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20 Jun 2020 76

UK Coaching backs National School Sport Week at Home

Nationwide campaign will ensure that no child misses out on their school sports day by uniting the country in a celebration of the power of sport to bring people together

UK Coaching is today (20 June) joining the Youth Sport Trust and Sky Sports to help young people and families up and down the country engage in a week of virtual sporting challenges. 

We will be helping the Youth Sport Trust to reach young people and families by providing advice and guidance on how to deliver great sessions wherever you are.

With young people set to miss out on a School Sports Day this summer, the Youth Sport Trust’s annual National School Sport Week campaign is this year being opened up to parents and families and reinvented as National School Sport Week at Home.

UK Coaching knows how important sport and physical activity is for children and young people, and coaches are central to this. Of the three million people coaching in the UK on a regular basis, many coach children in and out of school, and they have continued to be there to support children during lockdown. 

UK Coaching is here to support coaches to master new skills and learn how to deliver effective virtual or social distance-based activities. We know that many coaches have still been operating in schools where key worker children are remaining in lessons, and these coaches have helped to keep sport and physical education a priority at this time.

Parents too have become Home Coaching Heroes, and coaches have continued to keep connected with parents and children throughout the lockdown period, providing innovative ways to keep on coaching so no child misses the opportunity to experience great coaching.

Taking place from 20 to 26 June, the UK-wide campaign will give families, communities, schools and sports clubs the chance to capture the enjoyment, competition and camaraderie they have been missing out on during weeks of school closures and social distancing.

UK Coaching will be supporting the campaign by sharing the Youth Sport Trust’s content through its social channels, as well as signposting parents and coaches to its learning and development platform – ukcoaching.org; where they will find the best coaching hints and tips to support their children during the school sport week and beyond, including four new infographics to help coaches return to coaching under the current Government Covid-19 guidelines. 

UK Coaching’s Policy and Partnership Manager Heather Douglas, said: 

We are proud to support the Youth Sport Trust’s National School Sport Week at Home. We understand that physical activity and sport is of paramount importance to children, young people and families at this time.  Children and young people can benefit both physically and mentally through movement and skill development delivered through the power of great coaching.

"Coaches, and parents coaching at home, have played a key role bringing communities together during the coronavirus pandemic, and will play a critical role as restrictions are eased. We will do everything we can to support them."

In previous years, National School Sport Week has seen thousands of schools join in a week-long celebration of school sport and Physical Education, playing an important role in enhancing young people’s well-being.

This year, Sky Sports has teamed up with the Youth Sport Trust to supercharge the campaign, helping to inspire families across the country to take part. This builds on a long-term relationship between the broadcaster and the charity.

Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver said: 

The Youth Sport Trust is thrilled to see supporters like UK Coaching backing National School Sport Week at Home to ensure no child misses out on their school sports day this summer.

“Right now, young people are missing their friends and missing the sense of connection they get through sport. Sport has such a crucial role to play in promoting young people’s well-being and this has never been more apparent than it is now. After weeks of isolation we hope that YST National School Sport Week at Home 2020 can help bring families, communities, schools and sports clubs back together.”

Anyone can register to take part and will receive videos and activity cards to help them plan a series of challenges across the week for their families, neighbours, friends or colleagues.

The official hashtag for the campaign is #NSSWtogether

Join the conversation on returning to coaching via UK Coaching’s community platform ConnectedCoaches. 

For more information and to sign up to take part in this summer’s National School Sport Week at Home go to: https://www.youthsporttrust.org/national-school-sport-week-home.