S&PA Professional magazine Spring 18

EXERCISE ADDICTION

PARRY’S PASSION

UNLOCKING TALENT

Dangers of excessive workouts

Ex-Olympian Steve Parry

Identifying the best

p22

p26

p34

ISSUE 29

SPRING 2018

ON YOUR BIKE Encouraging more children to take up cycling

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CIMSPA will provide 3 developmental CPD points per day of attendance. For all members who wish to redeem these points please ensure you sign in at the CIMSPA stand on each day of attendance.

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CONTENTS

5

12

Upfront 5

Editor’s leader

6 8 10 11

News CIMSPA conference Principles to drive your brand Movers and shakers Top 10 activities by income per head

In depth 12 22 26

30 34

38

Tech toolkit 38 40

43

45

30 22

Tech focus Eco-friendly gym equipment Product round-up The latest high-tech equipment

“We’ve worked hard with clients on this point to get them to appreciate that candidates from other sectors can bring transferable skills and fresh thinking with them” (p34)

Expert advice Updating swimming pool safety Workplace focus Let people win to help you get ahead

Last word 47

" COVER: ISTOCK

26

Management 43

47

CIMSPA update CIMSPA Academy, York Sport, Elevate Exercise addiction When do workouts become dangerous?

Profile Former Olympian Steve Parry on his passion for teaching kids how to swim Agenda Getting people on their bikes Business Unlocking talent for the future

49 50

Sport ambassador Stacey Copeland, pro boxer Sporting life Pamela Relph MBE, paralympic rower Sport by numbers Winter Olympics 2018

34

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UPFRONT EDITORIAL ]DeeDee Doke

Spring into action Rain or shine, there’s plenty of inspiration in your latest issue of S&PA Professional ind, rain, snow and sunshine – the first month of spring in the UK is so unpredictable that we don’t know whether to chance exercising outside or keep to the warm indoors.

Rain or shine, however, it’s high time the UK population joined our European cousins in getting into the groove of cycling – for pleasure, for transport and for fitness. Progress is underway under the auspices of a variety of forward-thinking organisations across the country. Peter Lennox shares their experiences starting on p30. What can you do in your centres and communities to get the wheels turning?

But can one ever exercise to excess?

W

EDITORIAL Editor DeeDee Doke Senior designer Nicholas Daley Production editors Clare Cronin, Vanessa Townsend Contributors Peter Lennox, Caroline Roberts, Graham Simons, Sue Weekes, Roisin Woolnough Picture editor Chloe Crisford sandpa@redactive.co.uk Publishing director Aaron Nicholls ADVERTISING 020 7880 6230 Sales manager Jo Rose joanne.rose@redactive.co.uk

Like with food and drink, sometimes an individual can go for too much of a good thing. Learn how you, as an S&PA professional, can help your clients and customers to keep challenging themselves without going overboard in Caroline Roberts’ insightful article on p22.

There’s lots of inspiration on tap this month from former Olympic swimmer Steve Parry and boxer Stacey Copeland, to name just a couple of illustrious figures who spoke with S&PA Professional for this issue.

On a personal level, I was inspired by Stacey Copeland’s call on p47 for all of us – women and men alike – to simply do what we love. She told S&PA’s Graham Simons that she did not allow

PRODUCTION Production director Jane Easterman Senior production executive Rachel Young SUBSCRIPTIONS S&PA Professional is available to selected members of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (and is available on subscription to nonmembers). All member enquiries should be directed to CIMSPA. For enquiries from non-CIMSPA

members, e-mail sandpa@ redactive.co.uk © Redactive Publishing Ltd. S&PA Professional is published on behalf of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) by Redactive Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the

the lack of female role models in her chosen sports of football and boxing from participating in them.

Her role models were male. “It wasn’t their gender,” she said. “I wanted to be them because they’re great footballers and boxers, and that’s what I wanted to be.”

That’s the spirit – and what a brilliant message for us all.

Contact us by Twitter @SAPA_Pro and email at sandpa@redactive.co.uk

internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Redactive Publishing Ltd accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.

Printed by Gemini Press ISSN 2050-7747

SportPark, Loughborough University, 3 Oakwood Drive, Loughborough, LE11 3QF Tel 01509 226 474 E-mail info@cimspa.co.uk Web www.cimspa.co.uk

CIMSPA ENQUIRIES Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity,

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S&PANews A round-up of the latest developments in the industry

LESSONS FROM THE CONFERENCE From communications lessons learnt through Paralympics participation to the need for greater customer focus within UK’s sport environments, calls to action on crucial issues facing the S&PA industry were delivered at the annual CIMSPA conference in February Taking place at Chesford Grange in Kenilworth, the one-day CIMSPA event – held in tandem with the Quest NBS one-day conference – drew an enthusiast crowd of several hundred delegates.

A key theme was how greater collaboration between education institutions, national governing bodies and industry is required to inform clearly defined pathways leading to meaningful careers in sport and physical activity. Taking centre stage in a lively debate, this theme was expanded to include the role played by school careers advisers. Students need clarity of what is available to plan their careers, but school careers advisers also need better information to more fully understand the sector, said Matt Rhodes, head of policy at AoC Sport, an organisation for

college sport and physical activity.

“Careers advice in school is often poor.

They [advisers] don’t have an understanding of our sector. I think being able to influence people at that level is really important,” Rhodes said in a lively panel debate.

Also, added Jon Glenn, director at Swim England, it is important providers tell national governing bodies (NGBs) about the skills gaps at their organisation, and work more closely with the NGBs to provide quality work placements.

Other highlights of the day included: ● CIMSPA chair Marc Woods shared his experience of how properly listening to his teammates turned Paralympic silver into gold. ● A challenge from Sport England

director of sport Phil Smith to S&PA professionals to be more customerfocused in order to drive up participation rates in sport across the UK. ● Psychologist and former basketball star John Amaechi OBE urged the audience to ensure that their “frontline managers of people” are “qualitatively better” for their teams to truly excel.

Competing in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, former Paralympian swimmer Woods experienced a realisation in the 34-point 4x100m freestyle relay that changed how he and his teammates communicated. Woods revealed that the silver medal he and his teammates delivered was greeted with differing responses within the quartet, with two happy with silver and two unhappy at not landing gold.

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UPFRONT S&PA NEWS

Perplexed, Woods realised that the two halves of the team had different objectives. As unofficial team leader, Woods said he realised he had failed to define to his teammates what success looked like, as well as speaking to them about what their hopes and fears were.

“I thought communication was a one-way process that came out of the end of my finger,” Woods said. “I didn’t realise I had to listen to what people were saying to me. I didn’t even give them a chance to talk to me some of the time.”

He went on to say: “I was really cross with myself for making that mistake as a leader. Unofficial or not, I was the guy who helped drive it forward – I wasn’t sitting down with people and listening to them to understand what they

thought was important and what they thought success looked like.”

Four years later at the Sydney Games, the gold medal arrived for Woods and the relay team – thanks to a new era of open and supportive communication between all of the relay team members.

Sport England’s Smith, who described himself as a “proud” CIMSPA member, told the audience he looked forward to working with Woods, congratulating CIMPSA’s team on the “huge” amount of hard work it has carried out and the “outstanding” progress it has made in the past year, which is yielding results.

He also described CIMSPA’s work to establish robust professional standards, clear occupational maps, a high

standard of quality assurance and professional development as “vital”, adding CIMPSA has Sport England’s complete backing.

Touching on Sport England’s initiatives to drive up participation rates have been pilot programmes aimed at curbing the decline in the number of people taking part in swimming, despite the sport being one of the most popular activities – if not the most popular – in sports centres across the country.

One pilot was aimed at women between 35 and 55, with research revealing women dropped out of swimming at a much faster rate than men. At the same time, women cited swimming as the one activity they wanted to do more of. The programme aimed at tackling barriers for these women, which included customer service training for leisure operator staff.

The training focused on, among other points, helping women overcoming emotional barriers to activities such as fear, embarrassment, shame and low confidence.

John Amaechi urged listeners to emphasise and reinforce the role that accountability plays in creating a well-managed, diverse workforce. “You go to your organisation. You admit. You declare. You demand. You expect. You admit you’ve had failings in the past in terms of inclusion, where you’ve been unaware, where you’ve been too busy, where you’ve been distracted, where you’ve just been wrong.

“You declare the tone you are going to set in terms of this moment on, and you declare these are the standards for you – you don’t start by telling other people. You demand that people around you hold you accountable so when you screw up, when you call women ‘girls’, other people hold you accountable. And then you expect that your people will follow, and if they don’t, you pick up their ‘litter’, and you tell them that this is not the way we do things here.”

By Graham Simons

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UPFRONT S&PA NEWS

MESSAGE FROM CIMSPA CEO TARA DILLON ON DRIVING CHANGE TO GET MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR ROLES In light of the volume of media attention on gender equality in the workplace, it’s appropriate that our own sector holds a mirror up to itself and looks at why there are so few women in senior positions in leisure.

I recently attended a meeting with a selection of some of the most senior women in our industry who voiced their concerns about this lack of gender diversity in senior management. Why is it that women in leisure don’t tend to progress beyond the role of duty manager? Why don’t we see more female area and regional managers? Why aren’t there more women at board level?

Like me, you may have assumed this disparity was due to family commitments, but a recent in-house survey conducted by one leading operator found that this was not the case at all. In fact, it found that one of the biggest barriers to progression was a lack of confidence. Women want leadership roles; they just don’t believe they can actually do it.

I found this both enlightening and distressing, which is why I’m calling for a long-term collective strategy for gender equality in all places of work across our sector.

I’m not interested in pointing fingers or playing the blame game; I want us to drive change.

What’s clear is that we need to do more to support women so that they can achieve their career aspirations. We need to provide more mentoring and networking opportunities so we can motivate and inspire them to reach their full potential.

To be absolutely clear, I don’t want to isolate the men in our sector. In fact, I don’t know one man in our industry who doesn’t want gender equality either. I honestly believe we create opportunities for women in our sector. This isn’t just a ‘top down’ approach either; creating a system or culture from the bottom up is essential for driving equality forward. I want equality for all, and I firmly believe that anyone who believes in a successful and sustainable future for our sector will support this agenda.

KEY PRINCIPLES TO DRIVE YOUR BRAND Rituals, rhythm, vision and engagement are the four key principles essential for leisure centres to build a communitydriven brand.

This is according to Lauren Armes (above), founder and director of Welltodo, an online platform specialising in global wellness, who was speaking at ukactive’s second annual Sweat conference in March.

Expanding on the first principle, Armes urged delegates to think about the rituals that set their centre apart from others, such as the way they greet customers when they come into their properties, or how a client’s achievements are acknowledged when they hit a certain target or goal.

The second principle, according to Armes, is rhythm, which is about ensuring customers know what to expect from a centre, and when, in terms of the communication of content.

Embedded in these

communications, Armes said, should be vision – the third principle. Vision is all about knowing and communicating the values of the community so that people can attach themselves to their brand in a more meaningful way. Businesses tend to have a firm understanding of this from the beginning, Armes said, but vision needs to change over time as it evolves through the interaction a business has with its clients.

Related to this is the fourth principle of engagement, Armes said. Engagement is key to building a community in terms of evolving the brand through listening to customers. This can be done through feedback groups and across social media. Some organisations use customer feedback in slogans, tagline and marketing messages in a bid to build brands reflective of what their customers want – which may not be what the centre thinks their clients want.

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UPFRONT S&PA NEWS

TEMPORARY POOL PROVES A HIT

CONTRACTS AND DEALS

Exciting times lie ahead in Andover, Hampshire, with a new, state-of-art facility set to open in spring 2019. However, the changes meant the council needed to provide a temporary swimming pool in the interim.

The new £16m leisure centre will feature a six-lane swimming pool, an eight-court sports hall, and a gym with cutting-edge equipment.

After CIMSPA partner Places for People Leisure won the tender to build and run the new facility, the Test Valley Borough Council faced several challenges. As the facility is being rebuilt on the same site, most of the existing centre’s facilities had to be closed.

This included the centre’s swimming pool.

“For some activities such as gyms and badminton, we could relocate people, but there’s not a lot of very close swimming

ACTIVE IQ PARTNERS WITH UNIVERSITY A link-up between CIMSPA partner Active IQ and Ulster University is helping students boost their employability prospects. All students have the opportunity to embed Active IQ CIMSPA-endorsed Level 2 gym instructor training into their first or second-year studies. facilities,” said Tony Ward, the authority’s portfolio holder for community and leisure.

“So we felt the only option was to use a temporary pool.”

Since opening, the temporary pool has proved a huge success for the council. “The feedback’s been positive, especially among the youngsters,” said Ward.

DATA-DRIVEN DEMOGRAPHICS Leisure centres need to look at the lifetime value of their customers and what may put them off returning through their doors.

So says Hilary Large, director at The Marketing Centre, who was speaking at a panel session at the active-net conference on 14 March, at Nottinghamshire’s Eastwood Hall. She told delegates retailers don’t just look at their customer’s first purchase, as often a first

purchase is loss-making, and aimed at ‘hooking’ them in.

“It’s about them working out how long that customer’s journey would be with you…

And when you’re noticing attrition triggers to say ‘right – what’s on offer that will keep you in our customer journey?’,” she explained.

According to Utku Toprakseven, director of operations at 4Global, data analysts in the sports and physical activity sector are increasingly looking at data connected to different groups, demographic segments and parts of the country, and how

they interact with each other.

“So, for example, with people on the swimming side, there are some interesting findings between the swimming clusters and how they relate to group workouts,” Toprakseven said (see Infographic, p11 ).

Dr Steve Mann, head of healthy communities at Places for People Leisure, added: “The reason that leisure centres are good at keeping people happy is we’ve got brilliant data on those active people who come to our sites – whereas where we really lack is data about people who don’t.

So when we try and create programmes, we’re doing it blind.”

EXF KITS OUT NEW LONDON FACILITY Equipment manufacturer EXF has kitted out a new training facility and retail space in Central London.

The facility – called WIT – has opened at the One New Change shopping and office complex close to St Paul’s Cathedral.

EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER WINS GLL CONTRACT… Fitness equipment supplier Physical Company has won a contract with social enterprise and CIMSPA partner Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL). GLL manages more than 250 leisure centres across the UK, and the contract covers its whole portfolio. …AND TECHNOGYM KITS OUT LOUGHBOROUGH GYM Fitness equipment supplier Technogym has kitted out Loughborough University’s strength and conditioning gym as part of a new five-year contract with the institution.

EGYM RECEIVES HUGE FUNDING BOOST The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced it will provide grants of up to £25m to fitness technology developer eGym. The funding will support, among other elements, research, development and engineering costs.

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UPFRONT

MOVERS AND SHAKERS CIMSPA partner Places for People Leisure has appointed Dr Steve Mann as head of healthy communities.

Mann joins Places for People following seven years with ukactive, including three years as research director.

Funding body Sport England has appointed Nick Pontefract as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Pontefract began his new role in March, moving on from his position as executive director Commonwealth Games Delivery Unit at the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

" AONEDITION / BOCCIA UK

Ali Gower has been appointed head of customer experience at CIMSPA awarding organisation partner Active IQ. Gower joins the company from online medical service DrEd Online Doctor, where she was head of customer support.

British Cycling has appointed Frank Slevin as its new independent chair.

Slevin – who is executive chairman of House of Fraser – replaces Jonathan Browning, who left British Cycling in November after nine months in the role.

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The Tennis Foundation has appointed Matt Hammond as its new disability performance director. Hammond will primarily focus on the development of wheelchair tennis, but will also support deaf tennis and learning disability tennis initiatives.

Fitness qualification awarding body Active IQ has appointed Ben Jackson as its new qualification development manager.

Jackson will be responsible for the development of new and existing qualifications, ensuring they are fit for purpose, as well as providing and updating resources.

Cloud-based fitness equipment supplier eGym has appointed Kerstin Obenauer to head up its UK operation. In her role as country director, Obenhaur will report to eGym’s m’s European director, Eric Wenig. ig.

Active IQ has appointed Steve Conopo in a new role of head ead of assessment services ices to lead a team dedicated cated to fulfilling its end-point point assessment contracts. racts. Active IQ has been n approved

by the Register of Apprentice Assessment Organisations for the physical activity sector, and early contracts won include Mosaic, Eden and Pocketfit. The new team, under Conopo’s direction, is aimed at providing bespoke and focused support for employers, apprentices and training providers.

Ascend Learning, the parent company of fitness education provider Premier Global NASM, has appointed Brad Tucker to the new role of vice president & general manager of Premier Global NASM. Tucker, previously vice president of sales and marketing at NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), will oversee Premier Global NASM in the UK as well as drive international growth for the business outside of the US. In April, he will relocate to the UK from the US, to oversee operations in the UK working closely with the company’s distribution partners to further expand its presence across Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Additionally, Tucker will build on Premier Global NASM’s existing relationships with CIMSPA and employers, while developing new opportunities for growth in sectors such as elite sport and higher and further education.

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UPFRONT Source:

TOP 10 ACTIVITIES BY INCOME PER HEAD Overall income from activities across 123 DataHub sites fell from £19.4 million earned during July to December 2016 to £16.5 million during July to December 2017. These were the top 10 activities by income per head during the second half of 2017.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Income per head

£27.35

JU-JITSU

Income per head

FITNESS PT

£20.49 Income per head

LIFESAVING

£17.10 Income per head

BOOTCAMP

£16.52 Income per head

CLIMBING

£16.10 Income per head

£14.00

SWIM COACHING

Income per head

£13.74

TAEKWONDO

Income per head

£13.69

LEGS, BUMS, & TUMS

Income per head

£10.00

TRX

Income per head

KARATE

£9.00 11 www.cimspa.co.uk

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IN DEPTH CIMSPA UPDATE

VALUING THE WORKFORCE

“Staff can now request any training they feel would benefit their development and know they will be supported”

Investing in staff development is paying dividends for CIMSPA employer partner York Sport, winner of the Small Employer award at the 2017 ukactive Active Training Awards here’s no doubt that the increased drive to train, retain and make our staff feel valued and part of the decision-making process has been a huge benefit to us, both from a performance point of view and being recognised locally and now nationally,” says Ashley Smith, senior operations manager at York Sport.

The organisation, formed in 2012, delivers sports and leisure facilities on behalf of the University of York and operates two facilities on campus: York Sport Centre and York Sport Village. The ukactive Small Employer Active Training Award, which York Sport won last year, recognises its achievements in placing workforce development firmly at the heart of its business.

But this was not always the case. For some years, staff training and development had been forced down the agenda as attention focused on several major infrastructure projects, including the launch of York Sport Village in 2012

“T

and the redevelopment of the 1960s York Sport Centre. But in the summer of 2016, York Sport decided it needed urgent strategic change in direction and focus.

“The previous four years had been pretty much a conveyor belt of facility development project work, followed by making them fit for use. As a senior management team, we know that if investment opportunities are there you grab them, and we did. We took what we could, when we could. As a result, we simply lost a bit of focus on what made us us,” says Smith.

LOSING ITS WAY Internal audits showed that staff had a negative perception of their employer, and there was a steady decline in audit results such as Investors in People, health & safety, mystery visits and customer feedback.

York Sport found differences in expected and perceived standards, not just between York Sport Centre and York Sport Village, but also between staff

teams – such as sports assistants, fitness and admin – and there was no clear structure in place for planning and monitoring the training processes. The organisation had always provided basic training such as inductions, lifeguard and first aid, but it became clear that its training budgets were limited and assigned to essential requirements only.

“It sounds like York Sport was a horrendous place to work, but it wasn’t.

Our relationship with staff and customers has always been positive, it just wasn’t as good as it could be. We’d lost our way and everyone accepted this,” says Smith.

RETENTION THROUGH STANDARDS The consultations marked the start of the new era. The organisation quickly changed the leadership structure to ensure it could dedicate the necessary time to workforce development, and

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“Staff can now request any training they feel would benefit their development and know they will be supported where possible. Last year, 67 contracted members of staff took part in 964 days’ worth of training, attending 45 different training sessions,” says Smith.

POSITIVE CHANGES

created a role of duty manager business support to act as a conduit between the business team and senior management.

It was time to get back on track.

“We have always felt our greatest asset was our team. The audits showed that some staff were lacking in particular areas, the main one being confidence to interact with our customers and each other. This became our key theme – retention through standards,” says Smith.

The organisation created a staff engagement development plan, and encouraged all staff to contribute to it via

monthly forums attended by at least one member of staff from each department, across both facilities. Chaired by the duty manager business support rather than a senior member of management, these sessions have encouraged free discussion and generated positive feedback, allowing York Sport to establish a diary of regular internal and external training and events.

These have included interaction training delivered by Dr Paul Bedford (known as the ‘Retention Guru’), teambuilding sessions and social events.

The organisation also developed a staff training matrix, to track all staff training and development opportunities.

This new focus on workforce development meant not only a change in culture, but also reallocation of budgets.

“We have a supportive management team here, which allows us freedom to work within our allocated budget.

Ultimately, we increased training spend by 124% in 2016/17,” says Smith.

“The progress we have made is now being held up as an example in our organisation of how positive changes and a different way of thinking can make a big difference, even if you have to rethink how you allocate the money you spend.”

Since implementing these changes, Smith says many staff have been upskilled, allowing the business to become more flexible and improving its health & safety audits, mystery visit reports and customer feedback. And York Sports’ relationship with staff is at an all-time high.

“The only way you can convince any sceptics is by action. We said we would listen to their views, we would act on their suggestions and we would make real changes. We did that, but now the challenge is to make sure this isn’t just a one-year thing,” says Smith.

As well as its success at the ukactive Active Training Awards, York Sport was voted Best Gym/ Wellbeing Centre in Minster FM’s Listener Awards and has been named best Swimming Lesson Provider in York, both of which are directly voted for by its customers.

“We’ve set an exciting path for ourselves, and are pleased that our staff are enjoying the journey and the opportunities that this will bring,” says Smith. b

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IN DEPTH CIMSPA UPDATE

LOFTY AMBITIONS Tackling inactivity requires crosssector collaboration, and that’s exactly what Elevate is doing.

Founder Max Quittenton talks about this year’s show Why did you launch Elevate?

Four years ago, the need to tackle physical inactivity was gathering momentum, as it continues to do. The industry sensed that a blank sheet was needed to create an event for the fitness/sport/leisure/physical activity sectors. Discussions started in September 2014, and it was agreed that this big societal challenge warranted a cross-sector, free-to-attend event to bring together the entire stakeholder network.

The new event, Elevate, was announced in August 2015 and the first one was held in May 2016.

I am lucky enough to know most of the suppliers involved reasonably well.

It simply would not have been possible to create Elevate without their input and ongoing support.

How has the show evolved?

Visitors have told us that they want to see more exhibitors at the event, and to close the gap between the speaking content and the exhibition. This feedback heavily influenced our decision to co-locate with COPA Series (Europe’s leading event for rehabilitation professionals) and Elite Sports Performance (for elite sports professionals) this year.

The co-location is good news for everyone involved – partly because it

helps establish Elevate’s reputation as the must-attend event for all physical activity and sport professionals. It’s also a good example of how the physical activity sector is improving its connections with performance and healthcare. Bringing all three events together strengthens the commercial proposition and content offering for all.

Exhibitors can now achieve more sales and marketing objectives for less, while attendees can discover even more speakers and product innovations in a shorter time.

What else is new this year?

There are loads of new fitness and physical activity products being prepared for their first showing at Elevate 2018. Suppliers are focused on innovation, thought leadership and developing productive partnerships at the moment.

With growing support from the industry, we’ve also invested heavily in creating the inaugural Elevate Conference, generously sponsored by MINDBODY, and featuring an incredible line-up of speakers including Dr Michael Mosley, Tracey Crouch and Sir Muir Gray.

The conference covers subjects from social prescribing and active urban design to digital disruption and community-wide behaviour change initiatives. It aims to inspire bigger-picture thinking that will unleash the full power of the physical activity sector as a force for good in society.

What role does CIMSPA play in Elevate?

CIMSPA has been a lead supporter from day one and the event benefits hugely from its support. CIMSPA takes a tremendously active role providing regular support, guidance, promotion and key speaking contributions to help create an event the sector can be proud of.

CIMSPA is a great leader of the physical activity and sport sector. With CIMSPA at the helm, I have no doubt that sport and physical activity professionals will continue to fulfil increasingly important roles in society.

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Turning ambitions into reality #beginwithbetter

Active IQ is an Ofqual recognised awarding organisation in the Active Leisure sector, designing qualifications and high quality resources that support clear career pathways.

Leading the way in health, wellness and physical activity education to champion the highest level of industry standards, we pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service whilst enabling training providers and employers to offer positive learning experiences.

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IN DEPTH CIMSPA UPDATE

In what way is Elevate more than a trade exhibition?

Generally speaking, trade shows can be a bit boring as they’re just about putting suppliers and buyers in a room. Elevate was exciting for me because, if we got it right, by focusing on physical activity we could create an event that would prove interesting to thousands of professionals from a range of different, but increasingly connected, areas. It’s still important to get buyers and suppliers in one room, but that’s not the whole story at Elevate.

It’s certainly not the most straightforward event. Focusing on physical activity means that for two days Elevate plays host to thousands of operators, policy makers, public health specialists, physiotherapists, sport scientists, GPs, personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, hoteliers, schools, coaches, universities, sports clubs, local authorities, retailers, employers and many more.

But we must have done something right, because Elevate has won the support of the physical activity sector and was also voted the Best Tradeshow 2017 at the AEO (Association of Event Organisers) Awards.

How does Elevate benefit the sector?

Exhibitors, speakers and supporters, as well as those of us who organise the event, take a huge amount of time and care to create a show that represents the best of the physical activity sector,

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE NEXT ELEVATE When: 9-10 May 2018 Where: Excel London Details: www.elevatearena.com

while welcoming and encouraging engagement from those outside the industry. If you’ve been to Elevate, or know anyone who’s attended, I hope they’ll tell you that, too.

On a more commercial note, all industries need a healthy national trade show to help reduce sales and marketing costs. That’s true of every industry. Yes, exhibiting at trade shows isn’t cheap – especially in the UK. However, when done properly it’s by far the most cost-effective method of getting product to market, building brand awareness and developing new relationships.

That’s the key to making Elevate the largest free-to-attend learning opportunity for all physical activity and sport professionals. Knowledgesharing and networking on that scale has got to help move us towards a more active future.

CIMSPA will award 3 CPD points per day for attending Elevate 2018.

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S&PAProfessional / Spring 2018

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S&PAProfessional / Spring 2018

IN DEPTH CIMSPA UPDATE

LEARNING FOR SUCCESS Offering more than 300 hours of online education, the CIMSPA Academy can help you get ahead, writes Ian Doherty, head of member and partner services at CIMSPA t’s almost a year since we launched our CIMSPA Academy, the eLearning service that provides free online continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities exclusively for CIMSPA members. And what a year it’s been. Following our initial launch with 30 courses, we are offering more than 1,300 pieces of online education, with more being added all the time. This gives our members access to more than 300 hours of quality education – the equivalent of over £10,000-worth of training – all within the cost of membership.

The CIMSPA Academy has been designed to help you develop as an individual so you can perform better in your role. We are working with Skillgate, which has access to a network of specialist education consultants who develop the specific training that our members need. The variety of courses on offer is vast, and learning areas range from personal

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development and management to finance and IT. Employers tell us that while people may come to them with a string of technical qualifications, they struggle to apply that training in the workplace because they don’t know how to engage with customers. So a lot of our eLearning options focus on the softer skills, such as communication, presentation and networking. In addition, we offer education on areas that are crucial to the success of a

business, such as budgeting and credit management, how to manage conflict, and how to recruit, train and manage people.

Nothing like this was available when I worked in leisure operations. As a duty manager, I was expected to manage a centre and a team of staff – as well as functions such as HR, health & safety and finance – with little or no training. Having access to all this training for an annual membership fee of just £140 would have made the world of difference to me. There’s no doubt it would have made my job easier by giving me the skills and confidence to perform better.

Furthermore, with CIMSPA’s new management professional standards in development, the eLearning that members have access to will allow them to develop their skillset and provide evidence to employers that they have the required skills, knowledge and behaviours to excel in management roles.

A variety of course types are on offer: ● eBriefings – short, 15- to 30-minute courses with readable content, exercise and quizzes ● Tutorials – short, 15- to 30-minute scenario-driven courses designed to help members apply learning to their workplaces ● Certificate Programmes – longer, four- to

ACCESS TO THE ACADEMY • How do I access the eLearning?

CIMSPA members should visit cimspa.co.uk/academy and follow the instructions given. If you are not a CIMSPA member – join us. Get on board with the sport and physical activity sector’s single chartered professional body – membership starts from just £30 per year. Go to cimspa.co.uk/join • How can my staff team access this?

CIMSPA’s employer partnership scheme can help. Partnership options include both ‘bulk join’ to get your entire team onboard and discounted introductory membership rates for your staff. Go to cimspa.co.uk/employer

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eight-hour programmes comprising eBriefings and tutorials, with an electronic certificate issued upon successful completion I’m glad to say that more and more sports and physical activity professionals are taking advantage of this cache of education at their fingertips. The CIMSPA Academy is attracting professionals from all job roles, ranging from lifeguards, fitness instructors and personal trainers to duty and general managers and even company directors.

CIMSPA partners such as Nuffield Health and Wellbeing are encouraging their colleagues to exploit the wide range of courses on offer, appreciating that much of the training can be fitted into busy schedules.

But it’s not just operators that are driving this. One self-employed personal trainer has completed 48 hours of training to date, mostly in business management – surely our star pupil.

At the end of each module, you are required to complete a short exercise to demonstrate you have understood and absorbed the training. You can also access the education again to refresh your knowledge – as many times as you want. All the eLearning on offer is recognised by CIMSPA, and some of the Certificate Programmes are also endorsed by the Institute of Leadership

“Thee Academy is “Th g attracting ing professionals ranging from lifeguards to managers and even company directors” and Management (ILM), giving you the option of another nationally recognised certificate.

Completing CIMSPA Academy eLearning will qualify you for CIMSPArecognised developmental CPD points – up to half of the annual requirement for most members.

We’ve made great strides this year, but we’re not resting on our laurels. In the next few months, a new online member experience system will allow you to view all your training and experience on a personal profile page, so you can demonstrate your skills to employers and the wider public.

We’re committed to creating better career pathways for everyone working in the sector, and raising personal skill sets through CPD via the CIMSPA Academy plays an important role in this.

Experience it for yourself. b cimspa.co.uk/academy

Academy y– learning areas Finance Accounts ting Budgeting Credit management Financial manager Financial strategy Investments IT skills Computer safety Office 2003 Office 2007 Office 2010 Office 2013 Office 2016/365 Programming and coding Management Appraisal Change Coaching Confidence Conflict Diversity Employment law Interviewing Managing people

Project manageme management Recruitme Recruitment Training Personall development Communication Creativity Memory Mentoring Negotiating Networking Personal performance Personal safety Presentation Reading Self-management Stress Time management Typing Writing skills Sales and service Customer service Sales Written English English grammar

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IN DEPTH CIMSPA UPDATE

SIDE

BY SIDE

London council and its leisure contractor pioneer joint quality scheme assessments veryone Active is no longer just a contractor that opens and closes the doors of the leisure facilities for London’s Westminster Council. It is now a partner in the new ActiveWestminster delivery strategy, which launched on 1 March, as the two become the first to jointly undergo both Facility Management and Active Communities assessments under quality scheme Quest.

Until now, Westminster and Everyone Active’s sports development teams were carrying out their Quest assessments in isolation, achieving an excellent rating, while the council’s centres themselves routinely scored good to excellent for Facility Management.

Despite putting their top marks at risk, this year they will undergo the assessments jointly.

The collaborative Facility Management assessments will provide performance ratings across key service aspects for Westminster, while the joint Active Communities assessment will be used to produce a single service improvement plan

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across both organisations. Andrew Durrant, interim director of community services at Westminster, says: “We’re going to use Quest to help drive forward our new strategic vision. Quest works as a quality assurance system and process in its own right, helping us think about how to best measure our success and improvements – an external check and challenge on what we do and why, that we might not do with our own internal reporting processes.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT “Independently, we’re all comfortable with Quest. We’ve done it for years and could probably bob along like that happily. But is it going to drive increased participation and users through the front door? Are we going to tackle the 25% of the population who are inactive?

Probably not. Being assessed as a collective might mean we take a step down from our usual excellent rating. It will expose the things that aren’t perfect.

We might not get it right first time, but that’s part of the process – it’s continuous improvement,” he says.

“Quest will become a fundamental part of how we take our strategy forward. We are good at getting on and delivering activities, but not so good at setting out our reasons for doing so or monitoring the impact and outcomes.

Quest sharpens our minds, guiding us through better ways of doing things.”

“It’s pioneering work the two are doing,” says Caroline Constantine, Quest operations director and director of Right Directions, which manages Quest on behalf of Sport England. “The local authority and operator are working together, shaping their Quest module

choices to ensure areas within Active Communities are integrated more with the traditional Facility Management.”

Everyone Active’s 10-year contract with Westminster, which began in July 2016, includes more sport development outcomes than ever before, such as the Active Neighbourhoods scheme. So ensuring both Quest assessments work hand in hand is a key concern for Durrant, who believes it’s vital that teams working in the facilities understand why it’s important to focus on these community outcomes and increasing levels of physical activity.

“The leisure and sports development teams all contribute to the greater good of getting people more active, but to date there hasn’t been a collaborative emphasis on that greater aim. We’ve shared our strategy with everyone from centre managers down to cleaners, with the ambition that whoever the public comes into contact with can understand their part in our three key themes – Activate Your City, Activating Lives and Activate Your Neighbourhood,” he says.

“We also looked at the intelligence on knowing your patch, to make the teams more conscious of what happens beyond the walls of the leisure centre. The teams are starting to spot opportunities and gaps where we can do more by aligning Quest Active Communities and Facility Management, and, rather than working in isolation, our teams are working together to choose Quest modules that best align with our priorities.”

It’s a challenging approach for both the council and the leisure operator.

“Working with Everyone Active in this way is a step into the unknown, and will expose areas where we need to improve, but it’s that longer-term view we are taking by working together that will help us to make tangible differences,” says Durrant.

In the longer term, he hopes that the Quest partnership could go even wider, to include an Active Westminster assessment involving everyone in the strategy’s delivery. b

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CIMSPA • DIRECTORY

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IN DEPTH EXERCISE ADDICTION

EXCESSIVE EXERCISING

Where do you draw the line between a fitness fanatic and exercise addict?

Caroline Roberts investigates

explains. “Exercise releases endorphins in the brain, which make us feel good. But with excessive exercise, you see increasing levels of tolerance so people have to keep doing more and more to get the same rewards. It becomes more about normalising their mood than elevating it. You also have the characteristic withdrawal symptoms, with people feeling anxious, irritable or depressed when they’re unable to exercise.”

There are a number of signs that suggest someone has developed an unhealthy relationship with exercise, she says.

These include continuing to exercise through illness and injury, and having a very rigid exercise schedule. “There’s often a fixation on targets, such as the need to burn a particular number of calories in a session or cover a certain distance on the treadmill or bike. It may also be having a negative impact on social interactions, for example when people will choose to miss out on spending time with family and friends in favour of a trip to the gym.”

In clinical terms, exercise addiction is categorised as primary or secondary. In primary exercise addiction, the physical activity is an end in itself, whereas in secondary addiction it comes as part of an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia with exercise used as a means to control weight.

While eating disorders can affect anyone of any age,

veryone knows that exercise is good for you – so for some, it might stand to reason that more you do, the more you’ll benefit.

And while fatigue or injury will sooner or later make most people realise that they’ve gone over the top with their exercise regime, some will be compelled to push themselves harder and further despite the physical costs.

Exercise can become an addiction that leads to injury, a depressed immune system and extreme weight loss, as well as having negative effects on life outside the gym.

It’s a fine line between fitness fanatic and exercise addict, and little research has been done to determine the extent of the problem. However, the largest prevalence study to date, conducted in Hungary in 2012, suggested that around 3% of regular gym users are affected by exercise addiction.

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DEFINING EXERCISE ADDICTION Carolyn Plateau, lecturer in psychology at Loughborough University, prefers to use the term ‘exercise compulsion’. “The term ‘addiction’ often has connotations of substance misuse,” Plateau says. “But it’s important to distinguish between behavioural addictions, such as to exercise, shopping or gambling, and addiction to alcohol and drugs as the biochemical processes are different.”

However, there are similarities in the way they present, she

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“With excessive exercise, you see increasing levels of tolerance so people have to keep doing more and more to get the same rewards”

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IN DEPTH EXERCISE ADDICTION

“People are getting highly competitive… now you can go online and compare yourself with hundreds of others who are doing something similar” they are most common in girls and young women between the ages of 14 and 25, with only 11% of men affected.

Continuously running on empty and having a low body fat depletes oestrogen levels and can halt menstruation, as well as lowering bone mineral density. This increases the risk of injuries such as stress fractures and, as the teens and 20s are the peak years for building bone, can lead to osteoporosis in the longer term.

WHAT CAUSES EXERCISE ADDICTION? In both cases, exercise addiction is usually a manifestation of underlying issues, such as stress, anxiety and depression, says Plateau, and individuals who are highly self-critical and tend towards perfectionism are particularly at risk. Studies have also found that people who become addicted to exercise are also more prone to other addictive behaviours such as compulsive shopping, internet use or gambling.

John Brewer, professor of applied sports science at St Mary’s University in London, believes that today’s competitive culture could be exacerbating the problem: “We are increasingly seeing people who are looking for their next challenge. The days when you were on the news because you did seven marathons in

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seven days are long gone. Now you have to do a marathon a day for a year to have any chance of publicity, so now people are pushing themselves to greater and greater extremes.”

The availability of monitoring technology is also likely to be encouraging the trend, he adds. “People are getting highly competitive. It’s not just a case of looking at what’s on your watch and comparing it with your own previous figures; now you can go online and compare yourself with hundreds of others who are doing something similar. You can get competitive on a global basis and not just within your own community.”

Social media also plays a role, Plateau adds: “Emerging research is telling us that social media has an impact on eating habits and body dissatisfaction.

We know that individuals who are vulnerable are more likely to be influenced by social media and some of the ‘fitspiration’ messages around can be taken to the extreme if people have tendencies to go over the top with exercise.”

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HOW CAN FITNESS PROFESSIONALS HELP? Clinical treatment of exercise addiction involves addressing the underlying problems and cognitive behavioural therapy to help develop a healthier relationship with exercise. As with other behavioural addictions, early intervention can help prevent the problem getting out of hand and fitness professionals can play an important role in spotting clients who may be at risk.

“Gyms have a duty of care to their customers so don’t be afraid to have a conversation with someone you’re concerned about and offer advice on their exercise schedule and refuelling strategies,” Plateau says.

New member induction can also be a good opportunity to discuss the need

for rest and recovery and pick up on people with a very low BMI [body mass index] who might benefit from advice about appropriate exercise levels. Once the behaviour has become entrenched, it’s much harder to broach the subject as people tend to become defensive, she

adds, but displaying information about local mental health and eating disorder support services is a positive step.

The charity Beat (beateatingdisorders.org.uk) provides free leaflets and posters, and access to a helpline.

Case study: Georgina (not her real name) experienced a period of exercise addiction during her second year at college “I was going to the campus gym two or three times a day, using the treadmill, bikes and rowing machine.

I’d be going at it quite hard and would have a target of so many calories I had to use up or a specific time I had to spend on the machine. It was a very solitary activity – didn’t want to engage with anyone else in the gym as that would have been a distraction. It was physically taxing and there were times when I’d feel dizzy and think I was going to fall over. I was exhausted all the time and found it hard to focus.

“Looking back, I can see that it was part of wider issue around body image

and food. I wasn’t really anorexic or bulimic but I definitely had a warped relationship with food. My father had died, transitioning to college had been hard, and it was a general manifestation of my unhappiness and anxiety about my place in the world and my relationship with my peers. The exercise gave me a feeling that I had some sort of control – I was unhappy about my body and I was doing something to fix it, but what really needed fixing was all the emotional stuff going on underneath.

“As it was a free campus gym, nobody was really taking notice of how much I

was using it and I would lie to friends about the extent of my exercising – it makes you very secretive. If gym staff had tried to talk it me about the issue, it would have needed a very tactful approach. If they’d said I was only allowed to use it once a day, I’d have found other things to do instead, such as going for a run. I think having some information about mental health helplines in the gym might have been useful. Luckily, I found a new outlet for my emotions when I joined a drama group and made a different set of friends, so I managed to stop exercising so much before I did any lasting damage.”

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IN DEPTH PROFILE

PARRY’S PASSION Former Olympian Steve Parry spoke to Roisin Woolnough about his passion for getting kids to swim, his business ambitions and his neardeath experience

t the age of eight, Steve Parry had a near death experience that led to him becoming an Olympic medalist 20 years later.

That near death experience was falling into the River Thames on the last day of a family barge holiday. His dad fished him out and after that, Parry’s parents booked him in for swimming lessons. “I had been in swimming lessons before, but on a really ad hoc basis,” he says. “That’s when they decided I needed to get a good skill level in swimming.”

Twenty years later and Parry won bronze in the 200m butterfly at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, adding his Olympic medal to a whole host of other swimming medals.

The next year Parry retired from competitive swimming but has remained a prominent and active figure in the swimming world. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and events, and was the after dinner speaker at the active-net 2018 conference this month.

He is passionate about all things related to swimming, such as his belief that all children should be given the opportunity to learn to swim, the health benefits of swimming, his company’s innovative pool solutions and of course, what it takes to be an Olympian. “People always find stories from the Olympics interesting,” he says. “People want to

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understand the Olympic mindset and what it takes to achieve on the world stage. Olympians tell a compelling tale.”

It was during one of his public appearances shortly after he won his Olympic medal that Parry realised what he wanted to do next. “I went to a school where no-one could swim and the next day I went to Leisure Industry Week, and there was a freestanding pool. That’s when I had my crazy idea.”

POP-UP POOLS Parry’s crazy idea was teaching children how to swim in freestanding pools – modular pools that could be set up anywhere at a fraction of the cost and build time of a regular pool. He and his former training partner Adrian Turner, created Total Swimming in 2005. Their aim was to bring swimming lessons (and swimming pools) to primary schoolchildren who otherwise might never learn to swim.

Over the next seven years they taught over 150,000 children how to swim in school time, on school premises, delivering over 50 modular, freestanding pools to schools in deprived areas where there wasn’t a local pool within a two-mile radius.

“We dropped the pools into schools, in areas such as car parks and school halls, as temporary swimming solutions,” explains Parry. “We went into schools for a 12-week period,

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IN DEPTH PROFILE

taught them how to swim and took the pool down again. The kids absolutely loved it, and schools really embraced it.

For schools, there was a massive benefit in that the pool came to them – they didn’t have to travel to the pool. A lot of swimming budget goes on transportation costs.”

VITAL LIFE SKILL This all stemmed from Parry’s visit to the school where none of the children could swim. According to research by the Amateur Swimming Association, a third of children leave primary school unable to swim. “That’s an incredibly high number and yet it’s a relatively simple process,” says Parry. “I just didn’t want to see all those kids unable to swim.”

Despite being on the national curriculum, over 40% of children in the UK are not offered school swimming lessons. Yet, swimming is an important life skill – more than 400 people drown each year in the UK, with drowning being the third most common cause of accidental death in children.

As well as it being a vital life skill, getting children swimming at an early age sets a good foundation for them leading an active, healthy life. “If you get active at a young age, it becomes a habit,” Parry says.

“I just didn’t want to see all those kids unable to swim” Obesity and diabetes are two other topics Parry is passionate about, citing Health Survey for England research that shows that nearly a third of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese in the UK today. Increasing numbers of people are obese, and according to Diabetes UK, if current trends continue, more than five million people will have diabetes in the UK by 2025. “Yet a lot of this stuff is preventable,” says Parry.

PLUGGING THE GAP Total Swimming no longer runs those intensive school swimming programmes. Now the organisation has four core elements to it: swimming lessons for children aged three to 11; training up swimming teachers; building innovative, financially viable

pools; and delivering events using elite athletes.

As well as teaching children this essential life skill, Parry says his other great passion is ensuring there are cost-effective facilities available to people and to cash-strapped local authorities. That’s where the modular, freestanding pools come in. “We have built five facilities that broke the model – a 50-metre pool in Barking that cost a couple of million pounds, for example,” Parry says.

Modular pools are great for plugging a temporary gap – say a community is going to be without a pool for a couple of year, then Total Swimming can install a temporary one in the meantime so that the local community still has somewhere to swim, but without the costs being prohibitive.

Parry says it can be tough persuading parents and institutions to think of alternative swimming solutions, but being an Olympian means he is focused and determined to succeed – two traits that come in handy when running your own business and trying to innovate.

“Business is incredibly similar to sport,” he says. “You have to be very driven, be able to articulate clear goals, have the right mindset and have a group of like-minded people with you. Discipline is the most important thing, and the time and effort you need to put in.”

Parry says sport has taught him a lot of life skills that stood him in good stead as a competitive swimmer and stand him in good stead now as well.

What he means is that as a competitive swimmer or as someone running your own business, you have to keep plugging away and keep counting the milestones as they come. The incremental rewards that you achieve, whether it’s a medal win or a new customer or contract, help you strive for the next, bigger awards.

And you need to have great people around you – whether it’s your business

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partner and team or your parents and coach poolside as you put in the hours.

Although Parry started to show real potential as a swimmer in his teens, it wasn’t until he was 17 and won gold at the European Junior Championships that he realised just how much potential he had. He then won a scholarship to go to the US to study at Florida State University and he says his experience there, really helped him. “Americans have a brilliant mindset and they taught me how to win and to not be afraid of it. That was my biggest learning while in America.”

CHERISHED MEDALS Despite winning lots of medals, one medal is still particularly dear to him – his bronze from a school gala when he was aged nine, his first swimming medal. “That was the first time I experienced being proud of something and rewarded. My dad put the medal in a frame for me and I was proud of it for years and years.”

But the medal that means the most to him is the obvious one – his Olympic medal. And one of the great things about winning an Olympic medal, Parry says, is that although it was great winning it at the time, each time he watches the Olympics, his appreciation of what he achieved increases. “It gets better with time. You see how hard it is to achieve that and come to appreciate it more and more.”

He loves watching the Olympics and other great sporting events. Not only does he enjoy it as a spectator and sometimes as a commentator, but also because it reminds him of what he achieved and how far British sport has come in the past 20 years. And he still has an Olympic ambition of his own: for Total Swimming to have trained enough children to fill the Olympic stadium by 2022. That means training 55,000 children and as they’ve trained 22,000 so far, they’re well on their way.

Medal successes Steve Parry’s medal collection from his swimming career

SILVER in 200m butterfly in 2002, Manchester Commonwealth Games SILVER in 200m backstroke in 2002, Riesa European Championships (short course) SILVER in 200m butterfly in 2003, Dublin European Championships (short course)

GOLD in 200m butterfly in 2002, Riesa European Championships (short course)

BRONZE in 200m butterfly in 1997, Seville European Championships (long course) BRONZE in 200m butterfly in 1998, Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games BRONZE in 200m butterfly and 4x50m freestyle in 2000, Valencia European Championships (short course) BRONZE in 4x200m freestyle in 2002, Manchester Commonwealth Games BRONZE in 200m butterfly in 2004, Athens Olympic Games

At the 2000 US Nationals in Seattle, Parry set a Commonwealth Record, beating Michael Phelps, among others

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IN DEPTH AGENDA n the UK, just 4% of people cycle every day – a figure that pales in comparison with most EU countries.

At the top of the tree is the Netherlands, where 43% of the population cycle daily. It’s no surprise, then, that the Netherlands boasts one of the healthiest populations on the continent, while the UK is the most obese country in Western Europe.

For the UK to develop a thriving cycling culture – and enjoy the health, social and environmental benefits it provides – children and young people are key. If bitten by the cycling bug early, youngsters are significantly more likely to carry on using a bike.

S&PA Professional spoke to specialists in the sector to identify the hurdles preventing young people from getting on their bikes, how they’ve been overcome and what more can be done.

I

SEDENTARY GENERATION For young people, the list of distractions preventing them from being more active appears endless. From television to smartphones, the alternatives available mean this generation of young people is the most sedentary in history.

“Kids don’t get out and about like we used to,” says Steve Miller, cycling officer at Newport Live, which runs the Wales National Velodrome.

Recognising that children need to be engaged early, Miller has developed the Cycle Tots programme. Here, children from the age of two can cycle on balance bikes, before continuing on a pathway that includes learn-to-ride sessions and technical training.

Eventually – when they reach age 10 – they can take to the velodrome track.

“Every year we’ve expanded our programme, so now we’re at the point where we run four Cycle Tots sessions every Sunday, and we’ve got 50-60 kids coming through the door each week,” says Miller.

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These numbers prove children can be engaged in cycling if they are given the opportunity, he says.

“Since opening in 2004, the impact of the velodrome has been huge. We have kids who travel for miles to train with us. It’s important to make everything affordable and fun, and keep it inclusive. We’re trying to include adults in our sessions so it’s more familyorientated. Nowadays, this approach seems to work really well, and should be focused on,” he says.

The UK lags behind many continental countries in terrms of cy ycling take-u up. Peter Lennox x talks to o spe ecialissts in the secto or to find outt how w more peoplle can be e encouraged to get on n their bikes

The need to engage parents is more crucial than ever, with children’s safety an overwhelming concern. Chris Bennett, head of behaviour change and engagement at national cycling charity Sustrans, says cycling’s health and social benefits outweigh the risks – and this must be emphasised.

“The parents’ perception can be a big barrier,” says Bennett. “We do quite a lot of work with parents to get them cycling too, so they can understand what safe cycling is and that it can be safe for their children.”

James Scott, cycling development director at campaign group Cycling UK, agrees that changing perceptions is key to boosting participation.

“The parents are the gatekeepers,” he says. “There was one statistic from our Big Bike Revival programme – which engaged 56,000 people who had never cycled regularly before – that 21,000 of those felt cycling was a lot safer than their perception. It’s that fear, about children getting on their bike and cycling to school, that prevents a lot of them from doing so.”

According to the latest national travel survey, less than 3% of children in the UK travel to school by bike. The proportion of young people cycling to school has actually declined every year since 1995.

Again, this is in stark comparison with the

" CHLOE CRISFORD

ENGAGING PARENTS

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IN DEPTH AGENDA Netherlands, where 40% of children ride to school.

So why is there such a vast difference?

“The culture is established there,” says Scott. “They have cycle tracks that run the full length of the city.

Infrastructure is still a big issue here.”

Bennett echoes this view. In areas where Sustrans has campaigned to transform walking and cycling routes, annual usage by children has increased 117%, and delivered a 151% rise in their use of the routes to get to school.

“In the likes of the Netherlands and Denmark, they’ve had a sustained focus on getting young people active and on bikes, including building brilliant cycle routes,” Bennett says. “We’re trying to replicate that in some way.”

A snapshot of what increased cycling provision can offer a city can be found in Cambridge. This is in no small part due to the advocacy work of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign. The charity’s efforts ensured that a city centre cycling ban, implemented in 1995, was overturned 10 years later. It has since successfully campaigned for more cycle paths, lanes and cycle parks.

“The school run is a glorious sight in Cambridge,” says Roxanne De Beaux,

Boys aged 10-16 who cycle regularly to school are

30%

more likely to meet recommended fitness levels

while girls who cycle are

7x

more likely to do so.

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De Beaux, however, believes schools must take a stronger stance in pushing for improved cycle routes.

“Unfortunately, even in Cambridge, we are seeing schools taking the opposite approach, seeking to enforce helmets and hi-vis, and to ban children from cycling rather than removing the real sources of danger, which are bad driving and poor infrastructure.”

EDINBURGH ACHIEVEMENT

Spokes has worked with Edinburgh Council to promote active commuting

“The Cambridge school run is a glorious sight – you might imagine you are in the Netherlands” cycling campaign officer for the charity.

“You might imagine you are in the Netherlands. You see child-carrying cycles – box-bikes, tandems (often with more than four seats), trailers and more. You also see children start to ride their own bikes from a very young age.

“In areas where there is better infrastructure, it is noticeable that more children cycle to school.”

In Edinburgh, meanwhile, the efforts of campaign group Spokes have ensured Edinburgh Council allocates 10% of its transport budget to active commuting.

“We’ve changed the mood music,” says Rosie Bell, a member of the resources group at Spokes.

When asked what the priority must be to improve cycling opportunities for young people, she is unequivocal.

“Infrastructure. Campaigns with posters encouraging people to cycle are a waste of time and money,” she says.

“It is a rational choice not to cycle on badly maintained streets; on supposed ‘cycle lanes’ where vehicles park, forcing you to pull into the carriageway; among tram tracks that you cannot cross at a safe angle; near cars that will ‘door’ you; on narrow shared paths where you are conflicting with dog-walkers and buggy pushers.”

In an attempt to encourage active commuting, the UK government last

year published a £1.2bn long-term plan to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys. The plan includes £50m to offer cycling proficiency training for a further 1.3 million children.

However, individual local authorities will have to apply for funding and determine how it will be invested.

According to De Beaux, this is where the real challenge lies.

“In Cambridge, we’re ahead of the curve in terms of what we should install or build for cycling than most places,” she says. “There’s no national standard for cycling infrastructure.”

The evidence supporting the need to boost cycling participation is overwhelming. Studies show that those who head out on their bikes regularly enjoy the general health of someone 10 years younger, while increasing use of bikes instead of cars would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

For a culture shift to occur though, the overarching challenge is engaging children and young people. Key to this process are offering more opportunities, changing perceptions over safety and improving infrastructure.

Achieve these goals, and pedal power will be able to inspire a healthy, active generation – and give our towns and cities a new lease of life. b

Hands-on approach The Bristol Bike Project takes a different approach to encouraging young people to cycle. The scheme gives youngsters aged 8-18 the opportunity to go to after-school sessions where they learn to repair their bikes. The project also holds sessions for refugees, people with learning difficulties and those in sheltered housing.

James Lucas, community programmes coordinator, says the

after-school sessions don’t just offer children the opportunity to boost their mechanical skills, but also encourage them to ride more. “We engage the young person as much as possible, so they’re hands-on,” he says.

“Participants start to take cycling seriously. It’s not just a leisure pursuit but a broad utilitarian thing – trying to reduce car use and make our cities a more pleasant place to live in.”

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IN DEPTH BUSINESS

UNLOCKING TALENT

The onward march of automation means that search, pipelining and talent mapping are becoming ever more important to secure the right people for roles only humans can do, writes Sue Weekes

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s we sit at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, all the talk is of automation and robots replacing people in the workplace.

While technologies such as artificial intelligence will make some roles defunct, research suggests they will create many others. In most instances, robots will be relieving people of their mundane and routine work, providing an opportunity to reinvent what they do and how to do it better. Indeed, while automation may deliver important efficiency and productivity gains, to the customer it will still be human talent that is the differentiator at the front end.

The sport and physical activity industry is no exception. The rise of self-service systems, and back and front-office automation, is streamlining the transactional side of the business to free up members of staff to add value to the customer experience. In an increasingly competitive landscape, securing the right talent to fill key roles will be essential to gaining competitive edge over rivals in the future.

This requirement applies at every level of an organisation but in sport and physical activity the toughest challenge

lies at the mid-to-executive level, reckons David Steel (pictured, left), joint managing director of Talent Insight Group (TIG), which works with clients to identify and engage with the right talent for them. “Roles and responsibilities are more complex and the skillset is rarer, especially if the organisation wants to recruit from within the sector,” he says.

A

LOOKING OUTSIDE

" SHUTTERSTOCK

“We’ve worked hard with clients to get them to appreciate that candidates from other sectors can bring transferable skills and fresh thinking with them”

A role brief from a client will often be concluded with: ‘…and we want someone from within sport and physical activity, of course, as opposed to someone who doesn’t understand our world’. “This often makes for interesting debates with clients, some niche searches – if the client wins those debates – and a vicious circle of recycled talent,” says Tim Gleave (pictured overleaf), joint managing director at TIG. Steel adds that it can also mean there’s a lack of fresh ideas flowing into the industry. “We’ve worked hard with clients on this point to get them to appreciate that candidates from other sectors can bring transferable skills and fresh thinking with them.”

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IN DEPTH BUSINESS

Search helps football club with fresh talent goal

“The sector does tend to favour the more traditional methods such as the pull of the brand, advertising and relying on agencies” Another difficulty is that the candidate pool can be passive compared with other sectors, which is probably because the industry as a whole tends to look inward when it recruits. “And candidates aren’t as ‘visible’ as say within retail, financial services, legal or FMCG,” says Steel.

“Which is possibly explained by the roles within the sector being less desk-based and more out and about.”

The sector should not only look outside its immediate world to source its future talent, but also be receptive to more innovative ideas for resourcing.

“It does tend to favour the more traditional methods such as the pull of the brand, advertising and relying on agencies,” says Gleave.

Organisations in the sector should be looking to methods such as search,

A Premier League football club needed a new HR director.

However, it was adamant that it did not want to advertise the position, nor appoint someone from within the game. Instead, it wanted the new appointment to bring a fresh ‘people perspective’ to the club.

Ideally, the club wanted to hire a local person who was also a fan of the club, as well as someone who wouldn’t be star-struck by the day-to-day working environment involving meeting footballers, the Premier League and the presence of the world’s media.

To help it achieve these objectives, a search was conducted within a sensible commuting distance of the club’s location.

Senior HR professionals across a range of sectors were identified and approached.

The search resulted in around 80 people being identified. Just over 50 of them were approached, generating 18 CVs. Interest was high because of the nature of the client.

The club then conducted first- and second-stage interviews, and eventually made an appointment from the retail sector.

The successful candidate was both a fan of the club and a seasoned people professional – someone who was experienced enough to lead the club’s HR function in the manner required.

pipelining and talent mapping for pinpointing, identifying and acquiring their top talent. All of these techniques involve comprehensive research, using telephone and online methods to not just identify suitable individuals but also build a picture of the ‘talent landscape’ that exists for a particular role, which is likely to include individuals from other sectors.

PROACTIVE APPROACH Pipelining, for instance, involves research to build small, medium or large pools of potential candidates that will meet the organisation’s needs in the future. This process helps gyms or pool operators reduce reliance on agencies, and take a proactive rather than reactive approach to recruiting,

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INSIGHT thereby reducing the risk of making a poor appointment.

Meanwhile, mapping involves detailed research to create a map of the talent landscape ahead of the in-house resourcing team engaging with candidates. This technique gives the employer a much broader perspective, and a clear understanding of the skills and experience demanded by competitors or other sectors, as well as expected salaries. An area manager in sport and physical activity and hospitality will often be remunerated less than their counterparts within high street or brand retail, says Steel.

Organisations could also look to insight projects conducted by consultancies to provide a real-time picture of the external market, which

SEARCH

MAPPING

PIPELINING

helps them to benchmark their organisational design, remuneration levels, strategy and processes.

When it comes to attracting and retaining future talent, knowledge is power, and investing in insight and research to better inform recruitment decisions at the mid-to-executive level is crucial.

The talent recruited will be the people responsible for driving growth in the future in the face of increased competition and of potential skills shortages in the service sector.

In common with any other sector, sport and physical activity organisations need top talent if they are to compete – and relying on traditional recruitment methods may no longer be enough to enable them to seek it out. b

A leading gym and health club operator was struggling to recruit fitness managers nationally. The business felt that it wasn’t competing on salary and was losing top talent to rivals because of this.

To generate data to validate this viewpoint, the company decided to benchmark the organisation’s own fitness manager salary band against several other operators.

The operator received help in understanding who its five main competitors were.

Then, within these five target organisations, around 150 fitness managers across the UK were identified.

More than 100 career conversations were held – around 20 in each of the five competitors – to understand aspirations, benchmark reward, what the competitors thought of the client’s brand, and if managers had any desire to make a career move in the coming 12 months.

On completion of those calls, the findings were analysed. It transpired that the client was one of the better payers in the market, but that it had a negative reputation in the sector as a ‘hire-and-fire’ organisation, where line managers were weak and ineffective. This image was deterring a lot of people from wanting to join the organisation.

The client was also provided with a ‘mini-pipeline’ of people to contact in the future who were open to a move in the next three, six or 12 months.

" ISTOCK

Insight and analysis give gym and health club firm a leg up

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TECH FOCUS GYM EQUIPMENT

PEOPLE POWER

The latest generation of gym equipment is actually providing electricity for the grid.

Sue Weekes looks at some creative ideas for environmentally friendly equipment ne of Eco Gym of Brighton’s taglines is: ‘Memberships that don’t cost the earth’.

Although there’s a clue in the company’s name, it is easy to miss the depth of meaning behind this phrase. As well as working out for the benefit of their bodies, the gym’s members know they are also benefiting the planet, as its equipment converts human power into electricity that can be put back into the local grid.

Paul Crane, a former general manager at Virgin Active, set up a community-based gym in Lancing, West Sussex, in 2011. He had always been interested in green power, but says that at the time the kit was clunky and not readily available on a commercial basis. In 2015, though, he took on an “eco-engineered building” in Brighton which was the perfect environment to realise his aspirations, and formed a relationship with pioneering green power equipment manufacturer SportsArt. “I made some radical changes and pivoted the business,” says Crane, who co-owns the gym with business partner Andy Little. As well as using SportsArt ECO-POWR spin bikes, the gym has also installed energy-efficient flooring and lighting. “It’s now in everything we do,” he says.

O

SportsArt, whose UK base is in Loughborough and which sells to more than 70 countries around the world, has been designing and building exercise and gym equipment for almost 40 years. Having watched a video on global warming many years ago, founder Paul Kuo o felt inspired to give something back to o the environment.

The company went on to develop the ECO-POWR POWR range, which enables bles up to 74% of a user’s er’s energy spent exercising rcising to be converted into nto utility-grade electricity tricity and fed back into the building’s power grid. The range provides every fitness ness club with the potential to

become “a mini power plant” capable of creating clean power, he says. The company has also developed software that shows how much energy a gym is creating overall as well as drilling down to how much an individual member is generating.

The company is about to launch a treadmill that draws no electricity, with the belt being propelled by the user. It’s the first of a new generation of ECO-POWR kit that will also include bikes, steppers and ellipticals, says UK manager Roger Eldergill. “We’ve relaunched the products with the main difference being that the micro-inverter is inside, not outside, the machines, so there are no extra cords or boxes to have a manage. So you can hav complete range of cardiovascular equipment equipm lower that is helping to lowe utility costs and cut back on emissions emissio going out in the world,” he says.

Eco Gym recently became becam the be first gym in the world to b awarded certification from Green Circle, C which was established to substantiate environmental environme

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“You can have a complete range helping to lower utility costs and cut emissions”

claims by organisations. Its audit found that Eco Gym creates 8% of energy through human power, but Crane anticipates this figure rising to 30% by the end of the year when the company installs the new ECO-POWR treadmills and further equipment. “The sample kit study was based on only three crosstrainers and three bikes. We’ll also be introducing more spin bikes and group classes, where we can collect a lot of energy,” he says. “The kit is great and it’s affordable. We share the same vision as SportsArt, and the service team is really supportive.”

The green gym moment is more mature in the US, but it is starting to gain momentum in the UK. Crane

believes it is the future for fitness, and to this end recently launched a franchise programme that is attracting interest from across the country.

As for members, he believes environmentally friendly equipment adds even more incentive for greenminded individuals to get involved in work-outs and programmes. Eco Gym has a young membership demographic, with 70% of its members aged 18-35, while 65% of members are female. Not surprisingly given Brighton is the only constituency in the UK that elected the Green Party, the area has proven receptive. “People are joining us because of what we stand for, and we’re building a community. Members are

helping us to evolve and have their own ideas about sustainable living,” he says.

The company is also working on an app that rewards members based on their efforts, he adds.

“People want to work out, but having the added motivation of working out for the greater good is powerful. And why wouldn’t you want to make a difference to the environment?” b

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TECH TOOLKIT PRODUCT RO UND-UP

THE NEXT LEVEL

High-spec gear that will keep your gym at the cutting edge

PUNCH ABOVE YOUR WEIGHT The Physical Company worked with mixed martial artists and safety experts in the 12-month development of its latest range of combat kit. The range was created to respond to the increasing use of combat moves in group training workouts and one-to-one personal trainer sessions.

The company says there has been an increased demand from mainstream clubs and boutique studios, as well as

traditional fighting clubs, for highquality, durable kit. It adds that safety, hygiene and durability were all key considerations in developing the range.

The new range includes five styles of boxing and sparring gloves and mitts, three styles of pads and a strike shield.

It also features safety and comfort accessories such as a full head guard, hand-wrap tape and glove liners.

Price: to come www.physicalcompany.co.uk

TRAIN LIKE A CHAMPION Skillrun from Technogym claims to be the first treadmill to combine cardio and power training in a single solution to meet the needs of elite athletes, as well as fitness enthusiasts.

It allows the user to undertake a variety of workouts, including ‘parachute training’ where users can strengthen the resistive power and top-end speed to reproduce the feeling of outdoor running with a parachute.

Resistance is minimal at the start and increases with speed. Meanwhile, sled training allows the user to reproduce the feeling of pushing a sled on grass.

Resistance is high at the start but decreases to a constant rate.

The built-in Biofeedback interactive technology tracks and monitors a running session and provides colourcoded feedback that enables the user to improve performance.

Skillrun is part of the Skill Line range created to address ‘skillathletic training’, a method developed by Technogym and Olympic champions to improve athletic performance.

Price: On application www.technogym.com

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GET INTO THE ZONE

SSTRENGTH TRENGTH EEXERCISERS XERCISERS SSAVE AVE SSPACE PACE

standing calf; leg extension and seated stt leg lee curl; recumbent leg press and seated calf; and abdominal and see nd lower-back extension. lo o Users can switch seamlessly ly between the two exercises, and bee nd are given clear workout instructions gii ons and illustrations on which muscles illl es are being trained. bee The new range will also be compatible with Pulse’s member co o mber activity tracking software, PulseMove. acc ulseMove.

Price: From £3,288 for the abductor Prr bductorr and an n adductor to £4,283 for the he leg press and seated calf machines prr nes www.pulsefi www.pullsefit w fitness.co.uk tness.co.uk k

Suunto has added two new Spartan Trainer multisport GPS watches to its collection. The outdoor-inspired designs, Amber and Sandstone, feature daily activity tracking and wrist heart rate measurement by biometrics specialist Valencell.

With durable stainless-steel bezels and mineral crystal glass, the Spartan Trainer is water-resistant to 50m and provides 10 hours of battery life.

The heart rate zone feature allows users to set maximum and rest heart rates, and can define special zones for running and cycling activities. It will show how long a person has spent in each heart rate zone, and how many beats they have in reserve until they move to the next one.

Price: to come www.suunto.com/ spartantrainerwristhr

Pulse Fitness’ 10-strong Dual Strength line has been designed to maximise space on the gym floor, with each machine incorporating two exercises through an adjustable spring-loaded, lockpin system.

The range aims to cover all main muscle groups and includes: chest press and shoulder press; rear deltoid and pec fly; assisted chin and dip; arm curl and tricep extension; abductor and adductor; lateral pulldown and seated row; squat and

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CIMSPA ACADEMY The home of eLearning for CIMSPA members The CIMSPA Academy provides free online CPD opportunities exclusively for CIMSPA members. Completing CIMSPA Academy eLearning will qualify members for CIMSPArecognised developmental CPD points.

NOW OVER 1300 FREE eLEARNING CHOICES FOR MEMBERS & STUDENT AFFILIATES

MEMBERS – START LEARNING TODAY

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CIMSPA members can now access Instructor Public and Teacher Liability £10m insurance through FitPro CIMSPA and FitPro have teamed up to offer CIMSPA members a comprehensive range of insurance products underwritten by AVIVA. This insurance scheme has been specifically designed for fitness industry professionals.

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EXPERT ADVICE

UPDATING SWIMMING POOL SAFETY HSE’s Frances Kelly explains that the swimming pool guidance has been revised to offer more clarity and give operators more practical advice n February, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published the latest version of HSG 179, ‘Managing health and safety in swimming pools’.

The revision was carried out as part of HSE’s wide-reaching guidance review programme and it brings HSG 179 into line with other HSE publications. It is written in a straightforward, accessible style which signposts readers to more detailed industry guidance, removing ambiguity and avoiding duplication.

The guidance provides clarity on what the law requires, and offers practical advice for use in real situations.

The guidance is the culmination of several years of hard work by stakeholders across all areas of the industry. It has taken time to agree the content, but readers should be assured that this publication reflects the views of HSE and our stakeholders.

In keeping with advances in the way that HSE shares information, HSG 179 is intended to be used as an online resource rather than as a hard copy document. We have taken the opportunity to use hyperlinks to take the reader to detailed guidance on the HSE website that covers the health & safety of employees and members of the public in areas such as handling chemicals, using equipment and work in confined spaces, as well as advice on management issues such as risk assessment, training and competence.

Readers will notice that this version is

" ISTOCK

I

more streamlined, with detailed information on swimming pool design and pool water treatment being provided by the industry itself. Readers should treat HSG 179 as an introduction to these important topic areas, and are expected to use the resources highlighted in the document. In most cases there are hyperlinks that will take them to external websites to complement the information provided in HSG 179.

In terms of content, the revised guidance provides much of the same, trusted advice. There have of course been some minor changes to legislation, such as changes to reporting requirements under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), so these have been updated. There have also been some advances in technology.

The guidance acknowledges that while computer-aided technologies are

intended to assist rather than replace lifeguards, they have helped identify potential drowning accidents they had not observed.

HSG 179 is recognised by the enforcing authorities as a benchmark standard setting out reasonably practicable control measures for managing risks in swimming pools.

Following the guidance will normally ensure that operators are complying with the law. Operators can, however, take alternative risk control measures, provided that they can demonstrate that they are equally or more effective than those set out in the guidance.

Our aim is to ensure people can enjoy all of the benefits of swimming in a safe environment, whether they are in a large swimming complex, a holiday resort or in a small hotel pool. Operators can be confident that if they follow the advice in HSG 179, they will be going a long way to ensure the safety of both their customers and their employees.

HSE is grateful for all the hard work and cooperation that has brought us to this point. The industry should be proud of this achievement.

We hope that operators will see the revision of HSG 179 as a positive step to help them to improve their safety management systems.

Frances Kelly is a regulatory inspector for Local Authority Enforced Sectors, Fairgrounds & Entertainment, Health & Safety Executive

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WORKPLACE FOCUS

EVERYONE’S A WINNER Richard Templar reveals how letting people win can help you get ahead in your sports or activity business big part of getting people on your side is negotiating.

Whether you’re agreeing a business deal, arranging with your siblings to share care of your elderly parents, asking your boss for a pay rise, agreeing bedtime with your child or splitting the bill after a meal out with friends, you need to know how the other person is feeling and what will make them want to co-operate with you.

And the good news is that almost everyone has the same basic criterion when they’re negotiating.

Everyone wants to win. Simple, really.

Let them come out on top and they’ll be happy to agree the deal.

You’ll have spotted a flaw in this approach. Yep – if they win, where does that leave you? Well, that’s the interesting bit. If you play your cards right, you can win too. And that should be your aim in any negotiation.

In fact, it’s the only outcome that can possibly work.

Think of a simple business deal. Let’s say a market trader selling to a customer.

As it’s a market stall, the customer isn’t going to pay the asking price. They’re going to haggle. So it’s become a negotiation, albeit of the most basic kind. You’ve been in this situation yourself I’m sure, and what generally happens is that you agree a price somewhere in the middle. So who’s won? Well, you have of course. You’ve got the item at a price you consider worth it – if you hadn’t, you’d have walked away. But hang on, the

A

“Everyone wants to win. Let them come out on top and they’ll be happy to agree the deal” stallholder didn’t have to accept your offer. They could have refused to sell you the product. So they must be feeling like a winner too, if they agreed to the deal.

And that’s what you’re after. As you may know, this is known as a win/win deal. And it doesn’t only apply to business deals and money transactions.

It applies to any agreement you’re trying to reach – with your friends, colleagues, family, kids, neighbours.

Let’s go back to your kids’ bedtime. You could just tell them it’s 8pm and you don’t want to hear any argument.

However, as they get older, you’re likely to want to allow them some input, without allowing them free rein over when they go to bed. It’s good for them to start learning to regulate their own timetable. Then again, you don’t want it to turn into a row followed by a long sulk, or a rebellion, when they feel you’ve won the argument and they’ve lost it.

Look, they know you’re not

going to let them go to bed at 2am.

They’re expecting some kind of limit, broadly in line with where you’ve drawn the line when they were younger. Which means it really should be possible to strike a deal where you both feel you’ve got what you want – so that should be your aim.

You really can turn all your deals into win/win ones. Yes, even when you’re negotiating with your kids. Understand what they’re looking for and how they think, and it becomes much easier to work with, not against, each other.

Everyone wants to win. Simple, really.

Richard Templar is a self-development author. His latest book The Rules of People, published by Pearson, is out now.

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LAST WORD SPORT AMBASSADOR

Stacey Copeland, ex-England footballer, pro welterweight boxer and Sports Tours International community ambassador

BREAKING THE MOULD S

it’s important to challenge that language.

“All of my role models that I aspired to be were male. I wanted to be like Ryan Giggs, Cantona, Lee Sharpe, Gazza or Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran. It wasn’t their gender. I wanted to be them because they’re great footballers and boxers, and that’s what I wanted to be but there were no women who were doing that at the time, so all of my associations of who I wanted to be were male.

“That’s where it ended up confusing me. People asked me why I wanted to be a boy and I didn’t – I just loved those sports.

“That’s what I say when I go into schools – if you’re a boy, who loves traditionally girly things, that’s fine. If you’re a girl, who likes traditionally boy things – that’s okay.

Don’t let people limit you.

Don’t let people tell you you can’t do it because you can.

If you are good at it and you love it, go ahead and do it.

It’s so important to be a role model in the way that I didn’t have when I was younger.”

Copeland spoke to S&PA Professional’s Graham Simons

" GETTY

tacey Copeland first got into with boxing and running. She will also boxing as a child through go to the I Love Manchester and Salford her granddad, who runs an 10k runs, where she will meet with race amateur boxing club in participants and share their stories.

Bradbury, Stockport.

It’s clear Copeland remains As it was illegal for girls to compete passionate about kids not limiting until 1997, she had to settle for boxing themselves to certain sports, training while she embarked on a particularly those linked with a certain football career at English clubs such as gender and being the sports role model Doncaster Belles and Manchester City, that she did not have. “It’s important to and abroad in the US and Sweden. me because as a child when I was But after achieving her goals of playing football I got called names. competing in the FA Cup and playing People still refer to me as a tomboy now for England, Copeland decided to – I’m 36! I will point it out now and say finally to take the plunge and start a I’m not a tomboy, I’m an athlete. I boxing career with women now able to represented my country in two sports. compete.

To equate that with being a tomboy is Starting as an amateur in 2011, in a incorrect – you’re an athlete so I think 40-fight career before turning pro she won three Stacey Copeland, right: national titles, a silver “I’m not a tomboy, I’m an athlete” medal in the European Championships and represented Great Britain in the World Championships in the welterweight category.

These days, Copeland combines her pro boxing career with a recent appointment as community ambassador with Sports Tours International, which will involve writing a blog covering her experiences

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• Increased Energy • Boost Immune System • Better Digestion • Better Sleep • Increase Antioxidants • Reduce Fatigue • Improves skin condition

Email: thinkhealthwithrehana@gmail.com Contact number: 07411646488 48 Facebook: Healthy Living Complete www.cimspa.co.uk SPA.Spr18.048.indd 48

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LAST WORD SPORTING LIFE

Pamela Relph MBE, Paralympic gold medallist British adaptive rower and speaker for mentoring, research and consultancy organisation Women Ahead

THE PERFECT STROKE WHICH SPORT IS YOUR FIRST LOVE? My first love was most definitely rugby. I played rugby from when I was very young and played until I was 18. Watching England Men’s Rugby World Cup win in 2003 with my dad was one of my favourite childhood memories.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO ROWING? I got into rowing after being medically discharged from an army scholarship with the Royal Engineer regiment of the British Army. The condition that ended my military career was what made me eligible for Paralympic sport.

WHEN ENTERING ROWING, WHO WAS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MENTOR AND WHY?

that have been training full time for decades will still have technical changes they are working and striving towards.

WHAT’S THE HARDEST CHALLENGE YOU HAVE EVER FACED IN YOUR SPORTING CAREER? In 2014, I had a shoulder injury, which required surgery and sidelined me for an entire winter’s training.

I found that was the breaking and making of me as an athlete.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE MOST BRILLIANT MOMENT OF YOUR SPORTING CAREER? It was probably just a few months after I started rowing full time. It

My sister Monica was on the GB rowing team and first encouraged me to see if I would classify for para rowing. She helped pave the way for my career and helped me transition into the world of elite sport.

WHAT WOULD YOU REGARD AS THE FUNNIEST INCIDENT IN YOUR SPORTING CAREER? Most of the funny moments would have occurred with my training partner for the 2014-16 seasons, Grace Clough. We would regularly have sessions where one of us would do or say something stupid in the delirious tiredness that you get at the end of a hard training block, which would leave both of us in stitches out in our boat with our coach looking on wondering what on Earth was happening!

WHAT WOULD YOU REGARD AS YOUR THEME TUNE?

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT ROWING? " REX

was Christmas Day in 2010 and even though I didn’t have any training on my programme for that day, with some encouragement from my sister I did a short session on the rowing machine. After that I made a point of training on the day I knew my competition wouldn’t.

Throughout my career I made a number of ‘training montages’ and the most recent one had a backing track of Eminem, Till I Collapse.

The thing I love most is the concept that you will never take a perfect stroke. Even athletes

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LAST WORD SPORT BY NUMBERS

] Follow us on Twitter @SAPA_Pro and @cimspa

This issue… Winter Olympics 2018 The 23rd Winter Olympic Games was held in PyeongChang, South Korea between 9–25 February.

The first Winter Olympics in

1924

were held in Chamonix, France.

This year’s Winter Olympics put on an increased number of events, with the number of disciplines rising from 98 in the last Winter Games in Sochi, Russia to 102 in 2018

Athletes competed in three main disciplines – snow sports, ice sports and sliding sports. Just some of the events included within these disciplines are speed skating, figure skating, biathlon, crosscountry skiing, alpine skiing, snowboard, ski jumping, bobsleigh, ice hockey, luge and curling

92

teams qualified at least one athlete to compete in the Games

Norway topped the table, finishing with a total of

39 medals

– 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze Great Britain won its highest ever medal total of 5, including a gold medal in the skeleton for defending champion Lizzy Yarnold

There was a total of more than

51,000 employees working at the Games

Until 1992 the Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years, but following a 1986 decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate fouryear cycles in alternating evennumbered years, the next Winter Olympics after 1992 was in 1994

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EMBRACING PROFESSIONAL S TA N D A R D S YMCA Awards has become the first awarding organisation to receive endorsement from the Chartered Institute of the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) having embraced the organisation’s new professional standards in three new gym instructor and personal training qualifications.

These new qualifications are also mapped to the UK National Occupational Standards and are recognised by REPS. For more information about these new qualifications please visit ymcaawards.co.uk/cimspa-standards

RS

EP

20

DE

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EN

ED

REPs

N T LY E N

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YMCA Awards registered charity 213121

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