Knattering with the Knights

Miss Jones is joined by Becky Cheetham, who shares her story as a young carer. This selfless line of work can be challenging but also one of the most rewarding roles another human being can offer. Becky talks about her role as a young carer for her sister Hannah, who has Cerebral Palsy meaning her movement and speech are significantly impacted; spending most of her day in a wheelchair.

If you want to follow more of Becky and Hannah's adventures, then check out their work at "Cheethams With Dreams":

https://www.instagram.com/cheethamswithdreams/

You can also watch some of their fantastic videos on their YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_8xI7WMnwj0p67lhEdd8w

Mr Erskine and Mr Reid have a catch up for the first episode of the new academic year. The focus is on the fantastic sport on offer during the summer, notably Euro 2020 and the Olympics in Tokyo. 

We share our highlights and inspirations and hope our listeners were able to enjoy the concept of live sport once again! 

It is good to be back!

Katie Monaco is a Certified Nutritionist and has been helping clients heal their bodies through nutrition, supplements and herbs for 5 years. She discovered the power of holistic healing through nutrition years ago when she was trying to heal her own body. Modern medicine failed her when she was trying to get pregnant with her first child so she took matters into her own hands. With the help of two educated holistic nutritionists and a great Chiropractor, she was able to bring her body back to balance without the use of any medication. Today she lives in Charleston SC, with her husband and two babies. She continues to work with clients to support them on their journeys to healthier & happier lives. 

This is our longest (and final) episode of the year so feel free to listen to it in small stages - you have all summer to digest this one! Thanks for listening.

This week we welcome the newest member of the PE department Mr Adam Rolston. Mr Rolston joined the team due to some enforced absences for both myself and Mr Reid (we are both okay!) and will be joining the school until the end of the year. Having only worked with Mr Rolston for a short period of time, it is clear he has some ‘podcast worthy’ stories to share and we are going to dive into some of these in more detail.

The one that will take up most of our focus is when Mr Rolston shot to stardom with his role in a Guiness World Record attempt and film documentary that came with it; “The Longest Hole – Golfing Across Mongolia”, Having watched the feature film this weekend, it certainly impressed me for a number of reasons – we are going to dive into this today! 

In summary, Mr Rolston covered the width of Mongolia hitting a golf ball, which took him the best part of 12 weeks to complete. His adventure also saw him temporarily adopt a dog called UB, who has a key role in the film documentary. This is a fascinating story about an incredible World Record attempt - we hope you enjoy the story! 

If you are interested in watching the film, you can find it on Amazon Prime for rent:

The Longest Hole, Golfing Across Mongolia

https://www.amazon.com/Longest-Hole-Golfing-Across-Mongolia/dp/B08FRQ17JQ#:~:text=Adam%20Rolston%20and%20Ron%20Rutland,a%20unique%20and%20wild%20adventure.

If you are not sure, why not check out the trailer first?

The Official Trailer | The Longest Hole: Golfing Across Mongolia film.

And here are some articles in the South China Morning Post that were released about the excursion:

https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/article/2149656/stray-mongolian-dog-joins-hong-kong-pair-2000km-golfing-epic-he

This week we are joined by Manchester City scout, community coach and veterans manager Peter Bradshaw. He has worked with the current Premier League leaders for a number of years and has some incredible experiences that he is able to share with our listeners.

Despite the club dominating the English Premier League this season, Peter is able to give us some of his time to talk through his various roles at the club, which include:

This is one of our favourite episodes to date - enjoy!

This week we are joined by Sebastian Bates, the Founder and Head Instructor of The Warrior Academy. Sebastian has over 20 years experience in 6 disciplines of Martial Arts including Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jui Jitsu, Kickboxing and Kung Fu. He has competed nationally and internationally from amateur to professional level in Europe and in Asia in several Martial Arts. Sebastian has become the British champion in 2 styles of Tae Kwon Do competition, among other national titles. He has achieved a 2nd Dan in Tae Kwon Do. 

After training in Asia for over 1.5 years, Sebastian returned to England to build a martial arts organisation that incorporated modern training methods and traditional values and in 2010 The Warrior Academy was born! Sebastian is a published author in the field of Character Development having written “The Warrior Method” – which dives deep into our methodology to develop character in young people. Sebastian now works with schools and organisations in Dubai teaching internationally as the Warrior Academy extends its global reach.

Sebastian is a captivating storyteller and we hope you enjoy this episode!

This week Miss Jones is joined by her sister Rebecca Jones who talks through her journey to becoming a gym owner in Cheshire, UK. 

Rebecca's original career path took her towards social work, but as she got older she decided to alter that direction and she has never looked back since - she is now impacting people's health and fitness in a positive manner.

She talks through following your passion (even if that changes as you grow older!) and also gives some insight for those who wish to pursue some form of entrepreneurial adventure.

You can check out her gym here:

https://www.facebook.com/cheshirevelocitytraining/

Enjoy the episode!

This week guest host Mr Challenor is joined by the CEO of Hong Kong Rugby, Robbie McRobbie.

Having joined the Union in 2003 as the Community Rugby Manager, Robbie assumed the role of CEO in May 2017.

Prior to the Union, he spent 11 years in the Hong Kong Police Force, where he served in a number of roles including Police Tactical Unit Instructor, Assistant Manager of the Police Officers' Club and presenter of the "Police Report" TV show.

He has a MA (Oxon) and completed a PGC in Sports & Recreation Management at HKU Space in 2001.

He represented Hong Kong at "A" level at both 15s and 7s and is a two-time winner of the Police RFC "Raz Erasmus Award".

He is Director of local charity, Operation Breakthrough, which uses sport as a medium to help at-risk local youngsters.

Robbie is married with one son, a serving police officer, and a small dog.

Strap in and enjoy the episode!

Marina Ranger, affectionately known as 'Danger Ranger' is an endurance athlete and coach from London, UK. She has taken part in a number of endurance events and self organised adventures since starting running at aged 22. She has since branched into a variety of challenges and races including; mountain ultras, ice marathons, desert ultras, triathlons, Ironmans and Swim Run races.

In this episode she is interviewed by Miss Ellis (her childhood friend) as we give her a platform to share her challenges and experiences to encourage others to follow suit. This is an epic story and we hope you enjoy it!

If you want to find out more about Marina, you can check out her website:

http://running-ranger.squarespace.com/

Chris Smith is the Senior International Academy Manager for Celtic Football Club. Chris has an extensive background in coaching football at a high level and worked for the Scottish Football Association for over a decade. He has been involved in coaching at University Level (Heriot Watt & Scottish Universities), Scotland Men’s National Futsal Team, Scotland Women’s National Teams (U16 & U17) & Scotland Women’s National Team Scout and has some of the highest football coaching qualifications available; UEFA A License & UEFA Elite Youth A Licence. 

He has regularly worked with a number of high end players and managers in football and has plenty of stories to share with us! For those with an interest in football, this is not to be missed. He also has some interesting takeaways with regards to women in competitive sport. Enjoy!

This week we are joined by Scott Carmichael who is a professional golf caddy on the European Tour since May 2017. Scott was a high quality golfer himself, going to Johnson and Wales University which is in Miami, USA on a golf scholarship. After completing his scholarship he returned to the UK to work in London, before turning his hand to caddying in March 2017.

In this episode we discuss this alternative job within professional sport and how COVID-19 has significantly impacted sport (and golf in particular). Scott is open with his own experiences and targets that he has within the game, plus he shares some entertaining stories of the hard lessons he has learned while on tour working with high end professional athletes.

Another engaging and insightful episode - enjoy!

We have an absolute treat for you this week.

On this episode we talk to Colin Lyall, who back in 2007, completed 250km of running across the Sahara Desert. He has also raised half a million pounds for a UK based charity called Small Steps, completing 5 running events in 5 years with his friends from the construction industry, who call themselves the Sandblasters.

That was only the beginning of his story. In 2013, Colin suffered a stroke which resulted in him having aphasia. For those who aren’t aware aphasia is a condition that takes away your ability to communicate. It can affect your ability to speak, write and understand language both verbal & written. 

Rather than dwelling on the situation, Colin used his condition to help found the "Say Aphasia Charity", giving him a new purpose in life and goals to achieve. He has since returned to running and other inspirational feats that we talk about in more depth in the episode.

This is a story of determination and positivity, that any obstacle can be overcome with the support of friends and family. What an episode - enjoy!

This week we sit down with Andy Young, one of the top (if not the top!) track and field coach in Great Britain. Andy was awarded the Scottish Athletics Performance Coach of the Year in 2016, 2018 & 2020 and coaches Laura Muir & Gemma Reekie, two of Great Britain’s most promising athletes. His athletes have placed in the finals of the Olympic Games, World Championships and have a multitude of medals at the European Athletics Championships. He is joined by Mr Martin Pate who talks through his journey as a coach and shares some interesting stories about Mo Farah and one of the most well known people in the UK!

Another insightful podcast that we hope our listeners engage with - enjoy!

As we step into the top 10% of brand new podcasts with our lucky 13th episode, we bring you a special episode that features all of our PE staff! We have a "Knights at the Roundtable" discussion before moving into a quiz - there are plenty of entertaining moments in this episode and a good chance to get to know some our the PE staff who help our youngsters on a daily basis.

If you are a regular listener, we thank you for your continued support. We have big plans for the podcast in the coming months and thoroughly look forward to our listeners joining us on the journey.

Enjoy!

This week we sit down with our Business & Economics teacher Mr Matthew Trethewey who joined the school at the beginning of the academic year. As well as teaching our senior pupils the wonders of the business and economical world, Mr Trethewey is a keen athlete, mainly with a preference towards hard core endurance events.

He boasts an impressive racing CV, taking part in numerous long distance running events including some of Hong Kong's toughest trail races (up to distances of 100 kilometres!). We talk about his experience in different events, dabbling in some high altitude mountaineering and also his targets for the future in endurance sports.

Another inspirational episode with one of our teachers at the school - enjoy!

This week we are joined by the General Manager of Kowloon Rugby Club, Jacob Rowan. Jacob was a professional Rugby Union player for the best part of a decade, being part of one of the biggest teams in Europe - Gloucester Rugby.

Jacob talks through his journey from a youngster, where he originally was more motivated by football rather than rugby, all the way to his current role here in Hong Kong.

He is drawn into various topics around sport and maintaining a balance of academics and high level sport (Jacob managed to get a degree in Chemistry while playing professional rugby!).

He is expertly questioned by our guest host Mr Sam Challenor, who is well known on the rugby scene around Hong Kong. Enjoy!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Rowan

This week, Mr Pate sits down with Mr Day as they talk about his sporting journey and how it has brought him into his current role outside of school as the manager of Hong Kong Football Club side 'Club Albion'. 

From his various hurdles as a player, to suffering from some serious and potentially career ending injuries, Mr Day shares some surprising sporting stories that a lot of our listeners will have been unaware of - we hope this episode entertains and inspires you!

If you want to track the progress of Mr Day's current team in their league, you can do so here:

https://www.yauyeeleague.com/en/tables_league.php?division_id=20200930144900-248002&seasonYear=2020

This week we sit down with Nathan Gevao (our first ever external guest!). Nathan is a former student of Mr Erskine and Miss Jones where he was a pivotal member of the PE department from Year 7-11 at the British School of Kuwait. Now 20 years old, Nathan is a powerlifter in the UK within the 83kg weight category. He is taking the UK by storm with his Powerlifting numbers where he recently posted some unofficial Junior UK and European records.

Powerlifting is a sport where athletes attempt to lift the heaviest weight possible in three movements: deadlift, back squat and bench press. Nathan's most recent attempts were listed as:

Squat - 272.5kg; Bench - 165kg; Deadlift - 308.5kg. Overall total 746kg!

To find out more about powerlifting in Hong Kong, check out these links:

https://hkpowerlifting.com/

https://www.instagram.com/hongkongpowerlifting/

You can even check out some gyms that offer powerlifting here:

https://www.instagram.com/trybehk/

https://www.instagram.com/strengthavenue.com.sg/

Find Nathan on Instagram to follow his journey:

@thecalfhunter

If you would prefer to watch this episode (our first ever filmed episode) then you can watch the full recording via YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePMfogR5uig

This week we sit down with our usual host Mr Erskine as we talk about some of his work in Ethiopia. His project involves raising money and awareness for young people in the town of Bishoftu (just outside Addis Ababa) to help get them involved in football. The story, which has seen him visit the town 3 times in the past 7 years, has evolved since the project started in 2013 and he has managed to raise 15,000GBP (150,000HKD) to help various youngsters get involved in football. 

We share the various obstacles that have come up for this charity project and how this project will hopefully evolve in the future.

If you want to find out more, check out #projectbishoftu (https://www.facebook.com/projectbishoftu)

To find out more from the host charity (previously Link Ethiopia, now Together We Learn - Ethiopia) https://twlethiopia.org/

This week we are joined by one of our teachers of Secondary English & History Mr David Robinson. Originally from ‘the outdoor capital’ of the UK, Fort William, Mr Robinson boasts a very interesting sporting background, notably being the U14 Scottish Snowboarding Champion in the not too distant past. We discuss his other sporting endeavors and how he tries to offer the same opportunities to his own children here in Hong Kong. And we couldn’t have an English teacher on the Podcast without mentioning reading – we talk through some of his top picks for reading in relation to sport and motivation.

In case you missed it in the episode, here are some of his sporting recommended reads:

Tom Palmer - Football Academy

Kwame Alexander: The Crossover, Booked, Becoming Muhammad Ali, The Playbook

Roller Girl by Victoria Jameson

Rebel Girls – Venus and Serena,  Junko Tabel, Yusara Madini, Luo Dengping

Dragon Hoops By Gene Luen Yang

The Boy Who Biked the World by Alastair Humphreys

Jason Reynolds Ghost

Peasprout Chen by Henry Lien

Poems

Wendy Cope

Simon Armitage

Nick Drake

Mr Erskine's recommended reading:

No Limits - Michael Phelps

Sevens Heaven - Ben Ryan

26.2 Miles to Happiness - Paul Tonkinson

Running up that hill - Vassos Alexander

A Life Without Limits - Chrissie Wellington

Run, Ride, Sink or Swim - Lucy Fry

This week we sit down with Mr Elliot Scrivener, Head of Balmoral House and one of our PE staff here at NAIS. We discuss some alternative forms of physical achievement and exertion in this episode – notably hiking to the highest summit in Africa and one of the highest mountains in the world – Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

We share our experiences have both summited this incredible mountain at different times and compare the different types of fitness needed to successfully navigate high altitude mountains.

Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain in the world: 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level and about 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) above its plateau base. Given the beautiful hiking options available here in Hong Kong, we hope our listeners will appreciate this episode!

This week we are joined by Super Dad and Head of Year 5 Mr Stephen Holt. Mr Holt has worked at the school since it opened in 2014 – his wife teaches in the English department while his three children also attend the school. 

When he is not in school, he is regularly pursuing high levels of physical activity. In this episode, we share some of his toughest experiences and races which include finishing two Ironman triathlon events, competing in a massive team running race in Siberia, and a handful of ultramarathons as well! We also get to the bottom of why he actively seeks to put himself into these uncomfortable scenarios. This is a really interesting episode about the different ways in which you can maintain levels of physical activity even with a busy schedule and hopefully inspires some of our listeners to go and pursue some alternative forms of fitness. Enjoy!

This week we sit down with Year 6 teacher Mr Fiachra Mcardle. Originally from Dundalk, Ireland, Mr McArdle signed a professional football contract with Derby Country when they were in the English Premier League.

After dropping through the leagues and plying his trade in the semi-professional leagues around London, Mr McArdle now has the joy of playing for Hong Kong Football Club. All the time he was playing semi-professional football he has been a teacher as well.

This episode is a fantastic listen for our budding young athletes. Many young people say they want to go on and play professional football but so few ever make it anywhere near the level Mr Mcardle did. He is a very humble man who reflects on his journey in professional sport with a great perspective on his abilities as a player. Not an episode to be missed!

This week Miss Jones sits down with another one of our PE staff Mr Deri Reid as they discuss serious injuries and their impact on sporting performance and general lifestyle.

Both Miss Jones and Mr Reid have been subjected to major injuries and they discuss the implications of these on various aspects of their life. Miss Jones has had both of her knees operated on to deal with ACL and MCL ruptures, while Mr Reid recently returned from hip resurfacing surgery (the same surgery that nearly ended Andy Murray's tennis career). As a result, he now is made of titanium!

This is a great episode for those who want to appreciate the impact of injuries but also how to develop the resilience required to overcome challenges. Enjoy!

In our second episode, Miss Jones sits down with our newest member of the PE department, Miss Wreghitt. The discussion circles around Miss Wreghitt's time as a competitive CrossFit athlete and they also raise the topic of female body image in sport. Miss Wreghitt has competed at an international level in the sport of CrossFit and shares some of her experiences, as well as some of the stigma attached to being physically (and visibly!) strong as a female athlete. Not an episode to be missed! 

In our first episode, we speak to our Director of Sport, Mr. Martin Pate. He shares some of his stories as a young athlete (where he was a U17 British Champion in the High Jump) and also represented Great Britain in various international athletic meets. His all-time Personal Best (PB) of 2.01 metres in the High Jump is a pretty impressive feat that we hope to see in a PE lesson soon.

His story covers the highs and lows of being a young competitive athlete as well as ensuring he stayed on top of his school requirements. He even discusses the levels he went to in order to become a sponsored athlete.

His background in sport has allowed him to continue developing his athletic interests and his current 5km PB (sub 18 minutes!) is one that will be difficult to beat! We hope that you enjoy our first ever version of  "Nattering with the Knights" - please remember to share with family and friends and give some feedback to your PE teacher on the topics you would like to see covered in the coming weeks.