I've got so much I want to write in this blog and over the past week have been mulling over what to tackle first. But maybe I need to go back to why sport matters for me, first, before I get on to why I think it should matter in a wider sphere.

Most people who know me now would find this odd, but when I was at school I would never have described myself as sporty and definitely not as good at sport. I was the one who tried hard. I even got a trophy once for 'sporting endeavour', much to the astonishment of the rest of my class, who made up most of the school hockey and netball teams. I can't catch a ball and I have one running speed. I was an average club-level swimmer for years.

It wasn't until I got to university and discovered rowing that I really found my passion and found a sport I was both fairly good at and came to love. I think I loved it from the start, despite the stupidly early mornings and the blisters and despite my seat breaking during my first-ever race. Some 17 years on from that day, I own a boat, blades, a ridiculous amount of rowing kit and my hands are a permanent mess of callouses.

Looking back now it's arguable that I have gained more from learning to row at university than I have from my degree. I've made some of my closest friends through rowing and it was through volunteer reporting at the international regattas hosted at Eton Dorney in 2005 and 2006 that I picked up reporting jobs at the London 2012 Olympics and the Rugby World Cup.

Perhaps more importantly I think rowing has given me confidence and a competitive streak which I didn't have before. It's taught me to push myself harder than I ever thought possible and the true meaning of teamwork - both things which can be useful in everyday life too.

It saddens me that so many people (men and women, though mostly women) haven't had the good fortune to find a sport they love in the same way I found rowing, and that it's only recently that any real effort is being made to change this. But that's why the next blog post will look at Sport England's #thisgirlcan campaign, and what impact it has made so far.