Sky Blues in the Community, the charity arm of Coventry City FC, exemplify the ways that collaboration between sport and criminal justice can bring positive outcomes for children.
Many of the organisation’s sporting programmes involve close links with local police and Violence Reduction Units, helping to identify and reach those most in need, breaking down barriers and building trusting relationships.
On Friday nights, SBITC run an open-access Premier League Kicks football session which attracted over 100 young people before Covid-19. The session now has slightly reduced numbers but has been extended to three and a half hours to include as many participants as possible.
It’s intended to engage children and young people who may otherwise be tempted by crime, violence, anti-social behaviour or gang activity. Police and Violence Reduction Units refer young people to the sessions and supply information on local crime hotspots so the session is located where it’s most needed.
Having signed up to be Local Delivery Partners, SBITC have allocated this Friday night session to Levelling the Playing Field. They will record and monitor a range of participants’ data which will contribute to our evidence base of best practice – and that in turn will influence future policy and practice and enable LtPF to scale up across the country.
“We are excited to join the Level the Playing Field programme, which brings together a community of people from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a range of experiences, skills and approaches,” says SBITC’s Inclusion Manager, Craig White.
“It will help us to continue to understand and meet the needs of our young people. The community is at the heart of our culture, and we are at a beginning of an exciting journey to help develop and deliver a vital community programme.”
SBITC’s Levelling the Playing Field session on Friday night sessions is led, wherever possible, by coaches from the same communities as the participants (which is especially important where there are language barriers). Delivery staff combine the skills of coaches and youth workers, trained to help participants who are faced with issues such as county lines and violence.
The programme has had great success in improving young people’s perceptions of, and relationships with, local police. Craig admits there was some pre-conceptions and animosity when police officers started attending sessions, but they have now dissipated.
“The police support our sessions regularly, to break down that stereotype,” he says. “One officer is a Football League referee. Straight away he got their respect – especially after he told the story about sending off Frank Lampard when he was manager at Derby! They high-five him on the street. It’s worked really, really well.”
Collaboration with the police goes further. When police heard that local youths were arranging fights they invited SBITC coaches and mentors to come down and speak to the protagonists. “The police used us because of the respect we had from the young people. They soon dispersed,” says Craig.
That respect is earned by a mixture of discipline, honest and non-judgemental treatment of the young participants.
“Our discipline procedure across all our sessions is very much like professional football,” explains Craig. “If they get a yellow card, they will miss our next game. Any fighting will see them suspended for three weeks and they face a ‘return interview’. We’re not their teachers; this is their session and they can mould it how they like, we simply try and reward good behaviour.”
SBITC offer the ‘carrot’ of representing Coventry City in friendlies and tournaments (the club recently helped host the Premier League Kicks Cup against the other 60+ Premier League, EFL and National League clubs that run the programme). “We don’t pick the best players for those games, we pick the ones who have behaved well, and need support and positive encouragement,” says Craig.
“It’s important that you’re absolutely honest with them and don’t promise anything you can’t deliver. Once you’ve got the right mix – sessions, matches, tournaments, work placements, role models, peer mentoring, showing a genuine interest in their wellbeing – then those conversations really open up and we can offer a great level of support.”
There are opportunities for participants to volunteer and take FA Level 1 coaching courses, so they can expand their skillset and employability and become relatable role models for the next wave of youngsters.
Like all SBITC’s programmes, the Friday night Premier League Kicks sessions are ‘young person-led', as Craig explains: “We run a regular Youth Voice group where we ask young people what’s needed in the city, what they would like added to the programme and any concerns they have.
“We also have mentoring programmes and a job club where we ask local employers what upcoming jobs might be suitable for our young people. It doesn’t guarantee them a job, of course, but we’re able to promote opportunities to them directly.
“We also work in partnership with the Moat House Trust who help support the project, and help provide the vulnerable young people and families with food and activity packs.
“It’s a very busy range of programmes but what unites them all is being young person-led.”
To reach as many participants as possible, SBITC do outreach work in the community, approaching young people in parks and street corners. “When you go up to them with the Coventry badge on your tracksuit, they’re receptive to us,” says Craig. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of young people who say, ‘You’re the first people around here who actually come and talk to us!’
“We’ve got steering groups with local police, the Moat House Trust, colleges, churches and mosques, where we share information at that table. It's a support mechanism where individuals have everyone rooting for them to do well,” adds Craig.
It’s a fabulous example of sport coming together with other strong pillars of the community to improve the health and life prospects of those who need it most.
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