1. Why do you do sport?
I have always been a very energetic person and I get bored really easily and so there’s no way I can sit in front of a TV screen. I got into sports at school and found it the best way to release all my energy and found that I was actually quite good at a lot of sports. I’m also a very competitive person and so sports is a good way to channel this.
2. What sport do you do?
I came to university on a cheerleading scholarship and so I have continued that and I am now the dance coach for the Aberystwyth Taranau Cheerleaders. I have taken part in cheerleading competitions at a national level with a team called Cheer Force Odyssey and Cheer Force Ten, in which we won the national title last time I competed with them. I now also play American Football for the university and have been playing for 2 years; I play on the defence as a defensive back (DB). I’ve now been acquainted with the Womens’ GB American Football captain and coach, and will be going for trials next year.
3. What challenges have you faced, being a girl, within sport?
With cheerleading being a primarily female sport, I have not faced a lot of discrimination within the sport. However, an outsider's perspective on cheerleading is fuelled by stereotypes and I do face a lot of labelling. A lot tend to believe I do the sport because it will attract the attention of guys or many believe it is not a sport at all! Some naively believe that I shake my pom poms and overenthusiastically cheer from the sidelines. We compete, we train hard and it is difficult.
On the other hand, I have thrown myself into a sport dominated by males. It was always going to be difficult to integrate myself because I am smaller and by nature's standards, I shouldn’t be able to ‘hit like a guy’. There was this misconception that I would be a delicate little flower who could neither bring about enough aggression to tackle somebody twice the size of me or handle it when I hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. My first training session; in a tackling drill, nobody wanted to go against me. I stood looking around to see another player wasn’t in a pair and so I called him out, which is the best thing I could have done. I made him line up with me and I told him to hit me as hard as he could and not to go easy. Needless to say, when I made it past his tackle attempt and then took him to the ground when it was my turn, I think I turned a few heads and changed a few minds.
4. What have you achieved in sports? Gained qualification?
For me, the most important thing I have achieved is altering people’s opinions of women in mixed sports. My national titles and winning is all fun but what will stay with me is the lasting impacts I can make.
5. What do you have to say to girls in Aber who want to try sport, but are too scared?
I suppose you have to ask yourself why you are scared. You will make lasting friends, become happier and you will make yourself proud. Sport is for everyone and Aber is a pretty good place to either try something new or bring back old hobbies. The clubs here are very understanding that this may be the first time for some doing sport and nobody is ever ‘not good enough’. If you don’t think you’re fit enough, you will probably be surprised by what you can already do and can always fight to get fitter. If you haven’t got the confidence to join by yourself, ask a friend to go with you, or find someone on the team and drop him or her a message - everyone loves having new members. If you don’t know where to start, have fun trying all the options you are willing to consider. I believe that the hardest obstacle is starting and as soon as you begin to fall in love with a sport, the dedication and the training become easy and fun. Jump out of your comfort zone and you will see results; not just in your sporting self but on the whole. If you don’t take the chance, how will you ever know?