A YEAR 10 student from Taunton School recently attended the Youth Sport Trust’s National Talent Camp at Loughborough University, after being identified as having particular aptitude for sport.

Georgia McGovern, 15, was one of 10 athletes from Volleyball England who joined 125 young athletes, 125 coaches and 125 officials from 10 different sports, including cycling, swimming, tennis, gymnastics, baseball and softball.

McGovern was chosen by the National Governing Body of Sport (youthsporttrust.org) because of talent shown and her commitment to developing further.

The aim of the camp was to increase individual aspiration and ambition, and develop empathy.

McGovern said of her experience: “I was with athletes from multiple sports all about the same age as me.

“We dealt with subjects such as your ‘moral compass’ and ‘marginal gain’, and how understanding and applying these could improve individual and team performances.

“We also studied the idea of ‘the inner chimp’ as lectured by Steve Peters, who works with elite athletes to improve mental toughness.”

After Christmas, McGovern also attended the monthly England juniors (under-19s) volleyball training camp at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering, where she spent six hours a day for three days training on technique and team drills.

This term McGovern continues to play for Taunton in the national cup competitions and Bristol in the National League.

She also will train with the South West team in preparation for the regional tournament in May, as well as the regular training with the England under-19 squad.

Playing in the National League means that McGovern plays with older and experienced players from many countries, like Poland and the USA.

McGovern, from Norton Fitzwarren, got into volleyball whilst living in California, where LA was home for eight years, and she has been playing since she was 10.

She also plays hockey, netball and tennis at Taunton School.