A huge thank you to our sponsors, diners, guest speakers, athletes and their families who made our autumn dinner such a success.
We welcomed former World and Commonwealth champions who shared the stage at the Reach Centre in Derby with our future young stars.
Our athletes Leo, Cameron, and Izzy showed just some of the talent coming through the DIS pathway.
Lexi outlined the next four years of her water polo training. Her journey will be intense and just like all our athletes, she will be supported by a world-class DIS team every step of the way.
Ashton gave us a great insight into women’s rugby, highlighting some of her idols in the Red Roses and our human springboard Alex Knibbs impressed with his skills on the plyometric boxes. Fingers crossed he will be representing Team GB at the world championships in Budapest.
Long-standing DIS member Corey Beck announced his selection to the Rugby Union World Cup in Argentina next year and judo player Jamie Spencer-Pickup spoke about the positive aspects of losing and the valuable lessons to learn from failure.
Craig Heap brought his Northern charm and wit to the occasion and his auctioneering skills made sure vital money was raised for our non-profit making company.
One of the highlights of the evening was DIS co-founder Andy Wood in conversation with former world badminton champion Nathan Robertson.
Nathan memorably won a silver medal alongside Gail Emms at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and is widely regarded as one of Great Britain's best players.
Andy coached Nathan and was one of the first permanent badminton coaches in the country, eventually became performance director for the GB team, Olympic team manager and GB Olympic head coach.
Their on-stage chat outlined the coach-player relationship and the importance of mental fitness. Nathan offered a timely reminder to us all to cut down on screen time, ie looking at electronic devices.
He suggested athletes reduce screen time by 15 minutes a day and use that time to better themselves.
The occasion’s theme was a celebration of our athletes’ successes over its first ten years - but understanding there are obstacles along the way that can be overcome with the right mindset.
We thank our sponsors whose support allows the continuing journeys of our athletes to be the best they can and special thanks to our event sponsors Everyone Active and Business Wise and to everyone who donated items for the auction.
As our athletes said loud and clear: “In 2023, watch out for DIS!”
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