COLUMN: Young people in Peak Distirct train to be sports leaders

Young leaders at Hartington Young People's Activity Club (HYPAC) have been working together on their leadership skills to achieve their Community Sports Leaders level two award.
Alice BassettAlice Bassett
Alice Bassett

The training took place over four days in a two week period earlier in July, with the volunteers undertaking a variety of activities to improve their skills and leadership qualities.

The training was delivered by Sporting Futures, an inclusive coaching company that focuses on sports development in children and young people.

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Bethany Ball, Jodie Ball, Ben Broadley, Katie Broadley, Alice Wager and Olivia Williams completed a range of activities that allowed them to consider leadership attributes and debate what makes a good/ bad leader, as well as develop their planning and evaluative skills, which are vital since the group successfully plan and lead a variety of sporting sessions for members of the youth club each week.

The most important section of the training was the focus on delivering impactful physical activity sessions and events, which is the most important role of the HYPAC leader’s volunteering, as their sessions cover a wide range of sports such as football, tag rugby and netball which cater for a variety of abilities, ages and interests.

During the training, each leader delivered three sessions in a range of activities, and placed a heavy emphasis on trying new activities and stepping outside of their comfort zones.

The leaders also had to work together to plan and deliver an event to key stage two pupils from Hartington Primary School.

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With Wimbledon in full swing, the leaders organised and delivered a tennis taster event, which aimed to introduce the children to the sport and give them an opportunity to practice and try new skills, as well as play adapted games.

This gave the children a chance to improve on what many had learnt through attending HYPAC, enabling them to develop and grow in their skills during the event.

This event was fantastically received and enjoyed by the pupils and the school, with all of the leaders effectively working and communicating as a team to ensure its success.

The leaders will now complete a further ten hours volunteering in local community sport in order to achieve their level two Sports Leadership Award, which will be of great benefit to both themselves and the club.