Jeanne Freeman, who was head of girls PE at Lutterworth Grammar School and who now works there part-time as a school sport co-ordinator, was highly commended at the School Sport Matters awards ceremony on Tuesday last week.

Mrs Freeman, of Magnolia Drive, was nominated for her decades’ work within Leicestershire girls’ school hockey.

She has been part of the set-up for the county and Midlands girls’ school hockey associations and is a stalwart of Lutterworth Ladies’ Hockey Club.

The high-profile awards ceremony took place at Arsenal Football Club’s Emirates Stadium and was sponsored by The Daily Telegraph and Norwich Union,

Guests included British Olympic heroes Dame Kelly Holmes and James Cracknell.

The third annual awards programme aims to recognise and reward outstanding individuals and groups for their contribution and excellence in school sport.

Mrs Freeman said afterwards: “I have been coaching from a very early age and I have been helping with county hockey and admin for the last 20 years. Whatever needs doing I generally tend to do it and I really enjoy it.

“I pride myself on my work and it is my job to inspire people and help them achieve as much as they can in the sporting arena.

“You can’t really describe the feeling you get to see someone really push on and be successful, it just makes everything worthwhile.”