A North Kent College student has a triple reason to celebrate after taking part in the Special Olympics earlier this month.
Ollie White (pictured above), who is studying Level 3 Sport and Exercise, competed for the Great Britain hockey team at the Dutch Special Olympics National Games.
Not only did Great Britain win a silver medal, but Ollie also finished as the tournament’s top scorer and was voted Player of the Tournament.
Here he gives us an account of a wonderful experience for all involved:
“We played six games on Saturday in a pool against Belgium, Bulgaria, and Spain. This was the highest pool we had ever been in, so our expectations beforehand were to try to get third place. However, we performed better than expected.
“On the first day of the tournament, we played really well winning two, draw three and losing one game. This meant that we finished second in the pool and went through to a Semi-Final against Belgium.
“We won the Semi-Final in style 4-1, and outplayed Belgium who couldn’t deal with our intricate one touch and two touch passing. That meant we went through to the Final against Spain later that day.
“Unfortunately, due to how hard we worked throughout the tournament, and considering it was our first time in the highest pool, we were tired which meant we lost the Final 2-0. The result didn't reflect the performance and we had the better chances but Spain were more clinical on the counter attack.
“This meant we finished the tournament with silver which was unbelievable considering we had moved up two divisions. This is a great stepping stone for the future to enable us to keep on improving and hopefully win Gold in the highest pool one day.
“It was a wonderful experience and I was happy to finish as top scorer with eight goals and be voted player of the tournament, not only for my performances on the pitch, but how I conducted myself off the pitch. Overall, I am so proud of the team and how we played.”
Lorraine Blue, Head of Curriculum Personal Training and Sports Therapy at North Kent College, added: “Ollie is both an exemplary student and athlete. He epitomises the types of learners we have in the PT and Sports Therapy Department and we support him in all his endeavours. Ollie works extremely hard in everything he sets his mind to and we are very proud of him!”
A huge well done to Ollie!
We offer a number of courses related to Personal Training and Sports Therapy at our Dartford and Tonbridge campuses.
Students can benefit from exceptional facilities including a large multi-purpose sports hall, sports fields, a strength and conditioning room and fitness centre.
If you are interested in finding out more visit the Personal Training and Sports Therapy subject page of the North Kent College website.