Trailblazing new campaign championing 'child-first' approach to coaching

A new campaign launched today by the Children's Coaching Collaborative, 'Play Their Way' champions a 'child-first' approach to sport and physical activity, and pledges to transform the way that young people are coached. Sport England research shows a post-pandemic drop in the number of children who enjoy the regular exercise they do. Only 47% of children who exercise regularly strongly agree that they enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity and 53% of all children do not get enough exercise*.

Building a grassroots movement to change the way young people are coached, 'Play Their Way' is providing England's 2.6 million coaches resources to help children enjoy being active in their own way and inspire them to stay active for life. The campaign kicked off with an event in South London at Peckham BMX Club, a shining example of child-first coaching having supported over 2,000 young people since 2004, including Olympic silver medallist Kye Whyte. «Play Their Way is taking things to the next level,» said Whyte.

«It's all about making sure kids are getting brilliant coaching. We haven't seen anything like this before. The 'Play Their Way' campaign is great because there are other sports and clubs that can all benefit, we want to talk to coaches and work together to transform the way young people are coached.» «Child-first coaching will look different for each child and young person and coach, but the focus should always be on making sure the kids have the best experience possible.