Sheffield boxer visits primary school pupils in bid to raise career aspirations

Sheffield boxer Tommy Frank has visited primary school pupils in a bid to raise their future career aspirations.
Boxer Tommy Frank visited Intake Primary SchoolBoxer Tommy Frank visited Intake Primary School
Boxer Tommy Frank visited Intake Primary School

The pupils from Intake Primary School were visited by the Commonwealth champion boxer on Monday, May 20, who spoke of his achievements in an assembly addressing the whole school.

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His mum, Christine Frank, is a teaching assistant at the school in Intake and lives only a short distance away therefore staff felt it would be a great opportunity for the youngsters as this year they have been learning about resilience.

Boxer Tommy Frank visited Intake Primary SchoolBoxer Tommy Frank visited Intake Primary School
Boxer Tommy Frank visited Intake Primary School
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Tommy, who collected the Commonwealth superflyweight title after defeating Belfast’s Luke Wilton in four rounds at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge Arena on March 15, brought his belt to show the children and encourage them to follow their goals.

Deputy headteacher Tia Hewitt said: “We wanted to bring Tommy in to encourage the children to think about their future career prospects and encourage them to be ambitious and open up different options for them which they may not think about.”

Tommy had an operation to correct a hole in the heart when he was just five-years-old.

Despite this, and spurred on by his parents Christine and Kevin, he threw himself into boxing at age 12 – initially as a hobby before taking up the sport as a full-time career.

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“He talked about his heart condition and how he made sure that had no impact on his fitness and his training,” Tia added.

“I think the children really enjoyed having someone in school that was local. He’s quite young and extremely talented and I think it brought it home to them that through hard work you can make your dreams happen.

“We are always telling them to work hard at school and to focus on learning but I think coming from someone like Tommy they realise there is a meaning behind the words and what we say.”

Staff at the school now hope to carry on inviting successful people living in the community to the school to talk to the pupils and teach them that through hard work and perseverance they can be achieve their goals.