With the Women's World Cup in full flight we're celebrating some of our fantastic female colleagues who are passionate about taking part in sporting activities where they live.
Across the UK lots of our colleagues are involved in coaching or playing a wide range of sports from football to ice skating, rugby to martial arts, netball to crown green bowls.
Cheryl Rea from our Antrim store played for Northern Ireland in a netball career spanning 19 years, winning a silver medal in the Netball European Championships.
Cheryl, who's worked at the store for nine years, said: "With the ladies football World Cup in full swing I think it's very important that we celebrate women in sport."
Before she stopped playing for the national team Cheryl was selected for a tournament against teams from England, New Zealand and Australia, playing against netball stars such as Verity Charles, Liana Leota, Caitlin Bassett, Caitlin Thwaites, Eboni Brown and Helen Housby.
She said: "I managed to achieve all this while working nightshift at Asda Antrim with the help of my very patient managers and section leaders giving me the time off when I needed it. Even now I still get every Thursday night off to train with my local club Valley Netball Club and 19 years later from when I first held a netball I still have the same love for the sport as I did back then." Read Cheryl's story here.
Dianne Musham from our Gosforth store took up taekwondo so she wouldn't get bored as she watched her daughter train – and now she has a cabinet full of trophies after excelling at the sport herself!
Dianne, who's a grandmother of two, competes in tournaments all over the country despite suffering from vertigo and rheumatoid arthritis, and recently won a silver medal in the tag category and a bronze in the individual parring at the Lincolnshire Taekwondo Championships.
She said: "I took my daughter Stacey for her first lesson when she was nine and a week later I thought, rather than just sitting round watching, I would join her." Read Dianne's story here.
Colleagues at our Basingstoke store are keeping a close eye on the progress Michelle Baxter is making after she started competing in ice skating competitions.
The store's community champion Linda Butcher said: " Michelle ice skates three days a week and won her first medal only a couple of months ago. We're very proud of her and will keep on supporting her – particularly as her coach wants her to do more international competitions."
Lyn Simpson from our Forfar store studied sports coaching with sports development at college, is a qualifiied swimming teacher, an aqua aerobics instructor and has played football for many years – and now she's training for her first triathlon.
She said: "I have always wanted to do a triathlon and am looking forward to it. I believe in setting yourself goals every year to give you something to work towards, whether it be big or small helps to keep me motivated." Read more here.
Our Halifax store's community champion Amanda Clegg has played rugby league and union for 24 years, representing both codes at county level, as well as being picked for a training squad for Wales. She also spent two years touring India playing kabaddi for England and got to play in two World Cups.
Amanda's not our only sporty colleague at the store – here's Ann-Marie who still plays netball for the Towergate club at the age of 62.
Amanda said: "Her first team she played for was Queens which was Asda Halifax’s old store before it burnt down. There's lots of history here!"
Also in Halifax, our deputy store manager Sarah Gilroy is a keen footballer – here she is in action:
Jackie Bryant, the community champion at our Frome store, shared this photo of store colleagues Holly and Zoe who play for Frome Town Ladies Football Club:
Our Birchwood store's community champion Beky Wakefield is a keen crown green bowler, playing for a team in a ladies' league in Warrington.
Beky said: "I'm vice-captain and I absolutely love it! My late mother got me playing six years ago and i just can't get enough of it! We play April to September, which is great as it gets me out in my community and I meet lots of lovely ladies who have been actively playing the sport for years. Sadly it's a declining sport and it's up to the likes of me to keep it going and help it to flourish."
Elise Sparks from our Gillingham Pier store played for the England under-19 team in the Korfball World Championships in the Netherlands. Elise has loved playing the sport – a cross between netball and basketball where men and women can play on the same team and against each other – for 10 years, and has represented her country at various age levels.
She said: "Everyone at the store has been supportive and encouraging, saying it's good to work alongside someone who's playing sport for England. My parents are very proud too, they always come along to watch me and support me." Read Elise's story here.
