Alex Ulysses is looking to inspire others in the same way she was at the 2024 School Games National Finals.
The elite goalball player from London will join 25 current and former athletes as a mentor at Loughborough University.
This year the Youth Sports Trust has collaborated with the True Athlete Project (TAP) to deliver a mentor programme for athletes at the event which takes place between 29 August and 1 September.
Mentors include 2024 Olympians Sam Dickinson, Seonaid McIntosh and Rowan McKellar.
The visuals impaired athlete who is a member of the B3 GB Athlete programme was inspired by taking part in the School Games National Finals in the past and the efforts that TAP went to in order to break down barriers between able-bodied and impaired athletes.
Ulysses said: “It brings a lot of athletes together. An example is The True Athlete Project did a cross-training kind of camp.
The School Games National Finals is a biennial four-day multisport event for young athletes of school age and is funded by Sport England National Lottery Funding and backed by all the Home Country Sports Councils and UK Sport.
This year’s School Games National Finals are the 16th since the inaugural event in Glasgow in 2006 and take place as part of an amazing summer of sport including the EUROs and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“There was boccia, archery and goalball. Some athletes had impairments, and some didn’t.
“To be able to see coaches adapt and learn how to adapt sports for those who were either boccia players in wheelchairs or visually impaired people, it was empowering.
“Having the Games coming up and bringing that inclusivity where you get to see these different sports and learn about the people doing them, that’s really great.
“People see lots of Paralympic sports, but they don’t know what they are.
“For example, goalball requires a lot of skill that people might not know.
“I think what a lot of people take away from the camp was trusting teammates and a realisation of what visually impaired people face and the barriers we have to deal with when it comes to accessing sport.”
Since 2010 the School Games have provided 13.4 million participation opportunities for young people.
This year’s Games are the 16th since the inaugural event in Glasgow in 2006. The event was established after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and demonstrates the legacy of our home Games.
Former participants include Paralympics GB superstars Hannah Cockroft, Jonnie Peacock, and Olivia Breen.
Having reaped the benefits of being mentored in her own career, Ulysses is looking forward to going back to the next generation this Summer.
She said: “I’m originally a mentee due to being on the high-performance team but I was given the chance to expand my experience as a mentor and give back to TAP and kind of encourage people in the way that I’ve been encouraged.
“The mentors are diverse, and they always make sure you don’t have someone from your sport. I’ve had mainstream mentors who do football and lacrosse for example.
“Their job is to mainly listen to the athlete and guide them through, share their experience, maybe show them what courses they can get involved with.”
A Games Fit for the Future.
