves as an Athlete Support Officer at UK Sport. In this role, he assists athletes on the World Class Programme in their development both as individuals and performers, while also empowering them with the skills and knowledge to make a positive social impact.

Justine Sansom: Lacrosse

Justine is a dedicated athlete with a lifelong passion for sports, currently playing netball and lacrosse. She was a member of the England U20 lacrosse team and now competes with the Saracens Mavericks U21 and U23 NPL squads. Aspiring to become a research scientist, she is about to begin her final year of a biochemistry degree alongside her athletic endeavours.

Laura Gallagher: Gymnastics

Laura is a British trampoline gymnast who has won 8 World and European Championship medals and represented Team GB at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. She is also a mother, returning to competition after the birth of her daughter.

Mark Hawkins: Handball

Mark is a former GB handball player who competed in the London 2012 Olympics and earned 60 caps for Great Britain. His professional career included stints in Denmark and Iceland. Since retiring, he has transitioned to coaching at both club and international levels, including roles with the Chinese women's national team, the Saudi Arabia men's national team, and as head coach for a Norwegian club. He is currently the head coach of the Great Britain women's national team.

Martine van Woudenberg: Beach Tennis

Martine van Woudenberg is an ITF World Tour beach tennis player, based in Aruba. As a top 100 player, she has represented Aruba at the 2023 Pan American Games and the Netherlands in the European Championships and World Cup in 2021 and 2022. In addition to competing, Martine coaches beach tennis and co-founded a British Beach Tennis and Adrenaline Beach Tennis Club in the UK. She has also worked in marketing, media, and radio presenting.

Matt Roberts: Athletics

Matt is a former international high jumper and now works as a Psychological Performance Coach. With a career-best jump of 2.26m, he ranked among the UK's all-time top 20. Over a 15-year career, Matt faced numerous challenges, including three surgeries, notably for a ruptured disc in his neck. Although he did not become an Olympian, he gained a life changing understanding of psychology, which he now shares with international athletes to help them excel in both sport and life.

Milly Kellyman: Skeleton

After over 13 years as a track and field athlete, Milly joined a talent identification program called Discover Your Gold following the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. She was selected to compete in Skeleton, where she achieved her childhood dream of representing Great Britain and winning a bronze medal at the Europa Cup. Now retired from professional sport, Milly serves as the Athlete Community Manager for the British Elite Athletes Association, where she supports top British athletes throughout their careers, and is also an Athlete Mentor for the Youth Sport Trust.

Nicholas de Cruz: Sailing

Dr Nicholas de Cruz is a former World Champion and sailing coach. He is now a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Surrey, an author, a chartered member (CPsychol) of the British Psychological Society, a full member of the Singapore Psychological Society (MSPS) and National Registry of Coaches (SG-Coach Level 3), and a registered sports instructor with the Ministry of Education.

Rachael Mackenzie: Thai Boxing/Boxing

Rachael Mackenzie is a British, European and World Thai boxing champion. Overcoming opposition and prejudice to top the world rankings in two weight categories. She was the first woman to compete under Full Muay-Thai rules in the UK and the first Western woman to compete under Muay-Boran (bare-knuckle) rules in Thailand. A serious injury saw a move to boxing, where, at the age of 36, she became the British Champion, earning a place in the England squad.

Rowan McKellar: Rowing

Rowan is a current member of the GB rowing team, gaining selection after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 2017. She won both the European and World Championships in 2022, competed in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, and has recently returned from her second Olympics in Paris.

Sam Dickinson: Triathlon

Sam is a current top GB triathlete who secured a Gold medal in the mixed relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He began his triathlon journey in 2013 after trying his hand at numerous other sports. Despite being a talented junior, he faced persistent injuries and setbacks that made his path far from straightforward. However, with experience and a supportive team, he has recently achieved consistency, which led to his selection for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he has just competed.

Seonaid McIntosh: Shooting

Seonaid is a 28 year old rifle shooter from Scotland. She has spent the last 10 years climbing to the very top of her sport and has many major medals at European and World level. Along side her sport Seonaid has completed a Bachelor’s degree and two Master’s Degrees and has a strong passion for education. Seonaid’s family have also all been international athletes over the years and so she has been immersed in sport from a young age. Seonaid joins us fresh from competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Talan Skeels-Piggins: Para Alpine Skiing/Sailing

Talan Skeels-Piggins is a Double World Champion, European Champion, and Winter Paralympian who has triumphed over life-threatening accidents and adapted to life as a paraplegic to excel as an elite athlete. He represented Great Britain in alpine skiing at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and became the European Champion in 2011. Talan also made history as the first paraplegic to race a motorcycle in an able-bodied competition, winning the World Champion 600cc (paralysed class) twice and becoming the first paraplegic licensed as a Motorcycle Race Instructor. Additionally, he was the first paraplegic retained in the Royal Navy on active service, where he provided Navigational Safety advice at NATO HQ in Northwood, contributing to the inclusion of more disabled military personnel in service.

Tom Davis: Judo

Tom is a former member of the British Judo Team in the -81kg category. He became Commonwealth and British Judo Champion in 2005, and was named reserve for both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Ursa Terdin: Taekwondo/Kickboxing

Ursa is a multiple World and European champion kickboxer from Slovenia. She also has a masters in Sport Psychology and works as a sport psychologist supporting athletes from different sports on their mental performance.