Levelling the Playing Field has partnered with the Youth Charter to offer our specialist partners the chance to enrol on their Social Coach Leadership Programme.
The Social Coach Leadership Programme (SCLP) has been designed to give staff at community and third-sector organisations the cultural, language and behaviour tools to successfully engage young people in their communities who are in need of opportunities and positive role models.
The programme is linked with the Birmingham 2022 legacy programme. The aim is to raise sport and physical activity participation in targeted areas in the West Midlands and beyond, by training up a dedicated ’social coach community’.
The Youth Charter’s Community Campuses in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry are to be hubs of learning for LtPF’s West Midlands local delivery partners as well as LtPF strategic leads from across our Community of Practice.
The SCLP is the brainchild of five-times world karate champion, award-winning sports administrator and social diversity campaigner Geoff Thompson MBE. It is inspired by the many diverse influences on his own sporting career, his experience of working in South African townships and the philosophies of Muhammad Ali.
Geoff explains: “My sporting upbringing, Nelson Mandela’s vision for sport in South Africa and Ali’s philosophy based on confidence, conviction, dedication, giving respect and spirituality all had common values that I felt should be reflected in every ‘social coach’ working with young people.
“That’s why the Youth Charter started to formalise these aspects into a coordinated, accredited programme that would give people the tools to build all-important trust, confidence and respect with young people in communities that were for many years considered ‘hard to reach’.”
The SCLP has modules that reflect the experience of coaching in different social and cultural settings, each with a selection of real-life learning scenarios and actions to suit the demographic. They produce practical solutions that the learners can take back out into the field. It also has an ongoing development pathway which allows learners to progress and expand their knowledge at their own pace.
Explaining the rationale behind the programme, Geoff says: “For many years, we’ve asked ourselves why we’re not getting the participation levels we want, especially from areas of historical deprivation and disadvantage. The reason is we haven’t got the right coaches.
“Good social coaches have empathy, humour, must be humble but confident, adaptable, exemplify good behaviours and bring with them a diverse range of life experiences so they can tell a compelling story and inspire and give hope to the young people in front of them. They must also have the resilience to stay with the relationship whatever challenges it presents.
“As I saw in the South African townships, the best coaches are from within the community working with the community. It creates a sustainable ecosystem. It’s the best way to ensure relationships of trust, confidence and respect are established and maintained.
“Local recruitment of coaches is so important and it’s why we’re so excited to link up with Levelling the Playing Field’s network of coaches and mentors who, in many cases, serve the communities where they grew up themselves. This programme is an ideal fit with LtPF. Within one meeting it was obvious there was alignment and potential for a really impactful collaboration.
“This will be something that really benefits the West Midlands and will be one of the major legacies of the Commonwealth Games – helping to activate and energise young people in underserved and diverse communities with a leadership network of trained and capable social coaches united by a common purpose.”
Justin Coleman, COO of the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice, who manage LtPF, said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to all our LtPF specialist organisations and key support partners from across sport and the Youth Justice System.
“Building a collaborative and interdependent Community of Practice will only happen if we get behind the common goals and work together on united approaches. This Birmingham 2022 legacy programme is an opportunity for communities to come together and show young people the right way to support each other and embed that good practice for years to come.”
The Social Coach Leadership Programme Introduction Workshop is on Saturday February 19th from 10.30am-1.30pm at PwC, One Chamberlain Sq, Birmingham, B3 3AX.
(Pics credits: InPower and Sport4Life)