Devon Girls Can - Me and My Story

Danielle is one of our very own 2017 This Girl Can in Devon Ambassadors and we are proud to call her our Head Coach at Trainer Talk - South Devon! Here is her story...

"I hope to inspire other women to cast away their fear of judgement and give something active ago. I’d like to tell you about what worked for me…

There were many things that used to stop me from being active but my main barrier was my confidence.  The fear of trying something new, going somewhere that I had never been before and meeting new people truly horrified me. I felt like I was walking into the unknown. I used to get butterflies flapping around inside of me, making me feel more nervous than ever but after a while I realised that all it took was 20 seconds of courage to walk through the door or to step out of the car to go to a new fitness class or group. After this, my “20 seconds of courage” became more useful and now it seems to last forever. I have found my confidence and somewhere that I can be myself. Who knew that 20 seconds would help me to find confidence and happiness – at the same time! After this, I knew that there would be no stopping me. I have made some of my closest friends within sport and I wouldn’t change that for the world, these people get me through thick and thin, any day of the week and I would do the same for them. It’s such a nice feeling to have and I liked it so much, I decided to pursue a career in sport. Over the last year I been a coach at South West Athletics Academy and I have qualified to be a Level 2 Athletics Coach, as well as a Level 1 Hockey Coach. It’s fair to say – I NEVER thought I would be a qualified level 2 athletics coach by the age of 19, looking for a career within sport especially when only a few years ago, I couldn’t speak in front of others without getting embarrassed. Don’t get me wrong – I still get embarrassed but the difference is I now take it in my stride, use it to make myself stronger and embrace my inner crazy woman!

My first experience in a sport club was when my mum encouraged me to go to my local athletics club that she went too when she was a little girl. My local athletics club had a grass track and within 10 minutes of starting to run, I was hooked. My mum has always been a huge inspiration for me whilst growing up as she has always encouraged me since I started at an athletics club. Since then, I have competed for Devon in the Cross Country League, learnt to play and coach hockey; and now I am completing a 12 month, 1000km challenge for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. I am now coaching at my local athletics club and things have come in a full circle… all it took was 20 seconds of courage to give it a go. Now I am older, my inspiration still hasn’t changed. My mum regularly goes to the gym, goes to weekly fitness classes and occasionally runs as well – when I encourage her (sorry mum). I hope to follow in her footsteps and be as active as her. I am also inspired by other active women and the community we create. Everyone is so supportive of each other and you never feel alone. The active women’s community is truly inspirational and I am proud to be a part of it.

When I am being active, it makes me happy. Whether I’m running, coaching, playing hockey or at a fitness class, I will be happy. Being active makes me happy because I get to be myself. It’s a strange but awesome feeling to have and I think that everyone should feel it at least once, because after that, there is no going back, you’re definitely hooked for life!

My advice to anyone who doesn’t know where to start becoming active would be to make sure you try something fun, find something that you enjoy because you will like something different to your neighbour and your neighbour will like something different to your sister. So get out there and try something new but try something new with someone you’re close to (a good family or friend) especially if you’re nervous. Start the journey together because if you need to use 20 seconds of courage, that’s only 10 seconds each if you’re with someone else – doesn’t seem so scary now does it! The best way to make it work for you is by getting active with a friend or someone close to you. It’s easy to get involved. Just use the hashtag #DevonGirlsCan and share your story."

~ Thanks, Danielle