By Olivia Wilson
I
’ve always wanted to enjoy sport, but I’ve never been particularly good at it! I took part because I had to, or because someone else dropped out! I had an awful sports teacher (think Mrs Trunchball) who had exceptionally hairy legs, enormous hands and used to threaten to hang us from the ceiling by our toenails! (True story!) Safe to say she never filled me with enthusiasm! I was always too terrified of letting her down, or worse, making her cross, that I don’t think I ever chose to join a team.
I am thrilled that she has taken to sport, and not just because I was terrible at everything! Mainly it's because this is the first time I have understood what team sport can do for a child’s confidence, selfesteem and general wellbeing. Poppy doesn’t like to be away from my side and suffers with PTSD. It’s been a tough few years for her, for us, for school, for everyone in our lives! However, since joining her first netball team she has crept out of her shell, little by little, and her confidence has blossomed.
Thankfully this hasn’t been the same for my daughter! She is sport mad, and for good reason too!
As clichéd as it sounds, sport has literally changed my girl’s life, and truthfully, that’s due to her coaches. They have loved her, taught her,
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Peninsula Kids – Spring 2019