It was great to watch Sport England’s ‘Uniting the Movement’ strategy and exciting to see all the positive messages on social media from colleagues representing sport and physical activity across the country.

There were constant references to the importance of supporting people to make this 10-year vision a reality, which connects with UK Coaching’s mission to get, and keep, the nation more active through our coaching family. 

As we emerge from the pandemic, this is going to be more vital than ever before.

Key conduits

As we know, many young people are failing to meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise and almost a third of children were classed as ‘inactive’ as a result of the first lockdown. Transforming fitness levels, tackling obesity and focusing on those who have been ‘left behind’ is at the heart of Sport England’s strategy and sits right at the centre of our own thinking.

We have been working hard over the last few years to redefine the word coach, which for many painted an image of some super fit human being in a tracksuit with a whistle, standing at the side of a sports pitch. If you’re helping people to move or are offering support, you are a coach.

Great coaches across sport and activity settings don’t just inspire people to get active but can bring communities together. We must invest in great coaches and include more people into the coaching family to ensure accessible activity is available for all. And as we drive this agenda, we must be able to fund and employ coaches who work in communities that have been hit hardest.

Together, we must also ensure all coaches are equipped with the right tools to come on this journey. The world we live in has gone digital and we know that some coaches have been lost in this digital revolution because they’re not on social networks or connecting with online learning. We are working hard to ensure we are talking to every coach – and potential coach – in every sector and at every level of accessibility.

Challenge unacceptable behaviours

If we are to truly enable equality, we all need to be ready to listen and act on the needs of all who play, or could play, such a vital role in the coaching family and take a collective responsibility to challenge behaviours that are not welcome in our world. 

With that in mind, we are excited to launch our Coaching Advisory Panel next week – part of our ongoing work to tackle inequalities and put the coach at the heart of our activity. Collaborative work between national strategic partners, national governing bodies of sport, community leaders and coaches and our network will ensure that we gather the right information to drive our own strategy, which we will develop in the coming months.

Sport England’s CEO Tim Hollingsworth spoke to a number of organisations following the strategy launch. He said, “together, we can change lives for the better, in every home and every community across the country".