FCB London Joins Agency Team on Play Their Way Campaign to Transform Children’s Coaching

FCB London are delighted to be announced as part of the agency team for Play Their Way - a new Sport England and National Lottery funded initiative to transform the way children and young people are coached in sport and physical activity.

Play Their Way, which is led by the Children’s Coaching Collaborative – a collective of like-minded organisations who want to create a nation of “child-first” coaches - was launched last week at Peckham BMX Club in South London. The club has coached and supported over 2000 young people since opening in 2003, including Olympic silver medallist Kye Whyte.

The campaign will work with the UK’s 2.6 million coaches to build a grassroots movement aimed at increasing and improving child-first coaching - an evidence-informed approach that is underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Right to Play, The Right to Develop and The Right to be Heard. 

A ‘child-first’ approach to coaching is about championing every child’s voice, choice and journey in sport and physical activity. The Play Their Way campaign aims to level the playing field by putting children first and helping them enjoy being active in their own way, where great coaching can inspire a child to stay active for life.

Insights gathered as part of the project includes extensive Sport England research into youth activity levels and experiences, indicating that a child-first coaching approach is the key to helping young people develop a genuine and lifelong love for being active and staying in sport longer.  

According to Sport England’s latest Active Lives survey, only 47% of children who regularly exercise strongly agree that they enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity, down from the pre-pandemic level of 51%. The same survey showed that more than half (55%) do not get enough exercise. Play Their Way is dedicated to ensuring children have the best possible experience in sport and activity through the people who know them best – their coaches.

Research also highlights how enjoyment is one of the biggest motivators for children and young people to get active, which is why Play Their Way is dedicated to ensuring children have the best possible experience in sport and activity through the people who know them best – their coaches.

The campaign will see a multi-agency approach taken to help drive long term behaviour change amongst the UK’s coaching community by providing a range of resources and starting a national conversation on how children and young people are coached in sport.

Tim Hollingsworth, chief executive, Sport England, said: “Positive experiences for children and young people are at the heart of Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy – and child-first coaching is an important part of this.”

“Our research tells us that for children, ‘fun’ is the primary reason for taking part in sport and activity. They will want to take part if they enjoy it. It’s vital that we put fun and enjoyment at the centre of sport and activity, and give our children and young people the chance to shape their sporting experiences to boost activity levels.”

Heather Douglas, head of coaching and policy at UK Coaching, added: “Coaches play such an important role in the development of children and young people’s lives, often in difficult circumstances, and can have a profound effect on the positive experiences they have in sport and physical activity.”

“Our goal is for all children and young people, regardless of age, background or ability, to have a voice, choice and decide their journey when participating in sport and physical activity, so they develop a genuine and lifelong love for being active.”

The Play Their Way campaign has also been developed by insight and engagement with a network of grassroots sports coaches along with children and young people through a series of focus groups and workshops.

A special campaign video was also launched last week and coaches are being encouraged to use resources from coaches and experts who are on their child-first coaching journey.

To learn more about the campaign, access resources and be part of the biggest grassroots movement to transform the way we coach our children and young people, visit here.

The Play Their Way agency team is: Brainlabs; Digital media planning and buying, Bluestate; Grassroots mobilisation strategy, FCB London; Creative strategy and execution Insight Angels; Insight and research, Run Communications; Media relations and PR.