What is your experience in sport growing up?
I was very lucky growing up as I had a lot of opportunities to participate in many sporting activities. We lived opposite the school playing field so we were always out running, playing football, hockey or rounders. I particularly enjoyed cross country running and athletics. I was a member of an athletics club and we travelled across Scotland to attend group 'meets'.
What is your volunteering experience to date?
There are a few clubs I'm involved in. I volunteer with the Junior Football Club in our town and have been on their committee for the last year. I regularly help out with the junior golfers and last year I volunteered to lead the primary schools cross country team.
What/who inspired you to get into volunteering?
My own children inspired me to help with volunteering. They both enjoy running and enjoyed previous training sessions with their friends. They were keen to improve and seemed excited when I suggested I could help out.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering?
What I enjoy most about volunteering is to see the enthusiasm the children have and the encouragement they give to each other. I expected to see a high drop out rate as cross county running is often thought of as the 'dreaded' school sport however we continued to have a great turn out. The children all love running and kept turning up with smiles on their faces to our lunchtime club.
Have you had to overcome any challenges or barriers whilst volunteering?
The only barrier I can think of is some of the children felt very nervous and emotional before the races where there were a lot of competitors. We decided to ask for parental input to overcome this and support the children. This barrier did not stop the children and they continued to improve and did exceptionally well in the competition series.
What advice would you give to others looking to get involved in volunteering?
I would advise anyone who loves sport and wants to encourage children to definitely volunteer. It has been a very fulfilling role to see happy smiling faces every week who enjoy being active and encourage each other to keep running.