English weightlifting champions call for more GCSE PE sport options

14-year-old Daisey Walker-Jones has created a petition to make GCSE PE options more accessible.

Daisey, who is the under 15’s English weightlifting champion, has recently chosen her GCSE options at Fairfield High School for Girls in Droylsden.

But when making her decision, she noticed the options available in GCSE PE weren’t accessible to her: “I was just devastated to see there was nothing for me. I asked my teacher, 'oh Miss,where's weightlifting? Where's karate?' Because I do karate too, and she said it's not on there.

"I was actually shocked.”

Daisey contacted Ashton-under-Lyne MP and deputy Labour party leader Angela Rayner, as well as the Department of Education, who told her to start a petition to see how many other children felt the same way.

Daisey knew that other people felt the same as her, because she was one of only three students out of over 200 in her year to pick the GCSE PE option.

“I asked people, 'why didn’t you pick PE', and they said, 'well my sport wasn’t on there'. And that’s absolutely terrible.

“Sport has been my life since I was five, as long as I can remember. I love sports and I was so upset that I couldn’t pick weightlifting.”

Some of the options available to children picking GCSE PE include camogie, figure skating, canoeing, equestrian, rock climbing and snowboarding.

Daisey feels that many of these sports are not readily available for those who live in urban areas, and that it limits what they can do.

“For example, weightlifting was on of the first sports in the Olympics. I just really want to ask why it isn't vital.

“I want some justification really, as to why sports like weightlifting and martial arts, where you can see clear progression as you increase weight, or in karate and judo you get the belts - why are they excluded, but [you can still do] boxing, for example?”

Daisey and many of her friends train up to four times a week, and taking on another sport can increase the risk of injury.

Not only that, but they also have to balance learning a new sport with revising for their other GCSEs and following their training plans outside of school.

Not only is sport good for children physically, it can also help them mentally, especially with the stress and anxiety surrounding their exams.

“Sport has helped me not only physically, but I struggle with anxiety. So, with my mental health, sport has made me so much more confident," Daisey said.

“I feel like sport is an escape for me. If I’ve had a really tough day at school, I just want to do my sport.”

Daisey’s dream is to make it to the Olympics to compete in weightlifting.

Daisey coming first at the English weightlifting championships

When starting a new sport for GCSE PE, Daisey said it would make an impact her career and performance: “I can get tired, and then I’ve got weightlifting the next day and I underperform. I have deadlines with personal bests (PB’s) and everything, so rest is really important for me.

"If I am not getting a sufficient amount of rest, it won’t set me up for the future.

“I am very aspirational, and I don’t want to waste time doing another sport. I want to make room for weightlifting, and I can’t if I’m doing something else."

With weightlifting, Daisey follows a very strict plan, training on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Doing another sport can use other muscles or strain the vital muscles she needs for weightlifting.

“If I was to take up - let’s say football, that’s one of the options - I’m going to have to be doing that once or twice a week, and I’m going to be so tired and then making room for stretching, revising and training.

“It’s going to be a lot on my plate, and I feel like I am going to suffer a bit, to be honest.”

The lack of sport options available to Daisey put her off choosing the subject for her GCSE’s: “I’ve been close to saying, 'Mum, can I just do something else instead?' But I’ve wanted to work in sports science since I was 10.

"I want to be a physiotherapist, and I know if I don’t pick PE, it’s not going to set me up for a career in sports science.”

Daisey knows that change before she starts her GCSEs in September is unlikely, but she wants to do it for other children facing the same barriers: “I just want it for other children and other generations so they can do their sport, because it’s not only for me - in the end, it’s for them.”

Emily Campbell, five-time European champion and double World and Olympic medallist, shared Daisey’s petition on her social media to help her get more signatures.

Daisey’s quote for her petition reads: “With small actions, we can begin to create real change.”

Daisey's petition is available at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714551