We are Girls in Sport interview with Alex Wallace of The Mintridge Foundation

In this week’s blog, we have the pleasure of interviewing Alex Wallace. Alex is the founder of The Mintridge Foundation, a registered charity dedicated to enhancing life skills in young people through sport. They provide a support network for young people by harnessing the power of positive sporting role models. Their team of Ambassadors – Olympians, Paralympians and other professional sports stars from over twenty sports, both team and individual, work with young people in schools, clubs and academies across the UK.

Mintridge assist young people of all ages, abilities and physical capabilities to develop confidence and resilience, and create awareness of the importance of mental and physical wellbeing through sport. Their success demonstrates the power of sport enabling children to find confidence through participation, a topic we are hugely passionate about at We are Girls in Sport.

Alex shares with us her passion for sport and the inspiration behind this incredible charity.

Where does the name Mintridge come from?

The name actually has nothing to do with sport and is named after a family farm in Herefordshire! I wanted to have that link between my work and my family as they have been so integral to my journey.

Alex, please tell us a bit about finding your passion for sport, and how Mintridge Foundation started?

I was very lucky in that I’ve always had sport in my life. I have a sport mad family. My main sport and biggest passion is hockey. I started playing when I was six years old and I quickly made it my ambition to play for England. I was playing week in week out, absolutely loving it, working my way through the ranks., from county to region and eventually, to the England trials. When I made it to the England trials, I worked really hard, but I didn’t get selected. I had all the skills but for some reason, I had talked myself out of it before I’d even got there. I put this internal pressure on myself. I had complete imposter syndrome thinking everyone else was so much better than me, something we see now that many young girls face.

Following those trials, I carried on playing hockey because I felt like I had to, not because I wanted to. My biggest love had become my enemy. Following that, I really struggled with my mental health, particularly a lot around my identity. I was ‘Alex the hockey player’ to everyone but if I was no longer really enjoying it, I was no longer playing it, who was I? What else was there to me?

When I didn’t make the squad selection my confidence shattered. They knew I wasn’t good enough for the squad and left me with completely dented confidence. I arrived at trials with the feeling that I wasn’t good enough and though I still tried, my confidence on the pitch wasn’t enough.

Hockey gradually reduced in my life after that, which is sad. The hockey team winning gold in Rio was a very bittersweet moment for me. Some of the team were actually at those same trials and I was so happy for them but gutted for myself. By that point, however, Mintridge had started and now I wouldn’t change my past for anything. That perceived failure at the time has put me onto the pathway of Mintridge, something I’m so happy with. My work now is suited to my mindset, my lifestyle and what I want to do forever.

“You Cannot Be what you Cannot See”

One of the biggest reasons behind The Mintridge Foundation is that I wanted to bridge that gap between elite sport and general sportsmen and women. I wanted to show that elite sport doesn’t have to be a dream. I didn’t make it because I didn’t have the right mentoring, and a lack of mental health support. Yes, I was good at the skills, but that wasn’t enough to achieve.

I look back at my role model growing up and I wonder why I didn’t have access to those female role models? Where were the women hockey captains? Jonny Wilkinson was my idol during those years, but now I look back and think where are all the female role models for young women like me? Another reason for starting Mintridge, for me, is really about providing visibility for diverse groups of role models. Ranging from different ethnicities, to different disabilities and more. I feel like we have that team whereby every young person can look to one of our mentors and see what is possible and what can be achieved. My favourite catchphrase is “You cannot be what you cannot see”!

You mentioned that Jonny Wilkinson was one of your role models. What was it about Jonny that made him such an impressive character?

I loved his devotion to his teammates; his meticulous training plan and I think that’s what I always tried to emulate. In one of his books he talks about how he was really poorly on a training session and the coach said, “Jonny you don’t have to do this”, but he carried on for the team. I can definitely see that he & I, we have very similar traits. A lot of my mental health problems stemmed from that perfectionism that I have since resolved. Yes, many people do strive for perfection in sport, but the healthy balance of a healthy and happy mind is far more important than that.

Over the years, you’ve partnered with so many ambassadors. Can you give us a couple of examples of athletes that have been supportive of you from the start?

I think it’s important to note the ones that came on board right at the start. I always get asked “How did you get the athletes?” and actually getting them is one of the easiest parts of the charity. There are so many athletes out there that want to give back and want to help generations of new athletes for lots of different reasons.

Just because you have a medal around your neck doesn’t necessarily make you a good role model, so we are very grateful to those who set the standard and set the bar high. I think one of those I owe so much to is Marilyn Okoro, Olympic bronze medallist in the 4 x 400 metre relay. I was fortunate enough to work at the Commonwealth Games where I met Marilyn.

I remember her asking me about my day, what I was up to and I was like, no! I need to be the one asking you questions! It came to me that she really is just human, and I think we get into our heads that Olympians are really hard to reach and they’re almost ‘untouchables’ . I thought, how can I bridge the gap between youth and elite sport, like Marilyn has done for me? She was such an inspiration to Mintridge. I managed to find her old email address, and her agent passed on my message. Marilyn replied instantly and she was the very first ambassador for the foundation, completely believing in me. Without her I wouldn’t have been able to take this idea forward- and I owe so much to her and all the other early ambassadors!

In the early days it was very much me trying to approach athletes, and now athletes are coming to us! They’ve heard what great things we’ve achieved and want to know how they can help.

Tell us about the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards in 2018?

When initially told I was nominated, I had no idea. The shortlist came through with a huge whirlwind in the weeks to follow. By the time the awards ceremony came, I was a nervous wreck! I remember getting my hair and makeup done for the first time, with a glass of champagne and I said to myself, “Alex, just enjoy this”.

I’m always looking for the next step and I realised then that I never look back and admire just how far the charity has come. For the rest of the evening I just enjoyed myself, star struck at where I was, and then when my name was announced, I thought “this must be wrong!” Winning the award has given us as a charity so much! Giving us a new platform and raising awareness for what we are doing.

How can WAGIS readers support Mintridge and get more involved?

We have lots of campaigns running, and this year has been very different. The best thing to do is head to our website and visit the page ‘Support Us’. The page has lots of ideas for physical challenges, retail support and fundraising events which can all help us out!

We love being supported by schools and have programmes whereby our athletes deliver school assemblies and coaching sessions. Following on from that, two students will be selected to be mentored remotely for six months with one on one access to the athletes. This offers that real access to a lasting legacy- we want to help these children experience real change. We also offer the children’s families to watch their athletes perform, meet players and so on. And the impact is so diverse! We’ve had one student go on to represent GB in the pentathlon- which she dedicates to the skills she learned in our mentoring programme. Another has gone onto be selected at her county netball team, after trialling for the second time- something she dedicates to the resilience Pamela Cookey showed her. We have stories of confidence and stories of impact on so many different levels. That is what gets me up and going every morning.

How can we keep kids moving?

Not everyone needs to become an elite athlete. We just want to encourage kids to get moving and enjoying what they do! My top tip is to do sport because you want to, and not because you have to. If I go running, I do so without a watch, or an app telling me how fast I’ve gone. I don’t do sport for that, I do it because I want to enjoy myself and feel good about myself. Just getting moving is more important than reaching your next goal.

My top tips are:-

- Do sport for yourself, not anyone else

- Remember why you’re doing sport

- Be kind to yourself

- Don’t put pressure on yourself. If you don’t want to run, don’t run

What’s next for Mintridge?

Our aim is to be accessible and affordable to every school in the UK. We want every young person to have access to sport and every child to have the opportunities we can offer!

Thank you Alex for this brilliant interview. Mintridge has our full support and we are so pleased to be able to share their story.

Visit The Mintridge Foundation’s website to find out more. If you are keen to make a difference, why not recommend Mintridge as your school charity partner for 2021? You never know, you could have some special guests making an appearance at your school!

Visit the website - www.mintridgefoundation.org.uk

You Cannot Be what you Cannot See with Mintridge Foundation

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