Sports Leader’s Breakfast

Four dedicated students from Logan Park High School—Anna Goodin, Georgie Winneke, Emerson Davies, and Levi Milner—attended the Sports Leaders Breakfast in October, an event that brought together student leaders from across the Otago region.

The morning featured a special guest, renowned New Zealand elite distance runner, Oli Chignell. Oli, an NZ representative in both Track and Cross Country, generously shared his inspiring journey and the realities of being a professional athlete. He spoke candidly about the significant challenges he’s encountered and the crucial lessons he’s absorbed along the way.

His key message to the attending student representatives was one of empowerment and resilience. Oli strongly encouraged them to believe in themselves and their abilities as leaders. He also emphasized the vital importance of cultivating a strong, positive support system and being judiciously careful of negative opinions, particularly those encountered through social media. The Logan Park students left the event motivated and equipped with valuable advice for their leadership roles.

From Anna Goodin (Year 12)

“At the Sports Leaders Breakfast Oli Chignell talked about how discipline and consistency is key to becoming a professional athlete. He spoke about the fact that there will be plenty of bad days that you don’t feel like putting in the work, but that’s exactly when you need to push yourself and do it anyway. 

He also talked about surrounding yourself with people that want the best for you. This means people who help, support, and acknowledge your successes even if they aren’t succeeding themselves. As much as this made me think about people surrounding me, it also made me think about how I can be a better support person for other people in the future, including my friends and teammates. 

Sports is also about being kind and making it an enjoyable environment for everyone, however Oli Chingell also made it clear that some people will try to bring others down in sports. That is why having resilience to those negative comments, showing sportsmanship, and being a good support person to other athletes, who might be experiencing negativity towards them, is what defines you as a sports leader. “