Shouldering the Setback

Scotland rugby sevens star and Champions in Schools role model Scott Wight reflects on coping with an injury setback and how he is making the most of his time on the sidelines…

After a very successful February away with the Scotland 7s in New Zealand, where we finished fourth, and then Las Vegas, I had my sights set on competing in Hong Kong and Japan in the early spring-time.

However I was having shoulder problems and was sent for a scan – when I received the news no athlete wants to hear:  I needed an operation.

It was a very hard decision for me whether to go for an operation or go to Hong Kong in late March.  For me Hong Kong is the biggest and best tournament on the circuit and I have great memories from it last year when we won the Bowl.

It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever in my career – as I had the option of going to Hong Kong and playing through the pain.  

Finally, and with regret, I decided that it was in my best interests to go for an operation and miss the rest of the season. Having made the decision, it was really hard for me to get my head around not playing again this year.

But the operation is over now – so the way I see it, this is when the hard work starts.  The scheduled return for me to be back playing is in 5-6 months.  This gives me a great opportunity to rehab my shoulder and get back to full fitness.

But as well as recovering from my operation, I now have the time to work on other aspects of my game – meaning when I return I am in a better place than when I was before my operation.

The main thing for me through this rehab period is keeping positive, focused on the goals that myself and my physio set, and making them happen.

I have set myself the target of being fit for the start of next season.

Scott Wight

Our Lady and St Patrick's pupils report on their Champions in Schools experience!

In recent months, Our Lady and St Partick's High School in Dumbarton have been visited by Scottish Hockey player Susan McGilveray. Some of the pupils have provided their insights into what they did during Susan's visits and how they are going to use what they have learned going forward. Thank you to all who contributed. Special congratulations must go to the Blue team who won the hockey tournament on the final visit and were awarded with the world's smallest trophy! See if you can spot it in the photos?!

Dylan McTaggart

At the second visit we learned to keep a positive mindset to help us to be the best we can be. If we don’t do this then we might not reach our potential. We also talked about “The road to success” and that failure and setbacks often happen on that journey. I learned that it is ok to lose sometimes but what is important is to not give up. We then played some fun Hockey drills which involved dribbling and controlling the ball. Lastly, we went over the quote “Winners never quit, quitters never win.” I’m going to remember this quote and use it in my school and sport.

Caitlyn Deeney

During the past few weeks a Scottish Hockey player called Susan from Champions in Schools came to our school. She spoke to us about having a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is thinking you will never be good at something you aren’t already good at. A growth mindset is being able to change your views on things and this will help you to succeed more. If you aren’t good yet, you might end up really good if you keep trying. She also mentioned about learning from failure which means it’s not about winning all of the time but it is important to learn from failure. In my other subjects I am going to use the knowledge that Susan taught me to know that it is ok to make mistakes and fail but it is important to learn from these mistakes to make sure I get better.

The blues are delighted victors!

Nicholas McConnachie

From the Champions in Schools experience I learned about growth mindset and fixed mindset. We also learned about how “winners never quit and quitters never win” and how we can learn from failure. I will use this information in my Football and across my other subjects if I lose or find something challenging to make sure I don’t give up and keep working hard.

Lucy Crawford

Susan has taught me that if you have a fixed mindset then you might give up or not try hard to learn when you fail. However, if you have a growth mindset then you will be able to adapt to changes in your life and you will be able to learn from mistakes. I learned that the road to success means it is ok to fail as long as you keep trying and never give up.

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.”

I am going to use what Susan taught me by thinking about a growth mindset more often and to be more open to options e.g. trying new things.

Can anyone spot the trophy?! It is there somewhere!