Jean Limpitlaw, manager of the Cobblers Study Centre, could hardly be described as an Iron Lady from her slight but athletic appearance - but then we all know that appearances can be very deceptive.

In fact Jean went to Hawaii last year after qualifying for the world finals of the Xterra triathlon championships in her age group. This year she competed in the Iron Man Switzerland competition and came through one of the toughest events in world sport.

She started with a 3.8 kilometre swim, followed by 180 kilometres on her bicycle and then a 42-kilometre run. "I had to complete it all in one day," she says. "I made it in 12 hours 50 minutes. I would have liked to be quicker but it wasn't too bad.

"It is a really unbelievable event but I don't think I will rush to do it again, I'll stick to the Xterra triathlons."

This year Jean has continued to compete as a tri-athlete mainly in the Xterra events which include mountain biking off road. Once again she qualified through the European circuit to compete in the world finals but admits she could not afford to go.

"I shall make a real effort to qualify again in 2008." she says. "I do it because we have a great group in Team Milton Keynes and my social life is tied up with it."

A quiet weekend for Jean recently was to join her team-mates for a trip to Scotland for a ride around the mountains near Fort William.

But Jean stresses that her own sporting activities are just a sideline compared to what she describes as "The perfect job for me," as manager of a high-tech centre that stimulates interest in children from a wide range of local schools who come in their own time to continue learning.

The Study Centre is part of the Playing for Success programme, a Government initiative in professional sports clubs all around the country and the Sixfields Centre opened in 2004. It was meant to be part of the West Stand development - and still will be once that can be achieved.

It had to use the Carlsberg bar to begin with but now has moved to a brand new building beside the South Stand car park, the funding for which came from Northamptonshire County Council and the Football Foundation.

Jean, South African born but living in England for the past 12 years, took up her post last year, and was happy to show me round the Centre and explain how the scheme works.

"We have two teaching rooms," she says, "With 13pcs, 14 lap-tops, an inter-active white board and both digital and video cameras. The whole place is internet wired. We target children aged from ages 10 to 13 and concentrate of raising achievement levels in literacy, numeracy and ICT using football as a motivating factor.

"The children come after school as part of a study support programme, in what is their free time, so learning has to be fun. The idea is for them to learn without realising they are learning.

"I have a broad range of sporting interests and I think that is a great benefit in communicating with children. Those who come here don't have to be interested in sport but a sporting base is still a great place to start with many kids."

Jean was brought up in Johannesburg and earned her University degrees in English and PE. Twelve years ago she decided to come to England but just what she intended to do she is not sure.

"I suppose that is the big mystery," she admits. "I came as part of a desire to travel and sort of got stuck. I brought my mountain bike with me and first of all fell in love with Scotland when I was racing the bike there. Then came the winter and I moved south."

In fact she taught PE and geography in a pupil referral unit in Islington, cycling to work each day across the city from where she was living in Wimbledon. Next came a move to live in Luton and five years as head of PE at a residential school for boys with behavioural difficulties in High Wycombe.

"They were happy years with freedom to try things ou,t" she says. "Then I took a job as manager of a learning support unit in Milton Keynes. I hadn't been there long when I spotted the advert for the Sixfields job. It looked the perfect job for me, and I was right."

Jean moved to the town just as soon as she was appointed, in fact three months before she started the job last year.

She sums up: "With my team we can offer a dynamic programme. I have an amazing job, one of the best possible within teaching, working with young people in a motivating environment. They seem to thrive on it and the football involvement is a great help. Their level of excitement just when they arrive at the stadium is phenomenal."

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