Young people become sporting ambassadors

Over 100 local secondary school students came together last week to train as sporting ambassadors ready to plan and deliver their own sporting events in Chesterfield.

Organised and delivered by the Chesterfield School Sport Partnership, the all-day conference took place at the Institute of Sport in Sheffield and was an opportunity to gain a range of new skills and experience.

The day was delivered by experts in the field of journalism, photography and media as well as former Team GB Olympic volleyball players, Ben Pipes and Dami Bakare.

Students learned how to run how to run a variety of sporting activities; many which are different to the usual sports played in school – for example boccia and new age kurling.

Activities also included a mock press conference with a former top-level athlete, writing a feature, taking and selecting expert photos and deciding how to publicise any completed work.

Sarah Evans, Leadership and Physical Activity Officer at the Chesterfield School Sport Partnership, said: “It’s great to see so many young leaders here today developing their skills and taking on the role as a Young Ambassador.

“I can’t wait to see how they embrace this role to be inspirational and make a change within their schools.”

The media officer from the Brookfield Community School SSOC said: “I enjoyed the media workshop as we got involved in speaking to an Olympian, taking photos and videos of the other activities and writing a sports blog.”

The Silver Young Ambassadors are now preparing to deliver a School Sport Club in Chesterfield, a Level 1 School Games (Intra) competition and two Get Set for Community Action projects.