England Netball Captain Visits Caterham

England Netball Captain Visits Caterham

On Tuesday we were very excited to welcome England Netball captain, Ama Agbeze, to Caterham for the day. We have been fortunate to have been visited by Ama on a few occasions in recent years; however this was her first visit since captaining England to the Commonwealth Gold medal, which was won in Australia last year. This was the first gold medal ever won by England, and the team are currently training hard to match this success by hopefully taking gold once again at the up-coming World Cup, to be staged in Liverpool this July. Ama is also captain of Superleague side London Pulse, having played professional netball in both Australia and New Zealand for the past ten years.

The day began with Ama guest-starring in our Lower School assembly, where teamwork, sportsmanship and resilience were discussed. Next up were our Fourth Year GCSE PE pupils, who were given an inspirational insight into an England netballer’s training as Ama led pupils through an incredibly tough strength and conditioning workout.

At lunchtime, our CAP athletes were incredibly lucky to have a talk, followed by a q&a, with Ama. The key focus here was on the mental and physical preparation needed to be an elite athlete, as well as an insight into how Ama has been able to stay motivated throughout her 17 year international career, with all its ups and downs.

Then it was onto a session with our A Level PE pupils, who were able to ask some excellent questions covering key syllabus topics such as recovery, nutrition, training demands and coping strategies. Finally, our U12 NetCats were treated to a photo opportunity and a short q&a, before Ama dashed off to be a star guest at the Caterham School Society Insight Evening.

It was an absolute honour to have Ama with us, and it was an amazing opportunity for our pupils to gain an insight into not just into the world of elite sport, but also how it is possible to be incredibly successful whilst remaining humble, as well as grateful for the opportunities in front of you. Ama epitomises this, and we are very grateful for the time she gave us!