A member of the PE staff from The Queen’s School has returned from playing for England in a recent USA lacrosse tour.
Charlotte Lytollis, 21, originally from Oxton but now living in Chester, is a lacrosse coach at the City Walls Road school where she teaches the sport to girls aged 11-18.
She said: “The tour was an amazing experience. It gave us the chance to play the top teams in the world, gave us a benchmark of where we are against opposition teams and what we need to work on over the upcoming months to achieve England’s ‘going for gold’ mentality.”
The team showed enormous grit and determination but were beaten by a really strong USA side. Prior to the USA tour she toured with the team to Australia who they beat 2-1.
Training is tough but her job at Queen’s enables her to keep in peak physical condition.
'Perfect environment'
She said: “I have twice monthly sessions with other England athletes. In general I train five-six days a week and sometimes that will involve two sessions a day.
“We have a great strength and conditioning programme with England, meaning training is catered to each athlete to help work on strengths and weaknesses.
“This will involve conditioning sessions, speed and agility, strength sessions, mobility and skills. Queen’s provides the perfect environment for me to train; great facilities and access to all the equipment when I need it.”
The school’s sport and fitness department is committed to increasing participation and developing elite success for talented sportswomen through the Fitness For All strategy.
They have seen an increase in how many girls take part in sport, how much they enjoy and value it and how many compete for the school as a result.
They now have two England sportswomen on staff. Martine Green played hockey for the England Masters in the World Cup in 2014.
Gemma Glynn, head of sport and fitness, says having role models to inspire and lead the way is hugely important for the pupils.
She said: “Having women like Martine and Charlotte here not only helps with the nuts and bolts of PE lessons like teaching skills on the field but it reinforces both the benefits and opportunities sport can bring and the hard work needed to make those opportunities count.”
