TO celebrate the Year of Young People, every week in 2018 The National is giving a platform to young Scots. This week, 16-year-old Ella Murray.
MY name is Ella Murray and I am 16. I live in Aberdeenshire and am a pupil at Albyn School. I have been a member of the Scotland U17 netball squad for the last 10 months and earlier this year I was lucky enough to be selected to be part of the Scotland U21 squad. Whilst I have always dreamt of representing my country at my favourite sport, it does require a huge commitment and dedication.
This involves travelling to Glasgow or Edinburgh every week for a 2-3 hour training session, and when I was with U17s it was every two weeks for a 5-6 hour training session. So I spend a lot of time on the road! My worst journey was a 14-hour drive to Glasgow. We spent nine hours stuck on the M80, only to find that the competition we were travelling to had been cancelled due to the bad weather!
When I’m not travelling up and down the country, I am a member of the RGU SPORT Talented Athlete Programme (TAP), based at Robert Gordon University. This programme was designed to support potential athletes, of any age, from across the north east, to pursue their sporting dreams. I started the programme at the beginning of March 2018 and already feel very privileged to be a part of it.
My programme includes two strength and conditioning sessions, following a training programme designed to fit my own personal strengths and weaknesses, as well as free access to the swimming pool and gym halls.
As I am quite new to TAP I sometimes need help with my programme, but I am never afraid to ask the coaches for some guidance. They are extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and are always there to help and constantly push me to be the best I can be.
The training is hard, but I have really enjoyed it all so far and I know that it will help me to improve my core strength and overall fitness, having a direct impact on my netball performance. The fact that the programme and the facilities are practically on my door step is an added bonus too!
My goal last season was to build up my fitness, with the hopes of being selected to go to U17s Netball Europe. Thankfully I was successful and it was an honour to also make the U21s squad too.
For this season, it’s all about pushing on and being even better than last year – not only improving my stamina, but my strength and speed too. With the help of my coaches, the support of my family and my belief in my own abilities, I’ll continue to represent Scotland for some time yet!
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