Part of the Etc.
British Superbike and TT racer Daley Mathison dropped in to Stockton Riverside College this week where he delivered a motivational message to students.
While the classroom proved an unusual setting for the two racing bikes he brought along, they certainly caught the attention of his young audience.
Sharing stories of his racing career so far, the aim of the visit was to show students just what can be achieved if you are willing to work hard and it was part of a wider initiative to raise the aspirations of youngsters across the region.
“It doesn’t matter what your dream is,” said Daley. “Whether it’s a pipedream or that you want to become a bricklayer, it is worth putting the effort in early as later on it is going to pay off.”
At 26 Daley, who lives in Stockton, has won more races and stood on more podiums than he can possibly remember, and still at an early stage in his career, there’s lots more he wants to achieve.
He said: “My ambition was always to race at the TT. Now I want to win there, that would be the ultimate goal.”
It hasn’t been an easy road. He has picked up multiple injuries along the way, but that hasn’t dampened his dedication.
His visit to the College formed part of the North East Collaborative Outreach Programme (NECOP) Future Me initiative, a programme of activity to raise the aspirations of young people from the region and open their eyes to opportunities in higher education.
Despite all of the hard work and commitment to his sport, Daley still found the time to pick up his qualifications in mechanical engineering after leaving school. Now, he said, if he were to stop racing tomorrow his plan would be to become a motorbike mechanic, not in a garage but on the Superbikes.
Hoping to help motivate young people just starting out in their careers, he said: “It is good to have a role model, someone that you can look up to and think if he can do it then so can I.
“If you have a goal you have to throw everything at it and stick to your plan. One day it will pay off and the more effort you put in now the easier it will become further down the line. Anything is possible.”
Stockton Riverside College’s head of higher education, Rebecca Wolfe, said: “Working with the NECOP programme we are trying to engage our level 2 students to think about the impact of going on to gain their level 3 qualifications and up over and how it can lead to a variety of careers.”
While the classroom proved an unusual setting for the two racing bikes he brought along, they certainly caught the attention of his young audience.
Sharing stories of his racing career so far, the aim of the visit was to show students just what can be achieved if you are willing to work hard and it was part of a wider initiative to raise the aspirations of youngsters across the region.“It doesn’t matter what your dream is,” said Daley. “Whether it’s a pipedream or that you want to become a bricklayer, it is worth putting the effort in early as later on it is going to pay off.”
At 26 Daley, who lives in Stockton, has won more races and stood on more podiums than he can possibly remember, and still at an early stage in his career, there’s lots more he wants to achieve.
He said: “My ambition was always to race at the TT. Now I want to win there, that would be the ultimate goal.”It hasn’t been an easy road. He has picked up multiple injuries along the way, but that hasn’t dampened his dedication.
His visit to the College formed part of the North East Collaborative Outreach Programme (NECOP) Future Me initiative, a programme of activity to raise the aspirations of young people from the region and open their eyes to opportunities in higher education.
Despite all of the hard work and commitment to his sport, Daley still found the time to pick up his qualifications in mechanical engineering after leaving school. Now, he said, if he were to stop racing tomorrow his plan would be to become a motorbike mechanic, not in a garage but on the Superbikes.
Hoping to help motivate young people just starting out in their careers, he said: “It is good to have a role model, someone that you can look up to and think if he can do it then so can I.
“If you have a goal you have to throw everything at it and stick to your plan. One day it will pay off and the more effort you put in now the easier it will become further down the line. Anything is possible.”
Stockton Riverside College’s head of higher education, Rebecca Wolfe, said: “Working with the NECOP programme we are trying to engage our level 2 students to think about the impact of going on to gain their level 3 qualifications and up over and how it can lead to a variety of careers.”
