“Amazing” SportsAid Live 2025 delivers gold at Twickenham

The 82,000-capacity venue will be the centre piece for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup later this year and it provided the ideal setting for a meeting of minds, where rising stars from across a host of sports had the opportunity to learn from seasoned champions.

Former England captain Catherine Spencer was among a high-class guest-list which also included Olympic gold medallists Bryony Page and Shona McCallin, Paralympic champion Ellie Challis and double Paris 2024 bronze medallist Sam Reardon.

Over 100 attendees, representing just under 30 sports, were treated to elite athlete insights as well as masterclasses which focused on providing key information around performance lifestyle, nutrition, sleep and brand building, as well as a host of other elements key to unlocking true potential.

A number of sessions also focused on providing guidance, as well as support tips, for parents / caregivers, with Ellie Challis’ father Paul Challis and the mother of SportsAid’s 2024 One-to-Watch Award winner Ruby White – Heidi Else – delivering invaluable insights into their lives.

SportsAid Chief Executive Tim Lawler hailed the event, which was hosted by broadcaster Tom Gayle, as “absolutely brilliant” with the latest SportsAid Live showcasing “the next generation of British sporting talent” who are “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

ADVICE FROM ATHLETES, PAST AND PRESENT:

Catherine Spencer, who played in eight Six Nations contests, claiming the Grand Slam on five occasions, captained England between 2007 and her retirement in 2011 revealed that she has learned much more about the importance of her knowledge base since hanging up her boots.

“When I was in it, you don’t really realise what you’re doing, you feel like it’s normal life and that’s almost a tactic, otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming,” she tells SportsAid.

“When you come out the other side, you see how special it was but also how important support networks were, whether it’s family or friends, clubs or charities like SportsAid.

Spencer’s tips for the top: “For me it was just actually focus on the next step, it’s so important.

“Young people have dreams, and so many sports are accessible on TV or social media which means they can see who they want to be, but you need to focus on the next step and being as good as you can be in that moment, otherwise we can lose sight of what we’re doing and why. 

“Little steps will take you so far!”

Bryony Page was supported by SportsAid earlier in her career and went on to win Olympic silver at Rio 2016, before claiming bronze at Tokyo 2020 and then she completed her ‘set’ with gold at Paris 2024. 

She said it was “really exciting” to be able to “give back” what she has learned during an outstanding career and found it “nice and humbling” to be part of SportsAid Live 2025.

“When we won a medal in Rio, I’d only been on Insta for a year, now we’re more than eight years on and we have TikTok and so many other things going on, so brand is really important,” said Page, who helped deliver a brand building workshop with ‘Good Vibes Only’ talent agency, detailing her experiences around social media use in elite sport.

“Learning more about myself, my values and how I can utilise that to promote myself as well as my sport to achieve things like getting more people involved in sport, having an active healthy lifestyle and teaching people about trampolining, has happened through greater brand awareness.

Page continued; “It’s been a really good learning tool for me, as well as sharing my experiences and I’ve spoken for 10 minutes, but if one word, or one sentence resonates with another athlete and it can help them just that little bit, then that would be really special to me.”

Sam Reardon placed second in the 2024 SportsAid One-to-Watch Award line-up after an impressive breakout season which saw the then 20-year-old claim two bronze medals as part of the British men’s and mixed 4x400m relay teams on the track at Paris 2024.

He helped deliver a nutrition session (led by Dora Mezey), while he also formed part of the athletes’ panel, with Page and Challis.

“I think it’s massively important what SportsAid does for young athletes,” he says. “Having an organisation support you and believe in you can provide a lot of inspiration and that’s crucial.

“To have that opportunity to give back and share the information I’ve gained over the years, like with nutrition today, is really important to me because I want to be the role model for young children and young people coming through who are trying to reach the Olympics.”

Shona McCallin was part of the history-marking Team GB squad who became the first British women to win Olympic hockey gold in 2016, while she also won bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Since retiring in late 2023 she has remained involved in the sport through part-time coaching, but also worked in marketing as well as communications roles.

The Olympian helped deliver sessions on performance lifestyle (with Emma Groome) as well as ‘Sleep for performance and wellbeing’ (Dr Luke Gupta) during SportsAid Live 2025.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for SportsAid as they helped me a lot when I was 14-16 growing up and their support was really invaluable back then, not only for confidence but also the development opportunities they gave me were amazing,” she recalls.

“For these guys (attending SportsAid Live 2025), they’re all at very different stages in their journey but there can be a lot of similarities, like spinning and balancing plates.

“There’s a lot of that goes on for athletes, certainly those in education with GCSE’s and A-Levels, that are coming up and it’s about dialling up and dialling down where the effort can be put in. 

“So, in the performance lifestyle session we look at rather than just switching off from sport and saying ‘I’m not doing it, I have exams,’ it’s about making sure you’ve being proactive and plan around those crunch times, May-July, so you can continue to do education and sport, which will benefit both.”

Ellie Challis won the SportsAid ‘One to Watch’ Award in 2019 after claiming para swimming World Championship bronze when she was just 15-years-old.

Since then, she has gone on to claim silver at Tokyo 2020 as well as gold at Paris 2024 and has always passionately spoken about the importance of SportsAid support to her journey.

“SportsAid helped me so much,” said Challis, who contributed to the parent and caregiver ‘navigating the sporting journey’ workshop, as well as the event-concluding athlete panel.

“When I was younger and like today it gave me and my dad so much useful information and advice on nutrition, life balance and I made so many great friends, so it’s always fun coming back to share my experience and give advice.

“For me, I’m an overpacked but I basically bring my entire bedroom to another country and that helps me sleep because I’m comfortable in my room.

Challis continues; “I travel with snacks, I take my own pillow with me, or a mattress topper and makes so much difference. 

“Also, being a Paralympian is the best because you watch the Olympics and you hear all these people moaning about things and I can go prepared. So, whether it’s the food, beds, room or something else, I’m ready for anything that could go wrong.”

Challis’ father Rob Challis added; “I have a few pieces of advice I like to share with others (parents and caregivers) and the main thing is to ‘enjoy the ride’ and not make it too serious.

“Obviously, when the child is competing and they’re stressed they might say things to you, which you aren’t happy about, but leave it while they’re in competition; if you’re going to talk about it, do it afterwards.

“Please do enjoy the ride because you can’t go back (in time) and remember that sport is great structure for life going forwards as well.”

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