Tessa Stockdale

We would like to nominate Tessa to be an Olympic torch carrier. We live in a small village on the edge of the Cumbrian fells. Thanks to the efforts of Tessa we regularly enjoy informal, sociable and friendly but well-structured netball sessions in our school playground. Tessa set up this netball group at first because, as a keen netball player representing her school and the County, she needed to gain umpiring experience. From that beginning, she has now been organising and running weekly sessions here for three years. The group is open to all, and Tessa respects a wide range of abilities. She encourages the very young and the not-so-young boys and girls to get involved; currently the age range is 5 to 70, all playing together. In particular, she is an excellent role model, motivating Year 6 leavers, and giving them confidence to try out for teams - netball and other sports - when they move on to secondary school