Team Brave - Behind the scenes at the Olympic Park!
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be at the heart on an Olympic training venue?
It’s not every day that you get asked to help deliver a coaching workshop to members of Olympic committees all across Europe!
Especially in the heart of Papendal Olympic Park; home of the Dutch Olympic athletes, a professional Dutch football team and a real life size Olympic BMX track (an exact replica of the London 2012 track to help the Dutch athletes prepare for the competition).
Being at Papendal was an amazing experience! The conference that I was a part of was all about using sport as a tool for social inclusion and to help people with their mental health; something extremely relevant to the coaching that we do at Team Brave.
It was fantastic to meet like-minded professionals from countries all across Europe and beyond; and everyone was really friendly, open-minded and inspiring. I loved how the Olympic presidents and top sports scientists were so down-to-earth, and didn’t mind having breakfast or hanging out with everyone else!
My coaching team was made up of a coach from a French charity, an ex-professional player from Nigeria (now coaching at a charity in Finland), three coaches from Belgium, and an elite runner who’s background was coming over to Europe as a refugee from Afganistan. We coached together, delivering workshops to help people to understand what it would feel like to be a refugee, and therefore how to improve our inclusion (and thus boost their mental health). Our sessions were conducted in silence, so that people had to use non-verbal communication. This made them realise how challenging it can be for refugees to cope and communicate in countries where they don’t understand the language, and therefore how we need to find ways to make them feel more included.
We heard incredible stories of resilience, optimism and perseverance over the course of the conference. For example, the runner from Afganistan told us about all the challenges he’s had to face coming to a new country, learning a new language, facing racial discrimination, overcoming adversity- and finally discovering a passion for running; which changed his life, and enabled him to feel free and finally make friends.
Sport has an amazing power to connect people together. The player from Nigeria (Asiyat) said that she would never have had the opportunity to come to Europe, if she hadn’t rebelled against her family’s wishes, and escaped in secret to play football at night (at the time of her childhood, it was considered unacceptable for girls to play football, sadly). Asiyat aims to use her story to empower and inspire other Nigerian girls to play sports, and see where in the world it takes them. She’s currently coaching a range of sports to migrant women in Finland- with amazing results of women finding their confidence and connecting with other migrants / asylum seekers; who may have faced similar traumatic experiences or challenges in early life.
Another incredibly inspiring aspect of the conference at Papendal, was hearing from a range of Paralympic athletes. We listened to speeches from an athlete with a rare form of dwarfism; who had found a passion for sailing, which completely changed his life. Likewise, an incredible Olympic wheelchair basketball player, said that finding a team when she was younger, helped her to really find confidence, and for once to not feel so different from everyone. Sport is about building communities for people to feel safe and accepted; something that we always try to foster in our Team Brave sessions and activities.
A highlight for me, was actually getting to play Wheelchair basketball! It was so fun (and so challenging)! Imagine trying to control a wheelchair for the first time, whilst simultaneously trying to catch, bounce and throw a basketball! Our coach was an amazing gold medal winning Paralympian called Bo, who got bone cancer aged ten, and had an operation which meant that walking would be very tough and painful for the rest of her life. Bo had an amazing growth mindset and “can do” attitude, and instead dedicated her teenage years to playing wheelchair basketball; becoming now one of the world’s best players. Bo also studies oncology; so that she can help to develop cancer research, so that in the future, hopefully no one has to suffer like she did. What an inspiration.
Another awesome workshop that I attended was a from a charity called GAME. Game work in designing innovative and really cool new spaces to play sport; for example, re-developing old warehouses or industrial sites, into football courts, basketball arenas, parkour gyms or climbing walls. GAME create sports hubs all over the world, so check out their website or social media to find out more! They even accept drawings and designs from children and young people, so if you have an amazing idea for a new sports venue- send it to them!
