Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
Hannah works at the University of South Wales (USW) as a Commercial Manager for Sport and other subject areas including education, health and community well being. She is also Course Leader for a Masters program in Leadership in Sport. Prior to working at USW, Hannah spent over 8 years working in the Sports industry in a range of roles, while she is also a voluntary board director for Golf Union Wales and mentor to a number of students and professionals working in the industry.
Growing up, I was obsessed with sport. Playing, watching, organising, helping out wherever I could. Now that I work in the sports industry (and realise I will never make it as a professional golfer with a handicap of 24!), it is that final point which I have come to realise makes sport in Wales and the UK happen helping out. I wholeheartedly believe that without the wonderful volunteers working up and down the country to make sport happen we would not see the successes that we have witnessed on the world stage or the equally important achievements in grassroots sport, fitness and health occurring every day in our local communities.
I have always given my time outside of my day job to contributing to sport in one way or another. From coaching and organising sports activities to mentoring lesser experienced sport staff and sitting on local committees and national governing body boards; volunteering in these roles is vital in helping me to keep a finger on the pulse from a sporting landscape perspective. One of my current voluntary roles as a board director for Golf Union of Wales requires me to provide guidance and support to help lead the strategic direction of the organisation. Helping to ensure that Golf Union of Wales is governed appropriately and managed with integrity is crucial given the public investment into the governing body. Acting as Chair for Golf Development Wales (the Unions golf development arm) also enables me to support and shape the delivery of grassroots development of the sport. Such roles keep me grounded and inform other areas of my work where understanding the challenges at the coal face is crucial.
Now working at USW, this focus on volunteering is a core priority for our work within USW Sport. For our students, we place a heavy emphasis on encouraging them to give their time to delivering sports opportunities across the region. This ensures that they develop the right skills and knowledge required to be successful in the industry plus it ensures that we help to contribute to the development of the future workforce. Central to this approach, is instilling core values in our students around commitment, positive attitude, professionalism and humility. We actively encourage all of our sport students to focus on doing the right things well and building positive relationships. After all, sport is about people; and we need to ensure that we are creating the next generation of volunteers and professionals who are leaders at all levels.
We estimate that USW Sport students give over 23,000 voluntary hours to the delivery of community sport at different levels, from primary school delivery through the supporting regional academies and elite sport. Whilst there are obvious benefits to the community from this human resource, there are mutual benefits for the students too in that they are able to gain hands on experience essential for getting jobs following their degrees. We have some excellent examples of students who have gone on to secure full-time jobs as coaches, analysts, development officers and so on as a direct result of volunteering and placements. Furthermore, we have seen graduates progress in different sectors, since sport has provided them with core transferrable skills that that can apply across a range of different roles.
I think that as a sport sector, we are keen to help others grow and succeed. The success of many of our students during their voluntary placements is thanks to the commitment of their mentors who carefully guide and support them with their professional development. Even the most talented people in sport need mentors and I feel that this is something we need to focus more on, particularly when inspiring and motivating our volunteers. Certainly, the advice I would give to clubs and organisations looking to recruit and retain good volunteers is to give them responsibilities that they can own; provide clear goals and outcomes to help motivate them; and provide ongoing mentoring and guidance to help the volunteers to achieve their potential particularly in the case of young volunteers.
I feel blessed to have had the experiences in work and life - particularly working in sport and I genuinely think that that this is as a result of volunteering for different things over the years. I am now seeing some of our students (who I hope will be our future leaders) reaping similar rewards from their efforts with their commitment to volunteering in sport. Core values such as a commitment to making a difference; a positive can do attitude and a willingness to go above and beyond really can lead to achieving your dreams; both personally and professionally!
Growing up, I was obsessed with sport. Playing, watching, organising, helping out wherever I could. Now that I work in the sports industry (and realise I will never make it as a professional golfer with a handicap of 24!), it is that final point which I have come to realise makes sport in Wales and the UK happen helping out. I wholeheartedly believe that without the wonderful volunteers working up and down the country to make sport happen we would not see the successes that we have witnessed on the world stage or the equally important achievements in grassroots sport, fitness and health occurring every day in our local communities.
I have always given my time outside of my day job to contributing to sport in one way or another. From coaching and organising sports activities to mentoring lesser experienced sport staff and sitting on local committees and national governing body boards; volunteering in these roles is vital in helping me to keep a finger on the pulse from a sporting landscape perspective. One of my current voluntary roles as a board director for Golf Union of Wales requires me to provide guidance and support to help lead the strategic direction of the organisation. Helping to ensure that Golf Union of Wales is governed appropriately and managed with integrity is crucial given the public investment into the governing body. Acting as Chair for Golf Development Wales (the Unions golf development arm) also enables me to support and shape the delivery of grassroots development of the sport. Such roles keep me grounded and inform other areas of my work where understanding the challenges at the coal face is crucial.
Now working at USW, this focus on volunteering is a core priority for our work within USW Sport. For our students, we place a heavy emphasis on encouraging them to give their time to delivering sports opportunities across the region. This ensures that they develop the right skills and knowledge required to be successful in the industry plus it ensures that we help to contribute to the development of the future workforce. Central to this approach, is instilling core values in our students around commitment, positive attitude, professionalism and humility. We actively encourage all of our sport students to focus on doing the right things well and building positive relationships. After all, sport is about people; and we need to ensure that we are creating the next generation of volunteers and professionals who are leaders at all levels.
We estimate that USW Sport students give over 23,000 voluntary hours to the delivery of community sport at different levels, from primary school delivery through the supporting regional academies and elite sport. Whilst there are obvious benefits to the community from this human resource, there are mutual benefits for the students too in that they are able to gain hands on experience essential for getting jobs following their degrees. We have some excellent examples of students who have gone on to secure full-time jobs as coaches, analysts, development officers and so on as a direct result of volunteering and placements. Furthermore, we have seen graduates progress in different sectors, since sport has provided them with core transferrable skills that that can apply across a range of different roles.
I think that as a sport sector, we are keen to help others grow and succeed. The success of many of our students during their voluntary placements is thanks to the commitment of their mentors who carefully guide and support them with their professional development. Even the most talented people in sport need mentors and I feel that this is something we need to focus more on, particularly when inspiring and motivating our volunteers. Certainly, the advice I would give to clubs and organisations looking to recruit and retain good volunteers is to give them responsibilities that they can own; provide clear goals and outcomes to help motivate them; and provide ongoing mentoring and guidance to help the volunteers to achieve their potential particularly in the case of young volunteers.
I feel blessed to have had the experiences in work and life - particularly working in sport and I genuinely think that that this is as a result of volunteering for different things over the years. I am now seeing some of our students (who I hope will be our future leaders) reaping similar rewards from their efforts with their commitment to volunteering in sport. Core values such as a commitment to making a difference; a positive can do attitude and a willingness to go above and beyond really can lead to achieving your dreams; both personally and professionally!
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