Active Sussex announced as recipient of local coach engagement pilot contract to put kids first in sport and physical activity

Active Sussex are proud to announce that we are a Play Their Way Community Builder and we will be championing child-first coaching in our local community.

Being a Community Builder means we will now be one of the leaders of the grassroots movement ‘Play Their Way’ to build a network of coaches who will ensure children’s voices are heard and their choices are respected as part of all sport and physical activity.

Research from the Play Their Way campaign has indicated the majority of coaches align with the idea of child-first coaching, but currently nearly a third of coaches say they don’t apply the behaviours of it in their coaching sessions.

Active Partnerships and coaching organisations were invited to apply for a limited number of £5,000 contracts to grow a localised network of child-first coaches in their local area.

The pilot project will focus on meeting the needs of the community to best support children and young people, to feel empowered to collaborate with their coaches and play an active role in leading their individual sporting journey.

Active Sussex will continue to advocate and champion a child-first coaching approach within the local community, with the wider objective of ensuring everyone has fair and equal access to sport and physical activity.

As part of the pilot project, UK Coaching – the sole organisation to support the nations’ 3 million coaches on best practice, learning, and research – will be deploying their coaching team to provide specialist support to help guide the pilot project.

Fellow participants of the project will include England Netball, Be Active Bedfordshire, Energise Me, Active Gloucester, Exeter City FC, Nottingham Trent University, Black Country CIC – Black Country Coaches Club and RFL & Leeds Rhinos.

Andy Wright, Strategic Relationship Manager for Children and Young People at Active Sussex, reflected on the award, saying: “We are big believers of the Play Their Way campaign and it is a key strand in our strategy action plan this year, so to be awarded one of the grants to grow our network is both a privilege and brilliant timing.

“We have been promoting the campaign to our partner organisations for a year now, but this funding allows us to take the next step in our engagement by building a network of coaches who are ready to deliver with a child-first approach to their coaching and open to learn and develop their practices whilst acting as ambassadors to the wider network.

“We really can’t wait to get started.”

Heather Douglas, Head of Coaching and Policy at UK Coaching, praised Active Sussex for their ongoing commitment to changing the culture of how children and young people are coached.

She said: “We are delighted to continue our grassroots led approach and support more organisations to engage their peers and become advocates for a child-first rights respecting approach to coaching.

“The community benefit that we see thanks to great coaching is profound, and it is so important that coaches are correctly supported to be their best and embed a child-first approach in everything they do.

“Play Their Way is working at a local level to make a national change in how young people are treated in sport and physical activity – it is our mission that every child has their right to be heard, play, develop and be respected throughout their journey in sport and physical activity.”

The Play Their Way campaign was launched in 2023 to transform the way children and young people are coached by prioritising their rights, needs and enjoyment in a ‘child-first’ approach.

The campaign is funded by Sport England and The National Lottery and is led by the 17 partner organisations that make up the CCC.

To learn more about the campaign, access resources and sign up to join the biggest grassroots movement to transform the way we coach our children and young people visit  www.playtheirway.org.

To express your interest in being part of the new Play Their Way Community Builder network, please fill out the expression of interest form found here by Monday, August 5, 2024.