"You have to embrace who you are and find out what you can do and always try to be the best you possibly can be! " Emma Brown and Matt Sealy join the students at Ipswich Preparatory School
Emma Brown and Matt Sealy visit Ipswich Preparatory School for an inspirational Bronze Programme for their Paralympic Day
Team Mintridge were delighted to be invited to deliver an amazing Bronze deaf football and wheelchair basketball Programmes at Ipswich Preparatory School this week with the inspirational Emma Brown and Matt Sealy.
For their Paralympic Day, Ipswich Preparatory School created a fun-filled day of Paralympic sport for their students to get involved in. They created their day so the students could learn more about the Paralympics and what it is like to compete and live with a disability.
During our day, Emma and Matt, which the help of Gordon from the Wheelchair Basketball experience, inspired the students to be the best versions of themselves and understand how to be more self-aware during the wheelchair basketball and deaf football sessions.
This inspirational day started with a presentation to the Prep school from both Emma and Matt, who shared their journeys in elite sport and the opportunities they have been involved in throughout their lives on and off the courts and pitches.
Both Ambassadors spoke about the amazing people they have met and the challenges they have both faced along their journeys to success and how they have adapted with their disabilities.
As a deaf athlete, Emma plays at the highest level in deaf football and also competes in able-bodied football too. It was so great for the students to hear Emma talk about her attitude towards her disability and how she takes on new challenges every day to make her a better person and athlete.
“You can’t change the way you are and you have to just accept it and find out all the things you can do and take them on to the best of your ability!”
Matt Sealy followed on from Emma’s presentation and shared with the students his experience in wheelchair basketball and what it takes to compete at the top. Matt showed the students the two differences between the wheelchairs that he uses when he is playing basketball and the one he uses in his daily life.
Matt spoke about the highs and the lows of his basketball career so far and some of the skills he has developed during his time competing for team GB as a wheelchair basketball player and in his role as a player and coach now with the London Titans team.
Emma and Matt both echoed similar messages during their presentations and wanted the students to look beyond the challenges they face on a daily basis and work through them with their problem-solving skills. Emma and Matt are both brilliant examples of what you can achieve if you work hard and apply yourself to your goals and encouraged all of the students to dream big, work hard and always try their best in whatever they do.
Throughout these sessions, the students were very supportive of each other and had lots of fun cheering on their teammates during the fun relay races and matches they played. The students also loved learning how to communicate without their voices, using sign language, and how to adapt their body language when playing football to help support their peers in the sessions.
At the end of these incredibly active and fun sessions, the students at Ipswich Prep School asked Emma and Matt some great questions about their sporting journeys and the best ones were;
When you started playing wheelchair basketball, did you like it and did they say no to you?
What position did you both play in wheelchair basketball and deaf football?
Matt, what was the first club you joined?
Emma, where has been your favourite place to play football?
Why do you love wheelchair basketball and deaf football?
Who inspired you both?
Team Mintridge always encourage young people and students to join local sports clubs around them and during our day we encouraged the students to try and get involved in sport outside of school and ask their teachers where their local club is.
We had such an inspiring and amazing day at Ipswich Prep School and we are so grateful that they invited us to be part of this again this year.
Thank you to the staff at Ipswich Prep School for helping to organise this double programme and to the students for putting in so much effort and enthusiasm. We can’t wait to be back next year to visit the students again for some more inspirational Mintridge programmes.
If you are interested in a virtual or physical Programme with any of our other inspirational Ambassadors, then please get in touch via the Mintridge website or with Katie.
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.
To find out more about the Mintridge Foundation, please contact Alex Wallace.
