Dear Liz Jones....

I'd intended to return home from work this evening, stretch my fingers, power up the Macbook and start weaving a response to Liz Jones' ill thought out and ill informed article that appeared in Tuesday's Daily Mail.

Instead I got home late; Ironically my job in sports means the public note I'm now writing to Liz will be much shorter. 

I'll sound boastful, conceited and arrogant as I say this but, at age 23 years and 8 months old, I'm a relative success. I have a full time job, not just any job, but the career I've dreamt about for years and I have the smallest amount of 'student debt'.

I owe these two facts to just two things; supportive parents and sport. 

I left school with mediocre A level results, I went on to do a much ridiculed degree course and left with a very average grade. 

Now many of my school colleagues are working in jobs they dislike, unable to get into the industries or careers that they want to and often are still living at home with mum and dad. I feel for them, the job market is currently a very hostile place for the new graduate and I know first hand how bewildering it can be to leave university wondering where you'll go next. 

But the truth is, I've always landed on my feet, buoyed by a passion for sport I have achieved my dream of working in rugby. 

"If you're not first your last"

Ok, so this old adage probably doesn't paint the most positive picture, but a will to win and the thirst to achieve the best you can are things you learn from sport that can and should be carried into everyday life. 

I am surrounded both professionally and personally by young women striving to accomplish their goals and the majority of these young women will point to competitive sport as the place where they learned to push for these things. 

Liz Jones' article suggests that sport is almost dangerous for young women, if I can pick out my personal highlight from the piece;

"Sport in school is the worst thing you can possibly inflict on children, particularly girls who are going through puberty and are necessarily self-conscious, often in pain and often vulnerable."

I'll just apologise before I say this as I know that many of those who read this blog and follow me on Twitter are men...

'Often in pain'? Let's get this straight Liz, it's a period, they're not bleeding to death and it's a known fact that a little bit of exercise makes you feel better. 

It's also a known fact that childhood obesity is on the increase, the suggestion that removing sport from young girls' school curriculum is frankly absurd. 

Young girls feel self-conscious most of the time, this is true, but school PE lessons are the ONLY exercise that many of them will get, being overweight is certainly not going to help their confidence.

But, let's delve deeper, why else do young girls feel self-conscious? Could it be because of what they see in magazines and what they read in newspapers? 

"You can’t tell me top athletes eat healthily or even look that attractive."

Not everyone can be good at sport, I'll give you that, but equally, not everyone can be a beauty queen.

Saying that these athletes don't look attractive means nothing, those women who are pushing themselves towards their goals of podium places in the pool and in track and field next summer at the London Olympics really aren't bothered about how they look. The most aesthetically pleasing thing for them will be a gold medal hanging around their neck. 

You lambast Fatima Whitbread for her masculine looks, asking if her time would be better spent, 'reading a book' or 'helping people', I'd personally encourage you to consider one of these yourself, a little research goes a long way, you may find it illuminating to see what a difficult past this Olympian overcame. 

There are many more holes I can pick in your piece and there are plenty of testimonies I could collect from girlfriends about the impact sport has had on them, but to be honest we're all too busy being utterly fabulous because a will to win and succeed comes first. 

I'd hope that by saying my bit it encourages anyone who agreed with your article to think again and recognise the importance of sport as a tool for education, where some of the most important life lessons are learned for boys ...and girls!