FOUR elite athletes, who compete in their individual sports at a national level, have been chosen to lead a unique mentoring scheme at their school, overseen by world-class para-triathlete and teacher Michael Salisbury.

England badminton champion Lucy Dodd, from Ponteland, Newcastle Eagles Academy elite basketballer Nick Archbold, from Gateshead, England and Sunderland RTC footballer Lillie Quinlivan Coulson, from Wylam, and talented polocrosse player Millie Dacosta Evans, from Whitfield, will share their expertise and experience with pupils at Dame Allan’s Schools.

The mentors’ role will be to guide and support younger pupils who are already playing higher level sport, for the county or region for example, and need to juggle intense training, matches and competitions with their studies and day-to-day school life. 

The new Athletes Mentoring Programme will be run by Assistant Head of Sixth Form and geography teacher Mr Salisbury, a British champion para-triathlete ranked 16th in the world, and 2nd in the UK, in his PTS5 classification.

He explained: “The schools have some exceptionally talented young sports stars who are on elite development pathways and competing at a national level, while committing hours of their time each week to intensive training schedules.

“They do this while remaining focused on their school studies and trying to strike a healthy balance between day-to-day teenage life and sport – something that is not always easy. We’ve set up the development programme to draw on their expertise to help younger athletes to achieve their best, both in sport and at school, without one compromising the other.”

Dame Allan’s will host several athletes’ breakfast events over the course of the academic year, where mentors will be on hand to share advice and give tips and reassurance to pupils.

England junior badminton player Lucy, in Year 11, trains up to 20 hours-a-week around her GCSE work. She recently celebrated two international tournament wins and took gold at the mixed u17 national championship.

She said: “Encouragement from older, more experienced players was influential when I started playing badminton. I am keen that younger pupils can learn from anything I have done – mistakes included! It’s important to have peers to talk with, to make the best decisions and be fully informed.”

Footballer Lillie, 15, who plays for Sunderland RTC u16s and the ISFA National u18 squad and was selected onto the FA’s England Women u16 team, said she hopes to add value to the journey of other young athletes.

“Playing elite-level football comes with its highs and its challenges; being a mentor will allow me to share my own experience of balancing education with sport, while also fitting in rest and recovery, and time with family and friends,” she said.

Year 12 pupil Millie, who has represented England in the junior Four Nations polocrosse tournament and aspires to be on the World Cup team, added: “In higher level sport you can’t wait until after school to make the commitment, you must find a way to keep both going or you will be left behind; finding the right balance is key.

“Dame Allan’s are incredibly supportive of my sport commitments, and I’m happy to mentor younger pupils who are beginning to develop the skills they need to balance school and their sporting passions.”