By Bridget Cook
STUDENTS at Lyndhurst Secondary College were inspired and motivated following a visit from a world champion aerial skier last week.
On Tuesday 29 November, Jacqui Cooper, from the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) visited the school to talk to Year 9 students who took part in this year’s Fit for Life class.
In a very long and decorated career, Ms Cooper has competed in 139 World Cup events, nine World Championships and been selected to five Winter Olympic teams.
Fit for Life is part of the school’s Advance Program ran in Year 9, where students get to choose out of three subjects and give back to the community in some form.
Year 9 sub school leader Kym Lenc said in Fit for Life, students learnt about coaching and visited a local primary school where they did a coaching session with the younger students.
As part of the program, the class visited the VIS earlier in the year which brought about the visit from Ms Cooper.
Ms Lenc said Ms Cooper’s talk to the students was very rewarding.
“She spoke about her experiences, how she started out, her passion for her sport and how she was discovered,” she said.
“One thing that stuck out was how she spoke about her goals. Jacqui told the kids that her coach made her write out her goals and she was to look at them at least 10 times a day.”
“They became her Bible and she explained that to reach your goals you need to know what they are.
“She also spoke about her determination, and how often people told her she couldn’t do it, or shouldn’t do it, but she ignored them and focused on her goals and what she had to achieve.”
Ms Cooper’s positive thoughts eventually got her through her tough times.
