Hey, we’re Adam and Hannah, and we’ve been Team Leader Managers for the last two years. In this blog, we’ll reflect on our favourite memories, how we’ve seen the Team Leaders grow and develop over the years and share our top tips for anyone wanting to support youth leadership.

Favourite memories

Adam: My personal highlight from the two years in this role was my last event – the School Games National Finals. I looked after a small group of 5 Team Leaders, who themselves were overseeing 26 young volunteers from 5 different school organisations. The inclusive atmosphere the Team Leaders created to foster a sense of belonging was amazing to witness.

Hannah: My personal highlight was the Multisport Young Leader Camp 2024 in Doncaster. This was the first residential camp that the “new” cohort of Team Leaders worked at, alongside a couple of our more experienced Team Leaders. Not only did they do a brilliant job engaging the Young Leaders and ensuring everyone is having an amazing time, it was also great to see how the Team Leaders worked together as a group and supported each other.

How the Team Leaders have grown

The Team Leader role is a 2-year position with a staggered system so that whenever a cohort of Team Leaders finish, a new cohort of Team Leaders join us to embark on their journey. This means that there is always a cross-over of experienced Team Leaders working together with a new cohort of Team Leaders. What has been amazing to see was the growth of our Team Leaders in their second year, taking on the role of supporting and sharing advice to the new Team Leaders who were just starting.

For the new Team Leaders, it was amazing to see how they got stuck into the programme and engaged with the young people at events and camps. Although all our Team Leaders are already well-experienced young adults in the field of youth leadership, there’s always a bit of nervousness about starting a new position and working alongside people you don’t know. It was incredible to see all the different personalities of our Team Leaders and how they complemented each other in a team. After their first camps, you could see a real change in their confidence. It was great to see how this confidence then translated into the work that they were doing, and that they were able to fully enjoy their experience because of it.

Top tips to support Youth Leadership

For anyone who is involved or wants to get involved in supporting Youth Leadership, we'd offer 3 top tips:

• Be brave – throw yourself in at the deep end. Put yourself outside of your comfort zone. It’s the best way to grow.
• Be professional – in a role of facilitating Youth Leadership you will often be seen as a role model. Make sure you are one.
• Be authentic – young adults will see through a façade. Be you and be confident about being you.