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.

Last week saw National Apprenticeship Week, an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the essential role that Apprenticeships are playing in today’s business world, ensuring that the workforce has the skills it needs in order to remain competitive, even in difficult economic circumstances.

Local school pupils, college students, training providers and employers joined representatives from SkillsActive and sports stars such as Sharron Davies MBE, Dame Kelly Holmes and Mickey Bushell to participate in a varied programme of presentations, talks, meetings and activity sessions. These ran throughout the week in London, Brighton, Bristol, Bolton, Buxton, Telford, Wellingborough, Sunderland, Harrogate and Benfleet.

Some of the events were organised and run by the apprentices themselves, with one event in Northampton seeing 170 young school children taking part in a multisport festival put on by 30 Young Apprentices. 

The Young Apprenticeship also programme received praise this week from the apprentices and employers alike, following SkillsActive’s evaluation of the programme between September 2006 and July 2008.

One of the London event’s focussed on the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence, and was hosted by former Commonwealth Games gymnast and TV presenter, Gabby Logan. Over 100 AASE athletes attended, and were able to attend workshops, discussions and a Q&A session with former elite athletes. The workshops proved especially popular, and althletes were given advice from Dame Kelly Holmes on “What it takes to be a champion”,  Barry Shillabeer presented elements of Rebecca Adlington’s gold medal winning strength and conditioning programme, and Sky TV presenter Graham Little offered up media training. 

We managed to find a few minutes to catch up with Gabby and ask her about the AASE programme and the impact it is having, and what impact it might have had on her sporting career had it existed when she was an elite athlete.

We also spent some time travelling round the country to interview current and past AASE athletes, those involved in delivering the programme, representitives of National Governing Bodies of Sport and the head of Performance Sport at UK Sport about their views on AASE:

Of course, we’re not the only ones who are throwing our weight behind the importance of Apprenticeships. Sir Alan Sugar has recently been starring in TV advertising (see below) to raise the awareness of apprenticeships, a video which also features Luke Power. Luke of course was Young Apprentice of the Year in 2008, studying his Young Apprentice in Sports Management, Leadership and Coaching at Eltham Green Specialist Sports College.

For anyone looking to find out more about apprenticeships in any form, you can find out more on our website or on the national apprenticeships website.