Latest news with #Hunter
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Travis Hunter's wife Leanna Lenee sobs in viral video after online trolling, ‘I wish I could go back and hug…'
Travis Hunter's wife recently posted an emotional video on social media of her sobbing in December last year. Following the pair's marriage, Leanna Lenee, Hunter's wife, faced online trolling from fans who accused her of being a gold digger and cheating on him. Following the public scrutiny, Lenee took a break from social media for some time and returned online after her wedding to Hunter on May 24 this year. Travis Hunter's wife Leanna Lenee sobs in viral video after online trolling (leannalenee/Instagram) 'I wish I could go back and hug December me, because oh baby, God was about to change your heart in the most important and beautiful way. I don't even recognize this girl anymore. The amount you can grow and develop in just 6 months of devoting your life to Jesus and getting away from the shackles of the world and social media is truly astounding. I wish the peace I found within Jesus on everyone who reads this. Your identity in him matters, not how people choose to perceive you,' Lenee wrote in the caption of a video from December last year which shows her sobbingz, while wrapped in a towel. It's hard to make out her exact words, however, since a sermon by T.D. Jakes, a motivational speaker, pastor, and New York Times bestselling author keeps playing in the background. 'And when God gets ready to make you a great woman, you know he's going to make you great by how you suffer. The greater the glory, the more intense the story, because you can't get this all out of a book,' the sermon says. When and why did Leanna Lenee face online trolling? A series of incidents over time led to Lenee being trolled online. One such incident showed Colorado head coach Deion Sanders asking her to stand and applaud Hunter for winning the Heisman trophy in December, as reported by The New York Post. She later addressed the public backlash that followed in a TikTok video, which has now been deleted. The former quarterback also deleted his social media at the time. The couple has chosen to keep their life more private ever since. – By Stuti Gupta
South Wales Argus
12 hours ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Sarah Hunter excited about combining parenting with coaching
Hunter, who retired from playing in 2023, aims to be a role model for others wanting to combine coaching with having a child. 'Becoming a mother has been the best thing ever, I feel really lucky to have Olivia,' the 39-year-old said. 'It was a decision between myself and my partner Nathan, who also works in rugby, that actually I do want to come back to work. 'I do want to show that you can be a female coach in a high-performance environment and still be a mum. 'I was very adamant that I wanted to juggle the balance of that. Then you throw a home World Cup into it all, and I just didn't want to pass up the opportunity to have that opportunity to do it. 'I feel very lucky and privileged that I am part of the Red Roses and have been given the opportunity to do it through the Red Roses, the RFU and the Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA) to try and be the best coach I can be.' Hunter joined the Red Roses coaching staff only a few months after retiring, as part of the first cohort of female coaches on the Gallagher High Performance Academy. The North Shields native was given support through mentoring and workshops, as well as being embedded with the England team for the first WXV tournament, which the Red Roses won. Sixteen more female coaches will be part of the GHPA at the Rugby World Cup, with World Rugby aiming to have women making up at least 40 per cent of coaching staff at the tournament. Hunter is joined by Lou Meadows and Kate Tyler as mothers as part of the England backroom staff and has cited football coach Emma Hayes and Keely Hodgkinson's coach Jenny Meadows as inspirations. She said: 'Hopefully in time, Olivia will look back and see and be proud of what her mum has done. 'The opportunity to coach your national side who are one of the best teams in the world at a home World Cup may never come around again. 'When you are away from her, the times are hard, I just have to keep reminding myself of the reasons why and the importance of being in camp and the importance of doing my very best so there is something for her to be proud of when you return home. 'I want to take that role on and it is a bit of a responsibility to showcase that you can do both.' Hunter and England head into the home World Cup, which begins on 22 August at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, having not lost since defeat in the final of the previous World Cup in New Zealand. Ticket sales are continuing to break records and the chance to be a part of it was too good for Hunter to turn down. 'The hopes around what this tournament could be back when the announcement happened to what it is now, all those plans that are coming to fruition,' she said. "The expectation of what we thought it could be to how it is now and hopefully by the end of September that is going to be blown out of the water.'
South Wales Argus
12 hours ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Emily Scarratt 'priceless' to England, says Sarah Hunter
Leicester-born Scarratt spent more than a year away from the game with a serious neck injury that threatened to cut her career short but has since returned to the England set-up and will be a key part of the Red Roses' bid for a first world title since 2014. "She is just incredible,' Hunter said. 'When you look back on her career and being a superstar, she was the first player that brought a level and quality to the game that we hadn't seen before. HISTORY 🌹 The moment @EmilyScarratt became the Red Roses record point scorer. Watch LIVE on @SkySports Main Event. — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 10, 2020 'She was a generational talent and if you think about the length of time she has been able to do that, it is incredible. 'Then you throw in her leadership skills, the presence that she has in the team, you can't underestimate it. 'You look at what has happened post that World Cup in 2022 to now and what she has been through in a potentially career-ending injury. 'It wasn't just to get back playing, it was to have a normal life, the injury she had. I think that takes a lot of strength of character so to get back to the level that she has done is a testament to the person that she is.' Having played together for over a decade, Hunter now sees Scarratt's brilliance from a different angle, serving as defence coach for England. Hunter took up the role having been part of the Gallagher High Performance Academy in 2023, a scheme delivered by World Rugby to increase the number of women coaching. Close to 50 women will have benefitted from the scheme by the end of the World Cup in England which begins on 22 August in Sunderland. Scarratt, who won the World Cup alongside Hunter in 2014, also coaches at a grassroots level and could potentially follow Hunter into elite-level coaching when she eventually hangs up her boots. Hunter added: 'She just adds so much to the team environment, her experience, her calmness, her leadership, when she speaks, people listen. 'The ability to make people around her look good, having her in a World Cup squad is priceless. 'It is really special for her if the Red Roses go on to win it in a home World Cup.
South Wales Argus
12 hours ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Sarah Hunter hails importance of Rugby World Cup heading to her home
The North Shields native will be part of the Red Roses' coaching staff when England take on the USA in Sunderland for the opening match of the tournament on 22 August. With no professional women's rugby team in her home region, Hunter believes the World Cup can play a huge role in inspiring the next generation. "When we look at the World Cup, the success of the team is important, but I guess for myself, but it is also about legacy," she said. 'If we don't grow the game from a grassroots level, and we don't get more people coming into the game, then the international game is not going to keep flourishing. 'Especially in the places where they might not have Premiership teams, they might just need that little bit of exposure and visibility to draw them into the game.' York will also host games in the North East of England, while England's other group stage matches are in Northampton and Brighton. Hunter retired from rugby after playing her final Red Roses game in Newcastle and almost immediately transitioned into coaching. She was supported by the Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA), a World Rugby initiative which aims to increase the number of female coaches in elite rugby. It does so by providing workshops and mentors as well as embedding coaches with unions at major tournaments. Sixteen more coaches will be involved in the GHPA at the Rugby World Cup, while Hunter's role is just one of the success stories of the first cohort. It is a journey that would never have started without watching her first England game. She added: 'I didn't even realise England Women had a team until I was 16 and that is because I had to go down to London to watch a game. 'But now that could be a 14 or 15-year-old girl in the North East where they have been taken to go to the Stadium of Light where you've got the Red Roses coming. 'You've got some of the best players in the world and just that inspiration that they might need, that they might not have got otherwise. 'It is going to be a theme as we go through this whole World Cup of what can the players do, what can the teams do to create that lasting legacy in this country but globally as well.' Gallagher is Right Here for Rugby; Right Here for Business; and Right Here for You.
South Wales Argus
12 hours ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Women's Rugby World Cup will change the sport, says Hunter
England will play host to the biggest Women's Rugby World Cup ever seen when it gets underway in Sunderland on 22 August. Ticket sales have already broken records, but Hunter believes the impact goes past just the game in England. 'It is global. Because we are in England, we think about what can the growth be like here, but I genuinely think this could be a moment in time for the women's game worldwide,' Hunter said. 'What it can do to create that lasting legacy that really puts women's rugby on the map. 'If you look at where all the countries are coming from, you have South America, Brazil coming to their first World Cup, you've got Samoa returning for the first time in 11 years. 'All these wonderful nations, including Canada and the USA which in the men's game you might not think they are traditional rugby countries. 'I think that is what is so good about the women's game is that actually, it gets into places that maybe it hasn't been thought they play rugby. 'The eyes of the world will be on this tournament and if that is in countries that don't normally have rugby then that is a window where they can create their own legacy in their own right. 'Whether that is playing, whether that is fanbase, whatever that might be, I just think we've got a real opportunity, we've got more media attention, more fans coming from around the world. 'I think it is a prime opportunity to grow the game globally.' It is not just on the pitch or in the stands that the World Cup will have impact, with coaching set to be a key focus. The Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA) will see 16 female coaches embedded within their unions during the tournament. The World Rugby initiative aims to increase the number of female coaches in elite rugby by providing workshops and mentors as well as first-hand experience at tournaments. Hunter, who now serves as England defence coach, was part of the first GHPA cohort and believes it is doing important work in removing the barriers for women coaching in rugby. She added: 'Some of the barriers females find going into coaching, they don't often know the pathway exists or the opportunity is there. 'Sometimes I guess it might be seen as a risk to take on board a female who doesn't necessarily have all the previous experience, but they have got the skillset and the ability to do it. 'But they haven't been given the opportunity so that is what the High Performance Academy does. 'It gives people the opportunity to get a foot in the door, and it also allows the nation to have a female come in and just see the added value can have in their programme.' Gallagher is Right Here for Rugby; Right Here for Business; and Right Here for You.
