At the beginning of November 2017 the British Equestrian Federation and University Centre Hartpury launched a new programme to support young professional riders. From the three Olympic disciplines, eight young dressage professionals have been selected for the programme: Samantha Bloor, Emily Blount, Rosie Boulton, Daisy Coakley, Roberta Collyer, Charlotte Drakeley, Jezz Palmer, and Amy Schiessl.
The 12-month BEF Young Professional Programme, funded by Sport England, has been developed to support athletes to transition out of the youth development pathway. The Programme is designed to help young riders build a wider skill-set and support their personal and career development, enabling them to thrive and earn a living in the wider equestrian sport network.
This newly launched programme features a series of interactive workshops, with the young athletes benefiting from the expertise of business mentors from their sport, Hartpury staff, and high profile speakers covering a range of topics. As a cross-discipline programme, it is delivered in collaboration with British Dressage, British Eventing and British Showjumping.
The first interactive workshop was held at University Centre Hartpury on 31 October where the inducted athletes met their mentors and the Head of Performance Pathways at BEF, David Hamer.
Says David: “Many young athletes struggle with the finances needed to be able to continue in our sport. This initiative helps them to run a business and gain skills that will help their overall personal and professional development.
“This first workshop gave the riders a taste of what to expect over the next 12 months and pushed them to think about what they need to do to achieve their aspiration. I am looking forward to seeing how this group of young professionals develop and what they can go on to achieve.”
Fraser Doherty MBE, an award-winning Young Entrepreneur and motivational speaker, shared the motivating story of his business success ‘SuperJam’, a fruit jam company, before Professor Tony Ghaye and the careers team from Hartpury set the scene for the programme with the first personal development planning session.
Daisy Coakley, a Young Professional selected for the programme and formerly on the BEF England Excel Talent Programme, says: “The first workshop exceeded all my expectations. It was very interesting to listen to Fraser and his presentation taught me that resilience and having belief in yourself will help you succeed. The interaction throughout the day really pushed me; I’m very excited to see what will happen next.”
The BEF Young Professional Programme includes eight workshops, running until summer 2018.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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