Sky Academy Ambassador, Jonny Wilkinson, today visited Guildford County School as part of Sky Academy initiative, Sky Sports Living for Sport, to inspire students to achieve their potential by taking part in a practical rugby skills session.

In Jonny’s first visit in his new Ambassador role, he met over 30 students who have benefited from taking part in Sky Sports Living for Sport He was joined by Sky Sports Living for Sport Athlete Mentors, Rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi and Captain of the GB National Wheelchair Rugby Team, Steve Brown, who held a practical Six Keys to Success session based around the life skills athletes identified as helping them find success in sport. 

Students had the opportunity to hear Jonny talk about his personal experiences about how the life skills learnt through sport have helped him on and off the pitch. 

Sky Sports Living for Sport is part of Sky Academy, a ground-breaking set of initiatives that use the power of television, sport and creativity to help up to one million young people build skills and experience by 2020 across the UK and Ireland. 

It is a free initiative open to all secondary schools in the UK and Ireland.. It uses sportsmen and women like Jonny, Maggie and Steve to inspire young people and use the skills learnt through sport to help develop life skills and increase young people’s confidence, self-esteem and attitudes to learning. 

Jonny Wilkinson, Sky Academy Ambassador, said: “It was fantastic to meet the students at Guildford County School. You could see how much they are getting out of taking part in Sky Academy by being involved in a Sky Sports Living for Sport project. It is teaching them about many of the skills and behaviours that I learnt on the pitch over the years that have helped me so much throughout all aspects of my life.”

Nikki Sullivan, PE teacher at Guildford County School comments: “Having Jonny, Maggie and Steve here today has been a fantastic boost for our students, motivating them to give and achieve their very best in sport and beyond. It’s really put the spotlight on sport’s role in building valuable life skills. Our students have shown great focus today in their rugby activities with Jonny. He embodies what can be achieved, with determination, both on the sports pitch and in life. I’m sure our students will reflect on and remember what they’ve learnt today for years to come.”

“Our partnership with Sky Sports Living for Sport has been inspirational for both the students and the school as a whole. It has provided a fresh, positive challenge to extend our students’ development beyond the curriculum.”

Jonny has joined a team of Ambassadors, including Great Britain Olympic Champions Jessica Ennis-Hill and Darren Campbell, plus our Irish Ambassador Olympic Boxer Katie Taylor, alongside our team of 90 world-class Athlete Mentors who visit schools and support teachers to deliver Sky Sports Living for Sport.

The Sky Sports Living for Sport initiative has been running in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust since 2003 and this academic year alone over 1500 UK secondary schools and 175 Irish secondary schools will take part in Sky Sports Living for Sport.

To find out more or to get involved with Sky Sports Living for Sport visit www.skysports.com/livingforsport 

For further information, please contact:

Sky Sports

Sky Sports PR

020 7032 1445

Sky Sports

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About Sky 

Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company. The group serves 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate 

To find out more about Sky Sports Living for Sport, please visit our website https://livingforsport.skysports.com/

About Sky Academy

Sky Sports Living for Sport is part of Sky Academy, a unique and groundbreaking set of initiatives that uses the power of television, creativity and sport to inspire young people and help them build skills and confidence.  At Sky, we want to use our position as a leading media and communications company to make a positive impact on society. So, to mark our 25th anniversary, in November 2013 Sky Academy was launched with an ambition to create opportunities for one million young people by 2020.  There are many other free initiatives that form Sky Academy, that your school and students can take part in.  

To find out more about these initiatives visit our website http://www.sky.com/academy 

Youth Sport Trust: Wellbeing. Leadership. Achievement.

The Youth Sport Trust is a national charity that is building a brighter future for young people through PE and sport. Through 20 years of experience we have developed a unique way of maximising the power of sport to grow young people, schools and communities through the development of qualities including creativity, aspiration, resilience and empathy. For more information, please visit www.youthsporttrust.org