WHERE do we get our grit and determination from? Does playing sport help girls and women become not just physically fit, but mentally strong also? Or is it the temperament of the individuals in the first instance, that never-say-die attitude, that makes them seek out sport to challenge their own strengths. I don’t know the answer to this, and some may say it is a chicken and egg situation.

However for one young sportswomen it definitely doesn’t matter what came first. All that matters is that she has got ‘it’ in spades and thank goodness for that. I’m talking about Stephanie Inglis, judo player and 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist.

Most people know Stef’s story by now and they can’t help but be amazed when they hear that she lay in a coma for five weeks, with a serious head injury. She also had to contend with pneumonia, septicaemia, deep vein thrombosis, and a tracheotomy which meant, when she came round, she was unable to talk to her family. At one point she was given was given just a one per cent chance of survival. I’m delighted to say that her aim now is to get back playing the sport she loves and I am sure she will succeed. You can’t help but admire and perhaps envy, her determination and resilience.

However there is one more obstacle to overcome. in her battle to regain normality in her life. This week she will be undergoing, what I know she hopes will be, her final operation, and the one thing that she is quite sure will get her back on the road to full fitness after her devastating accident in Vietnam just eight months ago This operation will see a titanium plate inserted in her skull to replace the part of bone removed by the surgeons during her initial life threatening operation, carried out to help ease pressure on her brain. Overcoming so many obstacles to get to this point definitely takes guts and steely determination. Not only is she taking this in her stride, but she has vowed to get back on the mat and has targeted the 2020 Commonwealth Games as her motivation for this.

Stef has become a bit of a celebrity as she now travels far and wide to fulfil engagements, and you cannot fail to be moved by her harrowing account of waking up in hospital, after her motorbike accident, with no knowledge of what had happened to her or where she was.

If only we could bottle up this type of resilience and give out to all our young girls to help inspire them and give them the confidence to go out and do whatever they choose, full of belief in a positive outcome.

Another judo player who is full of gut and determination and has just battled her way back from injury, is Kimberley Renicks, from Glasgow, again a medalist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she picked up gold in the Women’s 48 kg Judo event.

Kimberley, after being out of the sport for several months due to injury, is now back and battling to qualify for a place at the World and European Championships. However this dream comes at a cost, and that cost is estimated to be in the region of £5,000. Kimberley, who is a full time athlete in the national training squad, supplements her income by working in schools on a weekly basis, attracting local sponsorship and also some funding from her local judo club help. She trains six days a week, twice a day, working in between sessions to help fund her participation in judo.

Both players are role models for young girls, showing what obstacles can be overcome and indeed what the power of sport can do for an individual. I am sure you will join me in wishing both of them good luck for the future. For Steph a speedy recovery and a reminder to always hold onto your dreams. For Kimberley good luck in her fund-raising and success on the mat.