Pearl Sethna

Partnership Development Manager

Pearl brings a wealth of experience from both the public and education sectors. A former England karate squad member, she has always been a firm believer that there is a sport to suit each individual and that physical activity should be for all, with everyone having the right to access it. She graduated from Liverpool John Moore’s University with a BSc (Hons) in Sports Science and has worked around the UK in Liverpool, Perth, Edinburgh and now Croydon.

Pearl specialises in inclusive opportunities; she has been responsible for setting up an extensive sports programme for SEND children in Croydon, which has been running for 22 years. An experienced event manager, she has also been the Borough Team Organiser for Croydon’s London Youth Games Teams and has led Croydon to win the ParaGames Trophy for eight years and to overall winner in 2012.

Pearl’s role is to manage the partnership team (job sharing with Heidi) and is responsible for the overall strategic direction and continuation of the team.

As a mum of two active teenagers, Pearl is more than qualified at juggling the demands of work and home life and enjoys spending time in the local countryside with her two dogs.

Heidi Lukes

Partnership Development Manager

Heidi has over 14 years experience within physical education development, having worked in various roles within sports partnerships before becoming partnership development manager of the former Woodcote School Sports Partnership. When central government funding ceased in 2011, Heidi was responsible for the restructuring and implementation of Croydon SSP in its current form to ensure its continuation to be able to provide sporting opportunities to all abilities and levels.

Heidi is passionate about our service and believes that schools should be given the confidence and skills to provide a rounded offer for all pupils.

Heidi’s role is to manage the partnership team (job sharing with Pearl) and is responsible for the overall strategic direction and continuation of the team.

Heidi is a mum of two young children and is understanding of the difficulties of keeping children active and away from constant screen time.

Agata Maj

Senior Sport & PE Development Officer / Leadership, Coaching & Volunteering Lead

Agata has over 15 years of experience in teaching and school sports development across London and South East. Qualified as both primary and secondary PE teacher with MScs in Physical Education and Health, as well as MScs in Professional Communication, Agata is passionate about using the power of sport and education to positively shape young people’s lives and supporting schools to ensure their students reach their very best.

gata loves working towards achieving great results at both grassroot and elite levels and keeping herself busy – she is a former double world champion in dance (2004 and 2005) and is also proud to work for our partner Create Development as a real PE and real gym tutor as well as International Relations Coordinator and Competition Director for the International Dance Federation IDF, where she continues to develop the structure of global dance sport competitions.

Daniel Beecham

Sport & PE Development Officer

Daniel graduated from University of East London with a BSc Hons in Sport, Physical Education and Development. Experienced in delivering Physical Education within schools, Daniel is passionate about using sport as a positive tool to impact and help manoeuvre young people within their lives.

Daniel is determined on making sure all the schools he works with feel enthused and excited about school sport and physical education. He is motivated and eager to demonstrate his skill-set and looks forward to bringing new ideas and continuing the great work already being done in schools.

Naturally, being a sportsman, he brings a wealth of knowledge from playing and coaching in grassroots and elite level sport. Being a product of his environment he believes everyone deserves the opportunity to experience sport and competition, and he looks to provide these platforms to young people within the London Borough of Croydon.

Lisa Traynor

Sport & PE Development Officer

Lisa joined Croydon SSP after 16 years working as a PE Teacher in a Sutton Secondary School. She has a BSc in Secondary Education and Physical Education from Brunel University. During her teaching career, Lisa also worked for the Sutton SSP and aims to use her understanding of how learning progresses across the key stages to enhance the educational outcomes for all children.

he has extensive sporting knowledge, having taught across all aspects of the National Curriculum, including swimming, dance, OAA, gymnastics, athletics and a host of games activities. Her main passion is football, having played for Wimbledon, Carshalton, Hampton and Richmond and currently Merstham FC.

n 2012, Lisa was awarded a Jack Petchey Award for Outstanding Service to Young People. Highly passionate about sport, she always aims to instil a love of physical activity in young people so that they may be motivated to remain active throughout their lives.

Kieran Daly

Sport & PE Development Officer

Kieran has wide range of sporting experience and a passion for sports and physical education. Kieran is also a former international sprinter who previously represented both England and Great Britain. Combining studies with his training, he graduated from Middlesex University with a BSc Hons in Sport and Exercise Science in 2016.

Since graduating, Kieran has worked in various sporting roles and has years of experience coaching and teaching physical education, most recently as a Physical Education Lead in a school in Bromley and part-time as an Academy Sports Scientist at Gillingham Football Club.

Kieran hopes to bring his previous experience to his role at Croydon SSP, where he’ll be working with schools in South Croydon, alongside organising and planning competitions with the rest of the CSSP team. He aims to bring his passion for sport to inspire children with new ideas and to help them unlock the possibilities that sport can bring.

Kieran, alongside CSSP team, will be involved in a wide range of programmes. In particular, as lead for CSSP Gifted and talent programme, where he wants to provide a pathway in sports and education for sporting talent within the London Borough of Croydon.

Miranda Heaton

Administration Officer

Miranda manages the admin side of things in the CSSP office. Sending out invites and other emails to our network of PE contacts, allocating and confirming competition places and overall supporting our team and responding to your general enquiries.

Unlike the rest of the team, Miranda didn’t enjoy sport when she was younger, due to her poor co-ordination and 2-D vision! However, Miranda loves to see how PE in schools has changed so much – especially how sport and physical activity can be such a positive tool and accessible to all.

Miranda’s favourite activity is to be outside, walking…at a fair speed!