What Team England means to me: Holly Mills

Heptathlete Holly Mills knows exactly why representing Team England is so special having acted as flagbearer at the Nassau 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. And now the 22-year-old is ready for the step up as she makes her senior debut for Team England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. 

Holly won gold and stood on the top of the long jump podium in Bahamas five years ago after beating Canada’s Tatiana Aholou and Team England team-mate Lucy Hadaway with an incredible Commonwealth Youth Games record of 6.19m.  

That experience in the Thomas Robinson Stadium is one that Holly will never forget – it was her first success for Team England, and she makes it clear just how unique representing your country at the Commonwealth Games is. 

“It was a really good experience [Nassau] – it was very different,” said Holly. “It’s the only time when I’ve actually done an abroad England meet. It was very different from competing for Great Britain because it was a multi-sports event, which is something that I’m glad I experienced because I’ve not had the opportunity since. 

“It was great because all of the sports were different and they were off doing their own thing, but it still felt like a great team spirit between everyone, and the smaller team allowed everyone to become more familiar with each other. 

“There are still people that I am in contact with now that I go on training camps with from when we went to the Bahamas - that was another perk of it, its location. 

“I was selected as Team England’s flag bearer for the opening ceremony, so that’s something that will always stay with me, being at the front of the whole team carrying the flag with me around the stadium. 

“That was an honour to be selected for that out of all of the other great athletes that were on that team, so that’s definitely a stand-out moment in my career to date for me.” 

Holly was competing as solely a long jumper in 2017 and much has changed in her career since – making the switch to heptathlon. She described the following year as a "really terrible" season, struggling in the Junior World Championships, but it was also the time she embarked to university at Brunel. 

It was there that she decided to branch out from one event to seven, reaching the Olympic qualification benchmark in 2021, and only missing out on Tokyo by two places. And ahead of Birmingham, Holly is excited to perform in front of a home crowd. 

“It’s the dream of every athlete to be in front of a home crowd, I remember going and watching the 2012 Olympics in London, and it was just incredible,” said Holly. “I think I took it for granted at the time, how big the British crowd that actually turned out was, and now I actually look back at videos and pictures from that time, and just the stadium was absolutely jam-packed, and everyone was there – there was a whole buzz. 

“So, to actually get a Games here in my lifetime where I can compete in front of a home crowd and more of my family and friends can come and see me without having to travel across to the other side of the world – that’s incredible! 

“And for it to come so early in my career – it’s a big opportunity for me to be able to establish myself with the British public. Obviously competing so close to them at home, it’s great for me to be able to show them what I’ve been training for, what I can do and perform in front of them. 

“None of it would have been possible without SportsAid’s help and support over the years, and I’m super excited to show what I can do in Birmingham.” 

Commonwealth Games England has appointed SportsAid to lead on the development, management and operational delivery of Team England Futures at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The programme, supported by Sport England, will reinforce the importance of the Commonwealth Games, particularly one hosted on home soil, as a developmental opportunity within the talent and performance pathway!