Why Kye would encourage others to become a sports leader
As part of the Inclusion 2024 programme Kye became a Sports Leader, delivering sessions to students in other schools in the Bristol area. Sports Leadership is about developing the individual beyond the desk, beyond the classroom and beyond academic expectations, enabling the whole person to develop, thrive and meet their fullest potential.
We spoke to Kye to find out more about his role as a Sports Leader and why he’d encourage other young people to get involved.
"I am a student at Warmley Park School and my favourite sports are football and rugby. I’ve just got into playing rugby and when I’m not playing, I enjoy watching and supporting my local team, the Bristol Bears.
I have been involved for two years as a Sports Leader at my school which involves supporting children at sports festivals in the area. My teacher encouraged me to get involved and at first we visited a number of schools and I helped to deliver different sports to the younger children. I really enjoy playing sport with them and feel happy when they’re having fun. I think it’s really important to engage with the children and just talk to them and get to know them. I encourage them to try lots of different sports and activities, it’s great helping them try out new sports like archery, goalball and judo.
One visit I was particularly proud of was supporting some young children at a primary school we visited. We did some dancing with them, and I was really excited to see them all so happy and having fun. I think about what they need, and what things they might need my help with. Sometimes I do things for children if they can’t do them themselves, whereas other times I might just support them and show them what they need to do. I think it’s important to have leaders like me as they’re learning from young people like me and not just adults. I can be a role model for them.
When I first started as a Sports Leader, I was visiting new schools that I didn’t know, I didn’t have much confidence and I felt nervous as it was all new and different. But now I have a lot more confidence, I still feel a little bit nervous now and then when going to a school, but not as much.
I’m learning new things like communication skills and also how to work with a range of people, this will help me to get a job in the future. I’m learning things outside of sport also. I do work experience every week with residents at a local retirement village, including older people living with dementia, and I help with their newspaper as well. I can now do this type of thing now as I’m more confident. I now think more about what is going to happen next in my life and not just school, I’m thinking about going to college and what jobs I might want to do. My ideal job would be working to help people, either children or older people or I’d love to work with animals.
I’ve really enjoyed sports coaching and how this helps people, I feel excited when I help people. I would encourage other people to be a Sports Leader as it gave me the skills and confidence to try different things."
Kye’s teacher Kris Tavender said:
As a child with a learning disability, Kye found academic learning in a traditional way challenging, which historically made it harder to both develop confidence and build new relationships.
Kye has had a range of experiences supporting children of all abilities including children from mainstream schools. This has resulted in learning how to adapt to meet the different needs of these pupils which in turn is helping him to increase his confidence and develop employability skills. Kye’s work experience placement at St Monica Trust may open the door to their apprenticeship scheme and perhaps even paid work one day. This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t developed these employability skills through leadership.
As a growing young man, Kye demonstrates that personal aspiration, social skills, and an empathy for others are invaluable traits to develop, and impact others as a young leader and role model.