Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes will today (Friday 27 October) announce the provision of four Norwich Union-funded "On Camp with Kelly" bursaries for the most promising junior athletes on her successful mentoring initiative.
Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes will today (Friday 27 October) announce the provision of four Norwich Union-funded "On Camp with Kelly" bursaries for the most promising junior athletes on her successful mentoring initiative.
For achievement in 2006, Hannah England from Oxford and Emma Jackson from Stoke will all receive a Ł2,000 bursary to help them train and prepare for the new season. The girls were all part of the Norwich Union GB Team at this summer’s World Junior Championships in Beijing and performed creditably.
Jo Finch from Glasgow will receive a bursary of Ł3,000 as she moves from her home in Glasgow to St Mary’s College where she will be able to use the facilities at this high performance endurance centre. She will also change coach and the bursary will help fund this move.
Dani Christmas from Horley, Surrey, another member of the Norwich Union GB Team from Beijing, has been given the opportunity of a lifetime to be coached by Kelly’s coach Margo Jennings in Oregon. This experience with one of the best coaches in the world of athletics will ensure that Dani receives the best possible support and preparation as she looks to make the next step on her career.
Kelly said, “All these girls have shown great promise in the past and are now starting to make their mark internationally. The transition between junior and senior is incredibly difficult and these bursaries will help enormously in their development as athletes and I am grateful for Norwich Union’s continued support for the girls that make these awards possible.”
The bursaries will be awarded to the girls at the latest "On Camp with Kelly" get together that starts today at UK Sport where they will learn about funding and anti-doping procedures amongst other things. Saturday will then see the group travel to Kelly’s home town of Tonbridge where they will meet Margo Jennings, train and even give training sessions themselves to local athletes.
Kelly has also invited one of her main rivals on the track - Slovenian world indoor 800m record holder and Olympic 800m bronze medallist Jolanda Ceplak - to take part in a Q&A session with Kelly and the girls to give a different perspective on life on the professional circuit. Recent Commonwealth 1500m champion Lisa Dobriskey, whom Kelly and six of the girls witnessed winning gold in Melbourne earlier this year, will also join the session.
There will be 16 girls involved in the latest get together, including four new faces to the initiative:
Dani Christmas, 18 from Horley, Surrey
One of the original "On Camp with Kelly" girls, Dani won the 800m at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo, Australia (Dec 2004) and also the Under 20 Great North Mile in September 2005. In 2004 she won the English Schools 1500m title at Gateshead and also represented Great Britain in the U20 International, winning the 1500m in 4:24.51. Dani was a member of the Norwich Union GB Team at the World Junior Championships in Beijing, running in the 800m.
Jo Finch, 18 from Newton Mearns, Glasgow
Has been a regular on all "On Camp with Kelly" initiatives after having won the middle distance double at the 2004 Scottish Schools Championships. Jo recently came fifth in AAA U20 800m and hopes to study at Loughborough University. Named as the Daily Record "Scottish Young Athlete of the Year" in January.
Hannah England, 19 from Oxford
Hannah won the middle distance double at the UK Women’s Athletics League Qualifier in 2005. She also won the Under 20 Norwich Union AAAs indoor title and took silver at the English Schools 1500m. She also joined Kelly in Melbourne. Hannah was a member of the Norwich Union GB Team at the World Junior Championships in Beijing, running in the 1500m.
Hannah Brooks, 18 from Caterham, Surrey
Hannah won the 2005 English Schools Senior Girls 800m title and took bronze in the 800m at the Under 20 Norwich Union AAAs Championships. Hannah was one of the girls selected by Kelly to join her in Melbourne
Emily Goodall, 17 from Haywards Heath, West Sussex
In 2005, Emily won the English Schools Inter Girls 800m as well as the Norwich Union Under 17s 800m Indoor and Outdoor titles. Emily also joined Kelly in Melbourne.
Non Stanford, 17 from Penllergaer, Swansea
A talented all-round sportswoman, Non represented Wales in gymnastics at the age of nine and was also part of the Welsh Talent Identification squad for swimming before opting for athletics. Non has been a regular "On Camp with Kelly" participant and won the Flora girls mini-marathons in 2004 and 2005. In this year’s event she was narrowly pipped in the home straight by fellow "On Camp with Kelly" girl Stephanie Twell.
Nikki Maddick, 19 from Kingston-upon Hull
Nicola was second to fellow OCWK girl Hannah Brooks in the English Schools Senior 800m, and finished 3rd in the 2005 Under 20 Great North Mile. Nikki also joined Kelly in Melbourne.
Rachael Thompson, 20 from Crosby, Liverpool
After South Africa, Rachael finished sixth in the 800m at the Norwich Union European Indoor Senior Trials. After winning the 1500m at the Norwich Union Under 23 International she went on to be the youngest member of the Norwich Union GB Team at the European Under 23 Championships, competing in the 800m.
Charlotte Browning, 19 from Loughborough
Charlotte won four consecutive AAA 1500m titles between 200 and 2003, as well as dominating cross country winning the Inter-Counties title in 2001, 2002 and 2003. She finished sixth in the 1500m at the 2003 World Youth Games and has been involved in several of the OCWK warm weather training camps.
Hannah Whitmore, 22 from Leicester
Hannah has raced mentor Dame Kelly over 800m at the 2004 Norwich Union Olympic Trials, coming fourth behind in her heat behind the double Olympic champion elect. She went on to win that year’s 800m at the Norwich union Under 23s AAAs Championships. In 2005 Hannah won the "On Camp with Kelly" one mile exhibition race at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield, and in 2006 she finished sixth in the senior Norwich Union World Indoor Trials over 1500m.
Carolyn Plateau, 18 from Oxford
Carolyn finished sixth in the 1500m at the 2005 World Youth Championships and won the 600m "On Camp with Kelly" exhibition race at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield. This year she successfully defended her Junior UK Indoor 800m title.
Becky Townsend, 19 from Leeds
In 2005, Becky won the North of England 1500m Indoor title, and came second in the 800m. This year, despite carrying injuries, she finished fifth in the Indoor AAAs Becky finished sixth in the BUSA 800m indoor championships, fifth in the AAA 1500m. She went on to win the North England indoor championships and came second in the 800m.
Holmes has also selected four new girls who have shown promise this season and are on the verge of breaking through to the top junior ranks.
Tara Bird, 19 from London
A former English Schools 300m champion stepping up to 800m. Daughter of Gladys Taylor, a successful GB athlete over 400m and 400m hurdles who competed at Montreal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984.
Lucy Dowsett, 16 from Cambridge
Runs both 800m and 1500m and has shown great promise since the age of 11 smashing club records each year. Lucy was second in the UK rankings in 2004 over 800m for Under 15s and despite an injury-plagued 2006, she still battled to PBs over both distances.
Katie Richardson, 17 from Upminster, Essex
2005 English Schools champion over 1500m, Katie also competes at 800m and cross country.
Linzi Snow, 19 from Essex
-ends-
For more information, telephone interviews and pictures:
Stuart Wareman 07733 010 799
Gerri Carr 07776 133 311
Notes to editors:
On Camp with Kelly
"On Camp with Kelly" (OCWK) started in Jan 2004 with the support and sponsorship from Norwich Union and has grown from strength to strength. There have now been over 30 girls that have had some level of involvement.
Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes set up OCWK because she wanted to help the future of female middle distance athletes. Her vision of OCWK was that it should be an educational development programme so that those attending gain life experiences as well as the knowledge of what it takes to become a world class athlete.
Eight girls were given the opportunity to go on the first OCWK programme to South Africa in Oct/Nov 2004 and since then there has been regular get together weekends, warm weather training in Spain and Australia during the 2006 Commonwealth Games as well as the opportunity to race in international races in Glasgow, Sheffield and the Great North Mile in Newcastle. At various camps the girls are also given access to Holmes’ own support team including Alison Rose - physio, Paul Dijkstra - doctor, Margo Jennings - coach.
Further initiatives are planned to help support and mentor the next generation of British medal hopefuls.