The 'kids' Olympics creates Britain's sporting stars of tomorrow and I'm proof of that.

From the school sports day to an Olympic podium is a very long way and, while plenty of hopeful young athletes envisage success, very few make it to the top. But those who do often have one thing in common. From Mo Farah to Jessica Ennis-Hill, Kelly Holmes to Greg Rutherford, many of Britain's elite athletes first honed their competitive skills via the English Schools' Athletic Association (ESSA).

For the past century, the volunteer-led grassroots organisation has been the cornerstone of British Athletics. Each year it provides more than 4,000 young people with the chance to compete in county races - to date more than a quarter of a million athletes have participated in its competitions. On Saturday, the association marks its centenary with a special event at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham attended by 100 previous champions including Dame Kelly Holmes, Dame Denise Lewis, Alan Pascoe MBE, Dalton Grant and Sonia Lannaman MBE.

Gold medallists from past English Schools Championships will also be given the opportunity to join a grand parade of athletes past and present.

One of those Team GB athletes that began her running career with ESSA is Olympic medalist Georgia Hunter-Bell. A champion track and field athlete who competes as a middle distance runner, and in the duathlon, she won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics in the 1,500 metres, setting a new UK record.

The 31-year-old, who stormed to victory in the women's 800 metres in the Diamond League in Stockholm only three weeks ago, also won the silver medal at the 2024 European Athletics Championships and became British national champion, indoors and outdoors, in the 1500 metres. And if that wasn't enough, she retained her national indoors title earlier this year.

"ESSA was where it all began for me and most other British athletes," she tells the Daily Express. "You go from school sports day to maybe being the best in your school - but ESSA gives you your first opportunity to see how you fare against the rest of the country.
"For me it was my first proper meet, my first time staying overnight away from home, the first time I had to qualify for an event, to go through heats, and the first time going to a cool room [a space where athletes can lower their body temperature with aids] before a race."

Without the opportunity, Georgia believes she would never have coped with the high pressure of performing on the world stage despite her talent.
"It was like an apprenticeship for professional athletics. You don't want to be doing all that for the first time on the global stage," she explains. "It provided a crucial step and experience, bridging the gap between local and national athletics."

In particular, ESSA meets enabled Georgia to gauge how good she was compared to other young British teens and helped "put her on the map domestically".

She says this can be an important step in securing the vital sponsorship and funding required to make it to the top.
"It can lead to brands finding you and gives you a marker as to where you are and need to be to be the best," says Georgia. "It's a feeder system for the stars of tomorrow."

Aged 14, Georgia won the ESSA title at under-15 level over 800 metres, at Gateshead, clocking a time of 2:08.81, which placed her eighth on the UK all-time list. She also won silver in the same championships as an under-17 in 2009.

"That was the moment I thought I can do this, I can really be a professional athlete and run for my country," she recalls. "I remember the excitement to this day. All the big names of today were there: Alex Bell, Katie Snowdon, Jodie Williams, Katerina Thompson. We all came up through English Schools Athletics and owe them so much."

The association was founded in the Victoria Hotel, London, in July 1925 and its track and field championships have been held every year apart from during the Second World War. It existed to allow school athletes to compete at regional, national and international level.

Since its first championship, with the future King George VI as patron, the association has been the foundation for almost 90% of British Olympians in athletics and almost every medal winner in that time.

The most recent, Keely Hodgkinson, who won gold in the 800m at Paris 2024, said the English Schools Championships was always the first event in her diary. Georgia trains regularly with Keely. "We went to a training camp in South Africa earlier this year and I lived in her house," she says. "She is a good friend and training partner. She is amazing at what she has achieved and is very inspiring to me."

The daughter of BBC and ITN political journalist Andy Bell, whose mother Angela is a school PE teacher, Georgia attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in west London before going on to study geography at the University of Birmingham.

In 2015, after winning the BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) indoor 800 metres title and silver at the England Athletics Under-23 Championships, she started at University of California, Berkeley. But at 23 her dreams of becoming a world class athlete took a serious nose dive and she dropped out.

"They train for much longer distances in the US and I ended up injured with stress fractures in my shins," she explains. "I would recover after a few months and then get another one. I had so many injuries I gave up on my dream to be a professional athlete."
Stress fractures are really common in women and, in the US, Georgia had doubled the mileage she had been used to running.

Despondent, she moved into a full-time job working in cybersecurity. "I thought it would have happened by then if it was going to," she says. "I wish someone had told me then that middle distance runners don't really come into their own until their late 20s/early 30s."

The pandemic proved to be her salvation. With little else to do, she started running again. "I started running again for that hour that we were allowed out to exercise. I also got an exercise bike for the garage," she says. "Because of all the running I had done as a kid I found my fitness came back really quickly and within six months I was back to where I was. I realise mine was an unusual path to the Olympics but I suddenly realised what my dream had meant to me and I visualised getting back to it.

"Getting the medal in Paris was amazing and I am now focused on LA and the world championships in Tokyo in September. I am faster than ever!"

After getting married last year to George Hunter, Georgia believes she is only now really hitting her stride. She plans to keep on running until the 2029 London world championships and then retire. Without ESSA, she may never have regained the fitness required.

"I was talking with Kelly Holmes last summer," she says. "She won the bronze at 30 and double gold in Greece at 34 and said she was in the prime of her life. I am faster now than I was in my 20s. I feel at my peak now which is how it seems to be for middle distance runners."

We need more sponsorship and volunteers

Chris Cohen CBE, ESSA Vice-President writes: "When the first English Schools championships were held a century ago under the gaze of the future King George VI, there were many challenges, and although these have changed over the years, they still remain. From a few dozen young people, mostly from the south of England, to a two-day event with around 2,000 teenagers competing, the event has developed into what is described as 'the kids' Olympics'. In fact, Daley Thompson once described it as bigger and more important than the Olympics!

"The Championships remain vital in today's sporting landscape, providing a unique platform where thousands of young athletes from diverse backgrounds can compete, foster friendships and showcase their dedication and ability.

"For some it serves as a stepping stone to higher-level competition - over 80% of Britain's Olympic athletics teams over the last 100 years competed at the Championships, from Seb Coe to Keely Hodgkinson. For others it is their 'Olympics', providing an opportunity to travel and stay away from home for the first time.

"But that is only possible thanks to the dedication of hundreds of volunteer teachers, parents and coaches, none of whom receive any payment. The championships also require a huge budget! They cost almost half a million pounds to stage, and, without the support of England Athletics, that wouldn't be possible. The Association has been without a sponsor for several years and costs have been left to fundraising and charging parents the accommodation costs for their children. The championships move into the second century looking for that elusive sponsor who can help ensure that all children, regardless of their background, can continue to compete at this amazing event."

* For more information about English Schools' Athletics Association competitions, visit esaa.org.uk