Steph Inglis column: Managing school with sport is tough going

I disagree with that!

As I have experienced life as an athlete throughout high school, and then at university, where I managed my studies alongside my sporting career, was it easy?

Absolutely not, especially when I had coaches telling me this couldn't be done, and to return to education later in life and focus only on judo. But it was thanks to both my sport and my studies that I managed to succeed in both.

I always found when I was doing well in judo, my studies were doing not so good, and vice-versa. I also found that when university was tough, judo would help me blow off the steam I needed to clear my head and refocus, and vice-versa.

By the time I was in third/fourth year at high school, aged 14-15, it became evident that, to push my sporting career to the next level, I had to be training with the Scottish team in the Central Belt. Training in Inverness at my club had served me brilliantly this far but, with my goals extending into the international circuit, it meant I had to 'up' my training and travel to train with more judo players that were not available in Inverness.

This meant, every Tuesday and Wednesday, I would be picked up after school, eat a packed lunch dinner in the car, and make the five-and-a-half hour (when traffic favoured us) round-trip to Ratho, Edinburgh, to partake in a two-hour fighting (randori) session with the Scottish team.

To some people in my school, it sounded fun and that I was lucky to be doing this; it also attracted some concern from my teachers unsure that this was wise and could take a lot out of me. However, my mum had always made it clear to me when I started showing a greater interest in pursuing a career in judo, that my education had to come first and, if I fell behind, then the judo trips and training would come to a stop.

That filled me with enough fear to keep up with my schoolwork and maintain good grades!

On the way down to Edinburgh after I had eaten, I would pull out my schoolbooks and homework and get all that I needed done finished before we got to judo. Now this two-hour session was not a ‘light’ session; it was where we practised our competition fighting and it was tough!

We would have 10, five-minute fights standing and five, five-minute fights on the ground. For any adult this was exhausting, but for a 15-year-old child, even more so. This meant that as soon as we were back in the car heading for Inverness, it wasn’t long before I fell asleep and woke up at home, straight to bed and then up again for school the next morning.

Never, throughout my whole time doing judo competitions and training mid-week, did my mum ever allow me to miss any school.

Exams. I was a good student, I was disciplined thanks to my sport, listened in class and carried out homework at home, making sure I was on top of my studies so I could continue pursuing my judo goals.

However, at the time of my standard grades in fourth year prelims, I failed one of my exams and got 'average' results in my opinion for the rest (2s, 3s and 4s). As an individual, I am always pushing myself and very goal-driven, and I want to be the best, so I was very disappointed with the results, however, I knew these were a practice run and the real exams were in June, so I put my head down and worked hard.

No-one sees what you do outside a classroom or workplace, and for me, I studied hard. As soon as I was home from school, on a non-mid-week Edinburgh training night, I would spend two hours doing my homework and studying as I wanted to turn my results around and get into university.

Like in all aspects of my life, I have found that when I have been willing to commit, work hard and been determined to reach my goals, it has paid off. You make your own luck!

I turned my prelim results around and achieved seven 1s and a 2 in my Standard Grades. I eventually left high school with two As, one B and three Cs, grades that would win me a place at university.

Managing school with sport is tough going; it requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication. My weekends were filled with judo competitions all over the UK and training days, evenings were filled with my own judo club training, midweek training in Edinburgh and homework.

I was pleased with my school exam results (sure, I wish I had more As) but I was also so excited and proud of my judo achievements that I was having alongside school – the extra training was having a positive impact.

Aged 17, I was one of the youngest judo players in Scotland to win a medal at a senior B class international competition. I won my first significant medal – bronze in Finland. I was delighted and hungry for more.

At the end of my high school journey, I sat with mum and dad. I was performing on both junior and senior level stages whilst maintaining my studies. I was so curious to see how well I could do on the judo circuit if all I had to focus on was judo.

But, with education being the top priority for my mum, we struck a deal – they would support me in full-time judo training with the Scottish team for two years then, after that, I would start university and work towards a degree. OK, deal!

I was so happy and, for those two years, it was so nice to focus solely on judo but, as the two years were ending, and I began applying to university, I was also looking forward to this new challenge as I personally also wanted to go to university. It felt strange, however, as all my friends were halfway through their university courses when I started. I decided to do an MA Business degree.

I did not have your typical student life experience. I continued to train full-time around my studies as best I could, travel most weekends to competitions and training camps which now were not only in the UK, but worldwide.

I attended Heriot-Watt University and was immediately awarded onto their sports scholarship programme, which supported me in pursuing both my academic and sporting goals, granting time off when needed for events, and providing me with materials to catch up and support my learning.

I sacrificed a lot during my student athlete career. My friends, and new friends I made at university, couldn’t understand why I was choosing to not go out and party and live that care-free student life. I did not go out partying four to five times a week – I couldn’t!

I had to train, I had competitions coming up, I was chasing qualifications. I couldn’t throw all that away to go out partying. It didn’t interest me as my goals were so strong that was the most important thing to me, and I knew I had to work hard.

Now, it has to be said, that I didn’t always win my competitions and that was hard, and you question why you are doing all the things you are, something I have spoken about in previous columns. I also did not ‘ace’ all my university exams or essays the way I had hoped or knew I was capable of.

I stretched myself to capacity and reached a breaking point at the selection for the 2012 London Olympics. I was in my final year of university, undertaking four modules, each with their own assignments and exams, and my 15,000-word dissertation.

I was then flying all over the world each weekend to fight and try to gain selection for this home Olympics. I did not qualify for London 2012; I was too young and, to be frank, just not good enough at that stage in my judo career. I did, however, and at times I wonder how I managed to, pass my university course and graduate with a degree in MA Business Management with a 2:2.

For a long time, I did not share the grade I received as I felt embarrassment that this was not the standard that represented what I was capable of academically. But, reflecting now, I can see that it is something to be proud of that all that I was doing during the first half of 2012 was incredible; to still achieve a degree was well deserved, and that I was still young enough to try to qualify for another Olympics.

I am my own worst critic, especially when I was growing up. I always wanted to be the best and do the best I possibly could, and I have always set high standards for myself and then been disappointed if I didn’t reach them.

But when I look back at all my (and in my eyes) failings I have had, I also find the key learning and positive outcomes from those scenarios. It might mean I had to take another path to get to my goal, but I did find it. So, no matter what struggle, setback or obstacle you encounter, whether that be not getting the exam results you wanted or that job promotion – take a step back!

What did you get instead that you weren’t expecting? What do you need to do now, where is the other path to achieve your goal? When something doesn’t go right the first time, it doesn’t mean we stop and give up, we have the beauty of finding an alternative route to get to our goal which will make a great story for our future grandkids and their friends or even in our nursing homes where we can share our life stories!

Sure, life throws us some curveballs – I have had my fair share! But it is our mindset that will always pull us through.

That determination, hard work and commitment that we ALL have (it is not a special skill, we are all capable of these skills), will help drive us forward through difficult times and achieve what we believe is possible and what we want for our future.

I truly believe that, and I am willing to sacrifice short-term ‘things’ (eg at university – partying, hangovers, missing class) for long-term wins (eg a degree, job, Commonwealth Games medal).

I have found that no matter what my first, second or third result has been when on my goal journey, no matter what, I can always be proud and feel good about myself as I know I am trying and doing the best I can do and what I want is within my reach.

‘We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges’ (unknown).

Find your challenge!