Stephen Studd with Iain Wright MP, Barry McGuigan MBE and Simon Waugh of NAS

Last week was National Apprenticeships Week in England and once again we brought together key industry stakeholders, employers and decision makers to demonstrate the crucial role that Apprenticeships play within our sector.

It is vital that we show ministers and those key stakeholders what our sector can do given the right support, and with 50 employers and over 100 apprentices under one roof, our celebration event at Lords cricket ground really showcased how our sector has embraced the Apprenticeship programme, and the value we place on it.

It is no secret that traditionally, we have been a fragmented sector with no established qualification route, but things have changed dramatically. We have developed a programme of choice for employers and young people wanting to work in the sector by engaging with the Apprenticeship programme, and developing the right frameworks in partnership with our employers.

Last week’s event helped to demonstrate this to Apprenticeship minister Iain Wright, as well as Simon Waugh, Chief Executive of the National Apprenticeship Service. And the enthusiasm from the apprentices and employers alike really shone through. This supports my ambition for Apprenticeships in the sector, which is to achieve 10,000 certifications each year by 2012; 2009 figures revealed that we’re currently issuing around 4,300 certificates a year and rising. Breaking it down, that’s a target of 8,000 for our main frameworks around sport and leisure operations, fitness, coaching, sports development, playwork, and the outdoors; and an additional 2,000 in the specialised programme of AASE – which is gaining momentum with 15 sports now engaged with it.

If we are going to achieve these numbers more employers have to be helped and supported in working with Apprenticeships and that’s one of our key challenges. This is why we set up our National Skills Academy; through it we can help small employers to access the programme by finding them quality providers and helping them to access the funding available. This is crucial with so much emphasis being placed on Apprenticeships as a key driver to coming out of the recession, as well as our efforts to demonstrate that Apprenticeships work for us in the sport and active leisure sector, just as well as they work in plumbing, engineering and manufacturing.

So we’ve got a way to go. We need employers to step forward and take the leap into employing an apprentice, whether that’s a coach, fitness instructor or playworker. We need to engage with the new legislations set out in the white paper on Apprenticeships. We need to continue to demonstrate the depth of our sector, and the fact that not all of our apprentices can be employed from day one of starting the programme. And we need to continue our dialogue with employers, to ensure that our Apprenticeship frameworks are fit for purpose, and are reviewed and refreshed to keep up with an ever evolving sector.

Apprenticeships in our sector are highly regarded and hugely beneficial. They are a great way to enter and begin a career in a vibrant, exciting and public-focused sector that continues to gain profile, and really is at the heart of society as a whole.

Iain Wright MP and Barry McGuigan MBE

Last week was National Apprenticeship Week, an opportunity to celebrate apprenticeships across the country, and for us a chance to showcase the role that apprenticeships make in our sector.

The highlight of the week was our event at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, where around 100 apprentices across the three programmes (Apprenticeship in Active Leisure and Learning, the Young Apprenticeship and the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) came together with ministers, employers and training providers to celebrate apprenticeships.

Here they heard speeches from Simon Waugh, chief executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, and Iain Wright, the minister responsible for apprenticeships.

Both spoke of the value of apprenticeships within the sport and active leisure sector, with Iain Wright MP saying: “Sport is an increasingly important part of our economy – not just sport itself, but all the industries attached to it. We need a range of good quality training opportunities of which apprenticeships are a major part.”

Also speaking was former World Featherweight Champion Barry McGuigan MBE, whose keynote speech contained a message to apprentices to grasp opportunities and fight hard for goals, whether in sport or in their careers.

Apprentices try out the Trixter bikes

Olympian Sarah Stevenson leads an inspirational workshop

Apprentices also had the opportunity to take part in workshops led by industry experts and Olympic athletes, covering everything from goal setting and motivation to strength and conditioning and media training.

One of the workshops saw Olympic athletes from the DKH Legacy Trust, Francesca Jus-Burke, Sarah Winckless and Sarah Stevenson, host a session which challenged attendees to set goals and identify barriers that they may have to overcome to achieve their goals.

Employers could also attend workshops by SkillsActive, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and Fit for Sport about the benefits and experiences from organising an apprenticeship programme.

Aside from our celebration event, last week provided us with the opportunity to look at how apprenticeships benefit our sector, using the themes for each day of National Apprenticeships Week:

• Competitive Advantage
• Benefiting Directly
• Ambition
• Apprenticeships driving business
• Community A Team

You can find out more about our celebration event on our website where you can also find out more about the apprenticeships programme in our sector.

This week is National Apprenticeship Week, with events happening across the country celebrating the talents and skills of apprentices and the value of Apprenticeships. The week has a number of key themes, one for each day, with these being:

• Competitive Advantage
• Benefiting Directly
• Ambition
• Apprenticeships driving business
• Community A Team

Every day this week we’re showcasing an example of each on the news pages of our website, with the first article on how Apprenticeships provide a competitive advantage to the sport and leisure industry. Check back each day to find out more about the themes above and how they impact our sector.

Tomorrow we’re hosting an event at Lord’s Cricket Ground where apprentices from all our programmes (Apprenticeship in Active Leisure and Learning, the Young Apprenticeship and the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) will come together with ministers, employers and training providers to celebrate apprenticeships and attend informative workshops.

Barry McGuigan MBE, the former World Featherweight Boxing Champion who in November launched a boxing academy for disengaged youngsters, will present a keynote speech about apprenticeships, the AASE programme, the development of the boxing academy and how it will promote sporting and academic excellence.

Also speaking are our Chief Executive Stephen Studd, Simon Waugh the Chief Executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, and Apprenticeships Minister Iain Wright. Luke Power, national young Apprentice of the year 2008 and his employer Gary Adams will also give a presentation while there will also be a Q&A panel for attendees to quiz some of the workshop hosts.

The workshop sessions will provide valuable advice for apprentices and employers, covering a wide range of topics, with some exciting and engaging hosts from both sport and business:

• Jumping hurdles – an inspirational session with Olympians Sarah Winckless, Francesca Jus-Burke (both rowing) and Sarah Stevenson (Taekwondo). Attendees will be challenged to set goals and identify barriers that they may have to overcome to achieve their dreams.
• Strength and Conditioning – a session taken by Barry Shillabeer, British Swimming’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, responsible for athletes such as Rebecca Adlington, Joanne Jackson, David Davies and Liam Tancock. Attendees will learn what makes a good strength and conditioning programme and be more insightful about their own strength training programme.
• Working under pressure – a motivational session from Floyd Woodrow MBE, a former SAS member helps attendees explore setting goals, their hunger to achieve and maintaining dedication to make dreams become reality.
• Media training session – Graham Little, a Sky Sports News presenter, discusses sports media and the media related situations that attendees could find themselves in, with the opportunity to deal with an interview experience in front of cameras.
• Introduction to Apprenticeships – Joe Lyons of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation along with SkillsActive staff presents a case study of their experience of running an apprenticeship programme, how companies can benefit from the funding and what opportunities exist.
• Managing and mentoring an Apprentice – Jack Shakespeare from Fit For Sport shares their experiences of how to get the best out of Apprentices and showcases studies of successful Apprenticeship management and delivery.

Back in November we ran a survey to find out who was the sporting role model of the year, as well as looking to find out what attributes make for a good role model. Well the results are in, and they make for some interesting reading!

David Beckham was named as the best sporting role model for 2009, ahead of Chris Hoy and Lewis Hamilton, while there was no real surprise in the worst role model stakes with Tiger Woods topping the list ahead of a trio of footballers; Ashley Cole, Cristiano Ronaldo and Joey Barton. Bizarrely, Beckham also appeared in the list of bad sporting role models!

Football was overwhelmingly found to be the sport that is the worst for producing good role models, although the intense media glare that footballers face, above most other athletes, certainly can’t help matters.

Athletics was picked as the sport most likely to produce good role models, although football was also highly rated in for this along with tennis.

So what do people look for in a good role model? Fair play understandably was top of the list, with almost 60% of the vote, while winning and charitable work were a distant second and third. 10% however thought that no famous sportsperson could be a good role model.

Cheating at their sport, along with bad sportsmanship, were the key characteristics of bad sporting role models, while tales of alcohol and drug abuse were also high up the list. Strangely, despite the indiscretions of Tiger Woods placing him firmly at the top of the list of bad role models, just 2% of those questioned stated that being involved in a kiss and tell made a sports personality a bad role model.

2009’s best sporting role models:

1. David Beckham
2. Chris Hoy
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Roger Federer
5. Jenson Button
6. Ellen MacArthur
7. Paula Radcliffe
8. Usain Bolt
9. Lance Armstrong
10. Tim Henman

2009’s worst sporting role models:

1. Tiger Woods
2. Ashley Cole
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
4. Joey Barton
5. Dwain Chambers
6. Marlon King
7. David Beckham
8. Ronnie O’Sullivan
9. Freddie Flintoff
10. Serena Williams

And if you’re wondering why we were undertaking this research, the new Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure, which launches in September, includes a module on teaching young people how to be good sporting role models – fair play and good sportsmanship seem to be order of the day there.

Spot anyone missing from either list? What key attributes do you look for in a sporting role model? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Mike Newton, one of our SkillsActive & Nancy Ovens Bursars for 2009, has recently embarked on his trip to Japan. After more than seven months of planning, Mike travelled to Japan last week where he is spending time at Sagami High School to shadow some of Japan’s top children’s judo coaches.

Mike, with over 30 years experience in the sport,  is a judo stalwart in Rutland. Since helping to establish Vale Judo Club in 2003, Mike has helped grow the membership of the club to more than 180 members – more than half of which are girls or women. Under Mike’s direction, five of the club’s junior club members have gained places within national judo squads since the club was established. Helping deliver 13 classes each week, Mike has helped grow the club’s coaching team from two to six coaches and also establish a schools judo programme. Today, the programme delivers judo courses to more than 550 children from eighteen schools around Rutland.

Mike has always been keen to develop his skills, and over the last few years has been studying towards a Foundation Degree in Sport Performance at the University of Bath, during which he has gained exposure to various international coaching systems.

Japan therefore is the next step in Mike’s skills development where he can learn more about how the sport is coached and how it is related to education, with Mike commenting:

“There is not a wealth of learning opportunities like this in judo here in the UK, so what I wanted was to create a learning experience that would be more beneficial to me than another coaching qualification. Going to Japan will allow me to develop my understanding of how to teach core and advanced judo technical skills to children and improve and extend my range of coaching methods and techniques. I hope to increase my understanding of how judo is delivered as part of the school curricula and community and how the sport of judo is being developed in Japan. My specific area of interest is the infrastructure in place that helps coaches to identify, select and nurture talented junior judo players.”

Already, just a few days in, Mike has seen and learnt a lot. Here are a few of his thoughts from the first few days of his trip that he has been sharing on his blog:

“It was great to visit the dojo and judo office this morning and having had a look at the many trophies on display and had a tour of the dojo it becomes very obvious how effectively their judo development system is working and how proud they are of it.  I am interested in discussing how they identify the more talented students to invite to the school – will let you know when I find out.”

“The question that I have started to wrestle with is if we are to have the same competition successes from GB players, can we implement and encourage many of these concepts/methods/attitudes to be adopted in the UK or are our cultures too different? I think that the answer is to try and implement a few of these concepts, the benefits have been obvious for Sagami High School and its judoka.”

To find out more about what Mike has been observing on his trip, and the thoughts and ideas that he is bringing away from the experience, visit Mike’s blog for regular updates, photos, videos and more.

Mike received one of six SkillsActive and Nancy Ovens bursaries, awarded annually to paid and un-paid individuals working within the sport, fitness, playwork, outdoors and caravan sectors. The bursaries are designed to help individuals improve their skills through an innovative training programme outside the scope of regular training. You can also read more insights from some of our other bursars on this blog, courtesy of Naomi Harling and Rachel Light.