French Masters student Cécile Dermit is the latest staff member to join the Observatory for Sport in Scotland.
The 24-year-old from Nice studied Language Sciences at the University of Aix-Marseille and moved to Edinburgh to start her Masters degree in Applied Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh in September 2018.
During her gap year Cécile experienced volunteering for the first time and it gave her a desire to work for a charity after graduating, and after impressing the OSS board with her work as a fundraiser for the Edinburgh Fund during her Masters, event management and communications – not to mention her passion for Scottish, and French, rugby – she took on her first full-time role with OSS in September.
Cécile explained that she was not a big fan of traditional sports as a teenager, but this gives her an insight to the challenges faced by those who feel excluded or isolated from sport – the people for whom the OSS is committed to helping to find routes into sport activity.
“Growing up I had a complicated relationship with sport because it always felt like competition was the most important aspect of my practice,” she said. “If I was not able to win the game, then it felt as if it was all for nothing. Like a lot of people, I was actually never good enough to consistently win but liked doing sports. But I felt like there wasn’t any space for someone like me in sports clubs.
“As I became an adult, I made peace with my sports practice and was able to find its benefits for my mental and physical health by looking beyond the competition aspect. Working with OSS feels like a privilege as I now have the opportunity to make a difference for people, especially teenage girls, that don’t feel like they belong anywhere in Scotland’s sports culture. I want to help and grow healthier and stronger sports communities around Scotland.”
Cécile works alongside the OSS Director David Ferguson and can be contacted at: cecile@oss.scot.
Thought Piece from Charlie Raeburn for Reform Scotland