Meet St George's newest staff member - Jade Bell

Early life…

I was born in Huntingdon and grew up living in Ramsey, where I still live today. I started playing football from a very young age and have always enjoyed sport and leisure activities.

American Scholarship

At 18 (August 2011), I was offered a football scholarship to America and spent the next six and a half years in Texas at Texas A&M University-Commerce. While there, I played football full time alongside studying and also worked part time at the campus leisure centre. As my time at the university came to an end, I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sport and Recreation Management and a Master’s degree in Exercise Science. I then spent some time working as a personal training in Dallas, while playing football for FC Dallas and Houston Dash.

Returning Home…

I returned home Christmas 2017 with the intentions of starting a new job in Boston, MA, but decided it was time to stay home and spend time with family. It was from then that I was in contact with a good friend, Jemma Rees, who encouraged me to join the Vivacity team at the Regional Pool where Jemma herself is a duty manager.

Women’s Premier League Football

I joined Cambridge United September 2018 having spent the first half of the year finding my feet again after my time in America. Early in preseason of this new season, I decided to look at other options and finally signed for MK Dons at the end of July. MK Dons play a league higher than Cambridge United so I’m really looking forward to the new challenge. It’s a national league, split North and South (we are in the south), so I’ll be seeing plenty of Southern England.

Vivacity St George’s

I joined Vivacity February 2018 working as a receptionist at the Regional Pool before quickly moving over to lifeguard. I found the team very welcoming and I really enjoyed my time there. I began doing cover work at St George’s in December 2018 before picking up a regular Friday shift which I really enjoyed. I found that St. George’s has a very unique community, full of wonderful and welcoming people. I always looked forward to my Fridays at St George’s because it was a nice change and break from work at the Regional Pool. As I started to become more familiar with the Friday users, I was able to have conversations with them and learn more about them. I soon found that they all have their own stories and are all very inspiring in many ways.

When I was offered the full time position at St George’s, there was no question for me that that’s where I wanted to be. I now love that I’m going to be able to meet more users of the facility each day and be able to get to know them all on a more personal level too. My position at St George’s expands my role and responsibilities as a lifeguard and it is beginning to shape my longer term plans in working with disabled children in a school environment.

All in all, I am very grateful for being given the position at St George’s and look forward to spending more time there, helping the St George’s community and getting to speak with more people. Now in a more competitive football league, with its long journeys, I may be making good use of the hydrotherapy pool myself too!