Street Sports training helps upskill staff

Guernsey Sports Commission Community Sports staff had the chance to work together and update their skills and understanding at a dedicated training day on Saturday.

Around 15 Street Sports staff had a full day of workshops and activities at the Youth Commission headquarters at Les Ozouets.

‘It was great to get the team together and share good practice and find out more about other services that work with children and young people,’ said Jenny Murphy, Sports Development Officer for Community Sports.

‘We updated our staff on the various policies and procedures required to run community sports sessions safely as well as ensuring they are fun and we talked through how to put our policies into action.

‘We looked at examples of incidents that have happened during Street Sports sessions and worked through how we would practically and successfully deal with them in line with our procedures. The day was a real mix of practical and theory sessions.

‘We were also delighted to welcome Charlie Cox, CEO of the Youth Commission, who gave a really useful overview of the services that the Commission provides so that our staff know more about where they can refer children to or which services to signpost,’ said Jenny.

The training day also included an introduction to Lacrosse, a sport new to Guernsey and keen to grow participation.

‘Liv Harman from Guernsey Lacrosse took us through the rules and skills drills so that we can hopefully deliver some sessions as part of our Street Sports offering and help raise awareness of this new sport.’

Action for Children presented an update on Drug and Alcohol Awareness and the Sports Commission’s PE & Sport Development Officer Steph Batiste led some team building games and activities to keep the day fun and energetic.

‘I found the training day really informative and enjoyable,’ said Dave Harfield from the Guernsey Sports Commission who attended the training day.

‘I’m still fairly new to the Island so it was great to find out more about the Youth Commission and what they do and what support they have in pace for children and young people,’ said Dave.

You can find out more about Street Sports at https://guernseysports.com/programmes/street-sports/