AN OLYMPIAN who captained the Great British women’s volleyball team stopped by Barrhead High to meet up-and-coming sports stars.

Lynne Beattie, 30, visited the school to speak to pupils who had taken part in an Active Girls Day which gave youngsters the chance to participate in organised sport.

The Eaglesham-born Olympian, who led the women’s volleyball team at the London 2012 Games, delivered a presentation detailing her experiences as a schoolgirl and how she got to where she is.

Lynne spoke in front of around 300 girls in the school’s sports hall where she explained the importance of keeping active.

She said: “Sport and physical activity should play an important part in girls’ lives as exercise can help in so many different ways.

“It helps build self-confidence and makes you feel good.

“It’s a great way to get you working as a team and if you are going to be healthy you have a better quality of life.

“But girls can be self-conscious about taking part in sports and physical activity, so it’s important to encourage them as much as we can.”

More than 2,000 girls from across East Renfrewshire were given the opportunity to take part in a variety of events through the Active Girls Day.

The sportscotland-led initiative aims to increase girls’ and young women’s participation in P.E. and extracurricular sport.

Organised by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure (ERCL), all of the region’s secondary schools got involved in this year’s Active Girls Day.

Anthony McReavy, chief executive of ERCL, said: “Our aim is to encourage everyone to become more active.

“The activities around Active Girls Day were a huge success with so many girls taking part in everything from sports to aerobic and dance classes – and even exercising with weighted hula-hoops.

“I hope they continue to enjoy the benefits of exercise in whatever form that may come.”

ERCL offers a number of activities for women of all ages.

One of the most popular of which is the Active WAGS (women and girls) programme where mums, aunties and grandmothers can take part in sports sessions with younger relatives.

For more information, visit www.ercultureandleisure.org/sportsactivities2016