No limits to sporting success at St Mary’s in Calne


While women in sport may come up against certain barriers, Dr Helen Wright reminds us in girls’ schools there are no such stereotypes to fight. Former pupil Laura Bechtolsheimer is a 2012 gold medallist...


work with others and opportunities to learn how to deal with failure and how to pick yourself up and move on. Moreover, team sport is one of those activities that if you don’t try it at school, you probably never will, as it is harder as an adult to take up certain sports at club level as a beginner. And all of this is particularly important for


to come. Another reason to celebrate was that athletes who were former (and in some cases current) pupils of independent schools had a high share of the medal tally. Almost 40% of all the medals won by Team GB were earned by sportsmen and women who received an independent education. Proud moments were had by schools all over


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the country as they celebrated their illustrious alumni; we had our own proud moments at St Mary’s Calne, as we cheered on Laura Bechtolsheimer to Gold in the Team Dressage, and Bronze in the Individual Dressage. It is no surprise that independent school


pupils were so highly represented in the medal stakes in London; independent schools on the whole attach a high importance to sport as part of a well-balanced, active lifestyle, in preparation for an energetic and fulfilling life. Most schools offer a wide range of sports, dedicated coaches, and the chance to play sport at a top level as well as just for enjoyment and fitness. Sporting facilities at independent schools are often of the highest quality, and the longer school days allow for more opportunities to get active. This all makes perfect sense; we want our


children to be fit and healthy, and we want them to be able to strive to achieve on the sports field as well as in the classroom, in the drama studio and in the music rooms. Team sport especially develops not just drive and ambition, but also co-operation, the ability to


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HE LONDON 2012 Olympics were a fantastic showcase for British sport, and the memories of all those amazing medals will live on for years


girls. Nationally, there is a real drop-off in girls’ sport in the teenage years. According to a study by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation published earlier this year, only 12% of 14 year old girls do at least the minimum recommended levels of daily exercise – far less than boys. The main reasons girls cite for this reluctance are that doing sport – sweating and exerting themselves – is seen as ‘unfeminine’, and besides, there are few female sporting role models for them to emulate. Our national media has a lot to answer for,


of course: the backdrop to these girls’ lives consists of airbrushed photos of models and ‘celebrities’ who are lauded for their appearance rather than their achievements, and only 5% of all the sporting coverage in this country is devoted to women’s sports. The London Olympics have given


women’s sport a fantastic boost nationally, but independent schools – and girls’ schools especially – have always waved this particular flag. In girls’ schools, remember, there are no stereotypes to fight, and no limits to sporting achievement. In fact, in girls’ schools there is no sense of ‘girls’ sport’; it is simply ‘sport’, and the younger girls can look up to the older girls as role models as they tear around the pitches and seek to better their personal bests. The world beyond may regard men’s rugby


as more worthy of sponsorship than women’s hockey (only 0.5% of corporate sponsorship in sport is directed towards women in sport), but this generation of girls coming through girls’ schools will be the ones to change this, as they expect nothing less than equal levels of accolade for their achievements. We all need physical activity in our lives,


and our young people need to learn to love sport, and to find their niche in it. Their school years are the perfect time for them to do this, and great schools will always make sport an important part of their schedules. And who knows, after all, where the next Olympians will come from?


• For more details about StMary’s School in Calne, visit www.stmaryscalne.org.


From top: Former pupil Olympic gold medallist Laura Bechtolsheimer; hurdling and sailing at St Mary’s


WILTSHIRE LIFE Schools Supplement October 2012


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