Leading a Generation - The Young Ambassador movement give their thoughts on the Sport Wales 2013 Conference



The Young Ambassadors with Lord Sebastian Coe



As the leaders of the future, the Young Ambassadors played an important role in this year’s conference. Platinum Young Ambassador’s Carwen Richards and Natalie Davies give their opinions on the day….

Carwen Richards, Bangor University

Young Ambassadors were involved throughout the Sport Wales conference this year. My role was to facilitate during a question and answer session consisting of a panel of 5 individuals currently linked with the Young Ambassador programme. This was a fantastic experience for both me and Natalie as facilitators, and also for Molly, another YA who actually sat on the panel.

Our main topic was ‘The importance of supporting Young Ambassadors to undertake their roles’. We received questions from the floor which the panel then discussed; some great suggestions and ideas were noted from the experienced panel as well as the audience.

I particularly enjoyed meeting Lord Seb Coe, along with the other Young Ambassadors, who were present from all across the country. There were Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Young Ambassadors represented on the day.

 Dr Paul Thomas, a keynote speaker, was also a highlight. He approached leadership and management in a very humorous and honest manner. As a young person and as a student, I could relate to his stories, and I felt that I learnt a lot about life in general in his speech!

 Personally, I feel that the Young Ambassadors’ involvement throughout the day was essential. As a YA I feel that we can put everything into perspective. We are young people; we are young people that want to lead others and make others want to follow our lead.

To conclude, I believe that the Sport Wales Conference 2013 was a huge success. It was beneficial for us to be part of such an enjoyable day, mixing with the famous Jamie Baulch, Rupert Moon and Lord Seb Coe as our own friends!

 From my point of view, it was also beneficial to the participants in the workshops to have us there; to hear young people’s voices first hand and to discuss with us our experiences as Young Ambassadors. We are all thriving for the same thing: An increase in participation in sport in Wales, and having so many multi-talented young people spreading the word of sport to those who do care about the future of sport in Wales will only open more doors for us in the future.

 Natalie Davies, Neath Port Talbot College

 I had the pleasure of attending the Sport Wales annual conference on Monday 17th June. I always love attending and contributing to the conference days as they are always filled with inspiration.

My role in the conference was to facilitate a Q&A panel based on the importance of supporting Young Ambassadors. On the panel was a representative from all areas, NGB, 5X60 Officer, Sport Wales board member, Head teacher and a Gold YA.

 

The panel was one of the best I had experienced from attending different conferences. It was very appropriate to the theme of the conference "leadership & legacy" as without YA's having support from their community helpers, they are not able to continue the legacy of London 2012 ready for Glasgow 2014, and to work on getting every child hooked on sport for life.

Having previous experience in being on a panel, our Gold YA coped very well with the hot seated questions and responded well to the audience contribution. The questions were flying in from the audience and in my opinion; the only downfall was that it should have been the main workshop, so everyone could have heard the panel!

Meeting Lord Sebastian Coe was definitely a key highlight of my day as he chatted to me about my YA work and the dancing role I have, and also the experiences I’ve had which was really enjoyable, he was very down to earth and seemed like a lovely gentleman.

The final keynote speaker Dr Paul Thomas was also a very inspirational person, I thoroughly enjoyed his speech as he always had the audience involved with his stories and expressed the key points for successful leadership and company management.

I feel very lucky being invited to the Sport Wales Conference; it was a brilliant lifetime experience.

Arwain Cenhedlaeth – Mudiad y Llysgenhadon Ifanc yn mynegi ei feddyliau am Gynhadledd Chwaraeon Cymru 2013

Fel arweinwyr y dyfodol, chwaraeodd y Llysgenhadon Ifanc ran bwysig yn y gynhadledd eleni. Dyma’r Llysgenhadon Ifanc Platinwm, Carwen Richards a Natalie Davies, i roi eu barn ar y diwrnod ...

Carwen Richards, Prifysgol Bangor

Roedd y Llysgenhadon Ifanc yn rhan bwysig drwy gydol y dydd yng nghynhadledd Chwaraeon Cymru eleni. Fy rôl i oedd hwyluso yn ystod sesiwn hawl i holi a oedd yn cynnwys panel o 5 o unigolion sy’n gysylltiedig ar hyn o bryd â rhaglen y Llysgenhadon Ifanc. Roedd hwn yn brofiad ffantastig i mi ac i Natalie fel hwyluswyr, a hefyd i Molly, Llysgennad arall a oedd ar y panel.

Ein prif bwnc ni oedd ‘Pwysigrwydd cefnogi’r Llysgenhadon Ifanc i ymgymryd â’u rôl’. Cawsom gwestiynau o’r llawr, a drafodwyd wedyn gan y panel; nodwyd rhai awgrymiadau a syniadau gwych gan y panel profiadol, yn ogystal â’r gynulleidfa.

Fe wnes i fwynhau cyfarfod yr Arglwydd Seb Coe yn arbennig, a hefyd y Llysgenhadon Ifanc eraill a oedd yn bresennol o bob cwr o’r wlad. Roedd Llysgenhadon Ifanc Efydd, Arian, Aur a Phlatinwm yn cael eu cynrychioli ar y diwrnod.

Roedd Dr Paul Thomas, un o’r prif siaradwyr, yn uchafbwynt hefyd. Fe edrychodd ar arweiniad a rheolaeth mewn ffordd ddoniol a gonest iawn. Fel person ifanc a myfyriwr, roeddwn i’n gallu uniaethu â’i straeon, ac roeddwn i’n teimlo ’mod i wedi dysgu llawer am fywyd yn gyffredinol gan ei araith!

Yn bersonol, roeddwn i’n teimlo bod cyfraniad y Llysgenhadon Ifanc drwy gydol y dydd yn hanfodol. Fel Llysgennad Ifanc, rydw i’n teimlo bod posib i ni roi popeth mewn persbectif. Rydyn ni’n bobl ifanc; rydyn ni’n bobl ifanc sydd eisiau arwain eraill a gwneud i eraill ddilyn ein harweiniad ni.

I gloi, rydw i’n credu bod Cynhadledd Chwaraeon Cymru 2013 yn llwyddiant ysgubol. Roedd yn fuddiol i ni fod yn rhan o ddiwrnod mor bleserus, gan gymysgu gydag enwogion fel Jamie Baulch, Rupert Moon a’r Arglwydd Seb Coe fel ein ffrindiau ni!

O’m safbwynt i, roedd ein cael ni yno’n fuddiol hefyd i’r cyfranogwyr yn y gweithdai; i glywed lleisiau pobl ifanc yn uniongyrchol a thrafod ein profiadau fel Llysgenhadon Ifanc gyda ni. Rydyn ni i gyd yn anelu at yr un peth: Cynnydd yn y nifer sy’n cymryd rhan mewn chwaraeon yng Nghymru, a bydd cael cymaint o bobl ifanc amldalentog yn lledaenu’r gair am chwaraeon ymhlith y rhai sy’n poeni am ddyfodol chwaraeon yng Nghymru yn agor mwy o ddrysau i ni yn y dyfodol yn sicr.

Natalie Davies, Coleg Castell-Nedd Port Talbot

Fe gefais i’r pleser o fynychu cynhadledd flynyddol Chwaraeon Cymru ddydd Llun yr 17eg o Fehefin. Rydw i wrth fy modd yn mynychu ac yn cyfrannu at ddyddiau cynhadledd, oherwydd maen nhw bob amser yn llawn ysbrydoliaeth.

Fy rôl i yn y gynhadledd oedd hwyluso panel Hawl i Holi yn seiliedig ar bwysigrwydd cefnogi’r Llysgenhadon Ifanc. Ar y panel roedd cynrychiolwyr o sawl maes; corff rheoli chwaraeon, swyddog 5x60, aelod o fwrdd Chwaraeon Cymru, Pennaeth Ysgol a Llysgennad Ifanc Aur.

Y panel oedd un o’r goreuon o’mhrofiad i’n mynychu cynadleddau amrywiol. Roedd yn briodol iawn i thema’r gynhadledd, sef "arweiniad ac etifeddiaeth", oherwydd heb i Lysgenhadon Ifanc gael help gan eu cynorthwywyr cymunedol, nid ydynt yn gallu dal ati ag etifeddiaeth Llundain 2012, yn barod ar gyfer Glasgow 2014, a gweithio ar gael pob plentyn i wirioni ar chwaraeon am oes.

Wedi profiad blaenorol o fod ar banel, fe ymdopodd ein Llysgennad Ifanc Aur ni’n dda iawn gyda’r cwestiynau llosg ac ymatebodd yn dda i gyfraniad y gynulleidfa.

Roedd llawer o gwestiynau’n cael eu holi o’r gynulleidfa ac, yn fy marn i, yr unig anfantais oedd nad oedd hwn yn brif weithdy, fel bod pawb wedi cael clywed y panel!

Roedd cyfarfod yr Arglwydd Sebastian Coe yn sicr yn uchafbwynt mawr i fy niwrnod, wrth iddo sgwrsio gyda mi am fy ngwaith fel Llysgennad Ifanc a’r rôl ddawnsio sydd gen i, a hefyd y profiadau rydw i wedi’u cael, a oedd yn bleserus iawn. Roedd yn agos atoch chi ac yn ddyn hyfryd.

Roedd y prif siaradwr olaf, Dr Paul Thomas, yn berson ysbrydoledig iawn hefyd. Fe wnes i wir fwynhau ei araith, oherwydd roedd y gynulleidfa’n rhan o’i straeon drwy gydol y cyflwyniad a mynegodd bwyntiau allweddol ar gyfer arweiniad llwyddiannus a rheoli cwmnïau.

Rydw i’n teimlo’n lwcus fy mod i wedi cael gwahoddiad i Gynhadledd Chwaraeon Cymru; roedd yn brofiad gwych i mi.

 

Laura's five conference highlights

Prof Laura McAllister

 Last week, we held our annual Stakeholder Conference – designed to unite key stakeholders from across sectors over a day and a half to discuss, debate and identify practical ways to deliver our shared agenda. Here, our Chair - Prof Laura McAllister - blogs about her conference highlights:

1.      New advocates for sport

Talking to people that either are new to the sports sector or new to our conference was a definite highlight. If we are to deliver the Vision for Sport in Wales, we need to reach out to new sectors - like education and health - that can use the leverage of sport. I believe that we cannot afford not to spend on sport – it helps community cohesion, improves health, skills & confidence. We need more people championing sport – whether it’s across local authority departments, in business or different government organisations.

2.      Keynote from Peter Keen, UK Sport’s Director of Performance

Peter reiterated a key theme of the conference: calculated risk-taking. He said, “The fear of failure needs to be your constant companion in the pursuit of excellence.” I think that this is relevant whatever sector you work in. The sports sector needs to be more edgy. It needs to be more comfortable with trying new ways of working and taking those calculated risks.

Only by trying new ways of working and applying the lessons can we begin to reach our aspirations. It was also useful that he was able to gain an increased understanding of what we’re doing in Wales and where we want to be (the no.1 nation on the basis of medals per capita at the Commonwealth Games!)

3.      Address from Huw Lewis, Minister responsible for Sport

We’re entering a hugely exciting time for Welsh sport. Not only do have two home Games on home soil - London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 – but we also have a Welsh Government whose programme links with our shared Vision. . This provides us with an unrivalled opportunity to drive sport forward. The Minister was clear that the focus is very much on outcomes and delivery and this will be their challenge to us. I was particularly pleased that the Minister stated that physical development is as important as reading and writing, which is going to be something that we will need to push with our colleagues in education.

4.      Natalie Davies, Young Ambassador & Panel Member

All of our speakers and panelists were first-class, but I must reserve special mention for Natalie Davies. In my opinion, she was the best panelist of the day. At 17, she is one of many Young Ambassadors across Wales that are encouraging their peers to take part in sport. And they’re doing a brilliant job! I have been so impressed by our Young Ambassadors and Natalie showed us how important it is to actively listen to young people. Her enthusiasm was boundless and she spoke from the heart. See for yourself in this film clip!

5.      Synergies

We were delighted to welcome Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Jewell and Children’s Commissioner for Wales Keith Towler onto our panel. There are so many synergies in our work. We have a shared agenda and we need to make the most of that. I want the sports sector to focus on creating new alliances with different sectors because I honestly believe we all want the same thing.

And as Keith Towler said, “If Wales can’t collaborate – who can?”

A strong theme of the conference was that sport needs to be more entrepreneurial. It needs to try different things. Chris Brindley talked about the importance of customer service if we’re to get every child in Wales hooked on sport for life. We need to think about we can reach new potential customers, what’s getting in the way of them consuming the product (sport!). How do we communicate? Are we maximising social media to reach our audiences? Do we have the data and information we need to judge our performance?

On a final note, I would like to thank everyone who attended and to those who contributed via our Twitter debate. If you’re not already on board the Twitter juggernaut, get involved! It’s a great way to raise the profile of the sector and to debate the important issues. You can follow @sport_wales to keep up to date and you’ll find me @LauraMcAllister.