The Anna Horrell Award Presentation 2020
The Anna Horrell Award Presentation 2020
We are going to try to not use the words “unprecedented” or “pandemic” during this article, but for obvious reasons, our 2020 Presentation of the Anna Horrell Award was unfortunately unable to take place in its usual format. Instead, the Mintridge Foundation took to the online world once more to present our most prestigious award of the year held on Friday 11th December.
The Anna Horrell Award was created by the Mintridge Foundation in memory of Anna who was incredibly influential and encouraging to the sporting endeavours of so many young people, including our Director, Alex Wallace. We hope that this award is a way to remember Anna in the most positive way to reflect her amazing qualities.
Each academic year the Anna Horrell Award is presented to an individual, or group of individuals, that has demonstrated to one of our elite athlete ambassadors a proactive nature and infectious enthusiasm throughout their programme and has shown great potential in their chosen sport.
Previous winners of this special award include Clemmie Cooper, Bayleigh Layram – Smith and Ali Layard, who were all able to join us online to celebrate 2020’s Winner alongside their Mintridge mentors; Olympic Silver Medallist, Heather Fell and Ireland Men’s Cricket Batting Coach, Ben Smith.
We were also extremely thankful to be joined by the Horrell family from across the UK who were as eager as the Mintridge team to congratulate this year’s awardee, Sri Oruganti from Howell’s School.
“WHAT IMPRESSED EVERYONE FROM THE VERY OUTSET WAS HOW SRI HERSELF HEARD ABOUT THE MINTRIDGE FOUNDATION AND TOOK THE IDEA OF HAVING A PROGRAMME AT HER SCHOOL TO HER OWN TEACHERS WHICH IS EXACTLY THE PROACTIVE NATURE THAT WE LOVE!
SHE EVIDENCED, EVEN DURING A SHORT SPACE OF TIME, THAT SHE HAS A DESIRE TO DO WELL IN ALL THAT SHE DOES AND RELISHED THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE MENTORED BY LIZ CANN.
SRI SHOWED GREAT COMMITMENT TO HER MENTORING PROGRAMME AND WAS ABLE TO APPLY HERSELF TO THE CALLS AND THE AREAS THAT LIZ WAS HELPING HER WITH, ON AND OFF THE BADMINTON COURT.
THE MINTRIDGE FOUNDATION WERE SO IMPRESSED WITH SRI’S PROACTIVE APPROACH TO EVERYTHING THAT WAS ASKED OF HER AND THE WAY SHE STUCK TO THE EXTRA TASKS AND CHALLENGES THAT LIZ SET. THIS INCLUDED RECORDING AND SENDING THROUGH VIDEOS IN ORDER TO REVIEW TOGETHER.
SRI HAS FACED A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES AND DIFFICULT DECISIONS THIS YEAR AND HAS USED THE TIPS AND SKILLS THAT LIZ HAS TAUGHT HER, TO HELP GUIDE HER JOURNEY.
SRI HAS WORKED REALLY HARD WITH LIZ ON HER MINDSET AND THIS HELPED HER TO BE SELECTED FOR THE U18 GB SOFTBALL SQUAD ALONGSIDE HER BADMINTON.”
Commonwealth Bronze Medallist, Liz Cann was straight off a flight in order to present the award to Sri in true 2020 style – screenshots and smiley faces were at the ready with applauses ensuring that “We’re not on mute!”. Thank you Liz for taking the time out of your schedule, we really appreciate it.
The Mintridge team handed over to the experts and that is our friends at SportSpiel to interview past and present winners and their mentors. Thank you very much to Will for delving into greater depths of the power mentoring and the impact that this special award has had on their lives, both sporting and otherwise.
We can’t wait to celebrate Sri’s accomplishments in person as soon as restrictions ease, but until then, to enjoy the full Anna Horrell Award presentation, please click here.
Thank you once again to everyone that joined us throughout the evening including some very proud teachers from Sri’s School.
We look forward to keeping our supporters updated with our Anna Horrell Award Alumni, particularly with such exciting prospects in their respective pathways from Loughborough Lightening Netball Squads to the England Disability Cricket Team – the future is definitely bright…
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The Mintridge Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to enhancing life skills in young people through sport. We provide a support network for young people by harnessing the power of positive sporting role models. The Mintridge Foundation assists young people of all ages, abilities and physical capabilities to develop confidence and resilience, and creates awareness of the importance of mental and physical wellbeing through sport.
Our team of Ambassadors - Olympians, Paralympians and other professional sports stars from over 20 sports, both team and individual - work with young people in schools, clubs and academies across the UK. Starting with visits including assemblies, coaching clinics and classroom sessions tailored to each organisation’s requirements, our ambassadors can then provide one- on- one remote mentoring in a safeguarded environment, delivered via technology such as Fitswarm and Playwaze to build a lasting legacy for individuals.
The Mintridge Foundation’s successes demonstrate the incredible power of sport; from a mentee’s selection to represent Great Britain in their chosen field to enabling disabled children to find confidence and happiness just through participation. Understanding life after sport, we also support our Ambassadors in their transition from active sport to the next stage of their careers.