Jessica Ennis-Hill says Sky Academy Confidence Day helping youngsters

Jessica Ennis-Hill says more needs to be done to encourage young people, particularly young girls, to play sport as a way of improving their health and self-esteem.

Ennis-Hill was leading a Sky Academy Confidence Day in Sheffield which aims to develop young people's confidence through the power of sport.

Over 300 youngsters aged between 11 and 18 were given the opportunity to try new sporting activities, under the guidance of athletic mentors, including Ennis-Hill.

"All the kids are going to get an opportunity to try lots of different sports, interact with our athlete mentors and hopefully have a fantastic day," said the Olympic gold medallist.

"It's a great opportunity for kids all across the country to come together and try different sports.

"And not just interact with each other but to interact with the mentors - amazing ex-athletes who've been through different careers in sport and had lots of different experiences. I think it's a really good opportunity."

The day is part of Sky Academy's Confidence Month and is showcasing the Sky Sports Living for Sport initiative that works with sports stars, schools and teachers across the country to build practical skills like teamwork, planning, resilience and communication.

A new YouGov study for Sky Academy of over 1,600 young people and 600 parents across the country showed that girls have less confidence than boys in almost all situations, apart from online when using social media.

Additionally, only 8 per cent of 13 to 15 year-old girls do the recommended amount of exercise a week, compared to 46 percent of boys - a statistic Ennis-Hill finds worrying.

"I definitely saw it when I was at school. When you get to the age of 13-14 as a young girl sport isn't as interesting and you have different things going on," she said.

"There needs to be more done to keep girls involved in sport and make it excited and make it accessible. Hopefully the Sky Academy Confidence Day today is an opportunity where more girls will see sport in a different light and want to get involved."

Over two-thirds of girls who took part in the YouGov study also said their confidence was affected by the way they look. Ennis-Hill says she has first-hand experience of using sport as a means of boosting self-esteem.   

"It is a hard thing to change. Your confidence, your self-esteem as a young girl is difficult and you have different challenges. For me personally coming into sport, I was very self-conscious," admitted the Sky Academy Ambassador.

"I was quite uncomfortable with the way I looked and how my body was going to change through sport but it gave me so much more confidence in a strange way.

"Being able to interact with different girls who also did sport, to travel the world and meet different people and all these things coming together gave me more self-belief and confidence in myself."

Ennis-Hill recently won gold in the heptathlon at the IAAF World Championships in August, just a year after giving birth to her first child, Reggie.    

The 29 year-old says it is her proudest career achievement to date but has now set her sights on defending her Olympic gold medal at the Rio Olympics next summer.

"It's definitely been one of my greatest achievements [winning the World Championships]," she said.  

"It's been my hardest challenge that I've ever taken on, but the most rewarding. To have had my son and to have this amazing home life and then come back into my sport and win the World Championships a year after he was born was an incredible achievement for myself.

"I've just started back into training so I'm just finding my feet again building back into the winter season.

"Reggie is growing up now and becoming more and more independent every day, I want him to experience sport as well so it's a fantastic opportunity for both of us. My whole family are looking forward to the Rio Olympics."

Sky Academy uses the power of TV, creativity and sport to provide real experiences for young people to help them build practical skills, experience and confidence. Sky Academy Confidence Month is supported by a host of ambassadors including Jessica Ennis-Hill, David Beckham, Davina McCall, Thierry Henry, Alfie Deyes, Ella Eyre, Justine Roberts and Melvyn Bragg. Over the course of the month, the ambassadors are taking part in various Sky Academy initiatives to engage with thousands of young people and share their confidence experiences.

For more information visit www.sky.com/academy.