I woke up at around 6:45am to get myself ready before I had to wake up the young volunteers. Once I made sure all the girls were awake and in the process of getting ready, I headed back to my room to grab my agenda and accreditation for the day and waited for the girls outside the accommodation block. At 8:00am all the girls were outside, so we made our way to breakfast alongside the rest of the YST team.

After breakfast the individual volunteers had about 30 minutes of downtime before they had to be taken to their shift. The girls opted to go back to their rooms so that they could get their hoodies and water bottles. Once we were sorted, we all walked over to the ballpark where the volunteers had their first shift of the games at the 3x3 wheelchair and able-bodied basketball. During their shift the volunteers got the opportunity to stand on the edge of the court to help feed the ball back into play when it went off court. Myself, Grace and Reuben as team leaders got to watch from the stands and take in the incredible atmosphere of both the games taking place and the amazing crowds that gathered. It was a sunny day and the vibes were great!

Once the volunteers finished at the 3x3 basketball, we all had the opportunity to try out the obstacle course experience, along with shooting and fencing. We had a go on the ninja-warrior-like obstacle course after being shown a demonstration by one of the athletes. We also got told that the obstacle course was a new aspect of the modern pentathlon which is a new event/sport at the School Games National Finals this year – how exciting!

After a long day, the other Team Leaders, the volunteers, and I had some well-deserved downtime. We all decided together that we would spend an hour at the netball, then an hour at the cricket and then some time at the athlete’s lounge to check out what the athletes were up to this weekend. It was amazing being able to wander around Loughborough University’s incredible campus.

Following some much-needed downtime we headed back to our accommodation block to wind down for the night. The individual volunteers played some cards whilst us team leaders had our debrief of the day. Later it was time for us all to head to bed to get a good nights sleep before another busy and fun-filled day!