Angela

Wednesday 29th January 2025

I grew up in Torry, Aberdeen in the North East of Scotland. There are stereotypes about what Torry is like, it is a lower socioeconomic place.

 

I was desperate to get out and move somewhere else, because I just wanna see the world like there’s so much else out there.

 

But I never in a million years thought I’d end up in America.

 

The aim of a hammer throw is basically to throw this four kilo shot putt on the end of a wire, with a handle as far as you can, and you spin round four times, and you throw it out a cage.

 

I started when I was about eight years old because my mum thought I had too much energy. I trained on my own, but the local club doesn’t want people to train there using the cage alone, and so I had to train in the field behind the house.

 

I’ve had a good upbringing, I wouldn’t say my parents have the biggest income, but they work hard to give me a lot of opportunities, I’m very grateful for that.

 

I never expected to be able to go to America, I never thought I was a good enough athlete.

 

A few months in, I received this email from Princeton. It was the first email I from any U.S. University.

 

My dad told me not to get over-excited because I hadn’t got my Higher grades back yet, and I was quite nervous about that.  So, I just thought, this is really cool, I’d really like it to work out.

 

I got my higher grades back and it was five band one A’s, and then I threw like a five metre PB at Scottish Champs and I got my first Scottish gold and I thought, oh WOW, maybe, maybe this will happen.

 

And then I got a week later the coach saying, ‘You should come over for a visit.’ That was one of the best weeks of my life, getting my higher grades back, throwing that massive PB, and then saying you can come on a visit to America.

 

Day to day life isn’t that different.

 

Everyone’s really nice, and I really enjoy living on a campus where everything’s so close. I try and get all my classes scheduled for the morning, so I’ve got my afternoon free for practice.

 

Typically, when we’re in season, we throw five times a week. We lift 3 or 4 times a week, and after that, I’ll go have dinner with my friends, and then I’ll just go back to my room and I’ll either go work a library shift or I’ll do my homework.

 

When people think of a sports scholarship, their mind just goes to being a good athlete. But you also have to work tirelessly in school to get good grades because there’s still steep academics standards you’ve got to meet to be able to go to America.

 

I’ve had incredible support from my family. They spend so much of their time doing things to help me get foot forward in life. They worked hard to take me competitions. They came with me to South America in Peru to support me for the World Junior Championships. They would do anything to see me be able to succeed in what I’d like to do.

 

 

I do this sport because I want to be the best at it. And to me, success in the future would mean like, you know, going to World Champs and/or the Olympics.

 

I’ve had so many other experiences from sport, I’ve made friends for life. I’ve met incredible people and mentors along the way, and just being in good physical shape makes me happy as well.

 

Whether you’re doing it for a competitive reason or for leisure, even if you don’t want to compete in a sport, I think it’s so good for your mental health.

 

If you really want something you just have to keep pushing it, because, I never thought I would make it this far, but I couldn’t imagine giving up on it because I wanted to be good at this sport for so long.

 

If you’re anxious about getting into sport and worried however people will see you, don’t worry about it.

 

People are worrying about themselves more than they’re worrying about you.

 

Just make sure that you’re happy and enjoying what you’re doing.

 

Don’t be embarrassed about aiming high, because I used to think it’d be silly if I said, ‘Oh, I want to be Scottish champion, I want to be British champion’ because I just felt I didn’t have what it takes, even though I was working really hard.

 

It just takes time, and you just have to keep pushing for what you want.

 

And if you want to be champion, it might take ten years, but eventually you might get there. Even if it’s a small chance, just keep going and try. Have some belief in yourself.

 

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