A Journey not a Prize

This summer Birmingham hosted the 22nd Commonwealth Games, the largest multi-sport event to be held in England in 10 years, featuring thousands of world-class athletes and over 1.5 million spectators. It was, by anyone’s account, a roaring success.

The city was a brilliant host, the people of Birmingham proudly, creatively, welcomed everyone and displayed the best of the UK’s diverse and energetic second City. The wider UK public who filled the venues to capacity, showcased once more the community spirit that made the London Olympics the best in living memory.

At the heart of it all was Ama Agbeze, a Brummie, a Greenhouse Sports ambassador, former Commonwealth Games gold medallist as captain of Team England Netball and a Director of the Games’ organising committee. Ama the latest guest on ‘This Is My Playbook’ podcast and openly shares her life experience to host Simon Mundie reflecting on life at high level elite sport, what it really means to win the greatest prize and the value and purpose she takes from sport as she transitions to life off the court. “I think what winning gold does is validate it for people externally, there will be athletes in all sports who have gone through their careers and never won a gold of or bronze medal. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that they didn’t exist, or their journey was invalid. They’ve still gone through what they’ve gone through.

They’ve still learned what they have experienced, met people. And so, the journey is probably more important I think, than the medal. The medal just is that little star at the top of the Christmas tree” – Ama Agbeze MBE