My Sporting Journey – Volunteering and Leadership

Name: Natalie Sharp

Age: 22 years old.

Sport: Athletics

Local Authority: East Ayrshire

I am a graduate from the University of the West of Scotland where I studied BA (Hons) Sports Coaching and Development.

Locally, I volunteer with Kilmarnock Harriers Athletics Club as a coach, general volunteer, team leader and committee member. Nationally, I volunteer with Scottish Athletics as part of their Young People’s Forum, where I then went on to become a mentor for their second cohort of members. I am also a member of the Scottish ClubSport Young People`s Working Group.  

What was your involvement in volunteering during your time at college/university?

Within my time at college, I assisted with sportability sessions, focusing on a variety of different sports. I also completed placement with Active Schools within primary schools across East Ayrshire. There was no on-campus sports team available to represent the college at events or competitions, so I gained volunteer coaching experience doing after-school clubs in primary schools with Active Schools.

Within my time at university there was no clear opportunity to be a part of the sports teams to represent the university as I became part of the university when during COVID so there was a lack of opportunities especially when learning from home and not being on-campus a lot. So I relied on my connections locally with my club for opportunities.

What skills did you gain and what changes did you see in yourself?

The skills I gained were: confidence, responsibility, leadership, adaptability, flexibility, organisation, communication, time-management and many more. I was able to apply these skills to the work and volunteering that I continued on to after my studies. By putting my learning and the skills developed through my volunteering into practice, I was able to transfer these into other environments which gave me the confidence to look at national opportunities. 

How did you get involved in community/club sport? What was your role as an athlete, coach, volunteer etc? 

Through my HND placement I completed coaching sessions with the under 11’s at Kilmarnock Harriers working alongside other coaches with valuable coaching knowledge and experience. I have been involved in sport since the age of 3 through different sports and at the age of 10 I became dedicated to athletics when I joined Kilmarnock Harriers and I’ve been representing them since as an athlete. I began volunteering within the club after finishing my HND placement which is when I decided to continue coaching with the same group and coaches as well as taking on additional volunteering roles & responsibilities such as: committee member, team leader and team management duties.  

How did your College/University support your transition to club/community sport? Why was this? Key learnings? 

The college and university were good at keeping us up to date with opportunities either for employment or volunteering. They were also very encouraging when they knew we were doing sporting activities or volunteer work out with the learning environment. They also provided us with a contact list of individual’s and clubs within the local area for different sports across the community. 

The college/ university were encouraging about keeping people involved in sport after their education had ended with the institution and they were continuously ensuring the education gained was being put to use and that the institution was a huge support system for individuals who wanted to continue volunteering in sport or gaining employment in sport.

Achievements to date? Key roles you have taken up? Opportunities you have gained in leadership/volunteering? 

• Being a part of the Scottish Athletics young people’s forum
• Working with the sports development team through a university placement and continuing this work afterwards and progressing into other roles.
• Joining my club committee at the age of 20 as the young person’s representative.
• Applying and being accepted onto the SCS Young Peoples Working Group working group, representing East Ayrshire and Athletics.
• Becoming a main coach for the under 11’s (2 nights a week) at my club.  

Through all these different voluntary positions & opportunities I have been able to increase my confidence, networking skills, my flexibility and much more. Also, through these experiences, it has allowed me to be taken seriously within Sport Development at a club level as part of a volunteer role.  

Another opportunity I was given was through Kilmarnock Harriers. I went out into local primary schools and delivered coaching sessions which were athletics specific and allowed children through their PE lessons to try some athletics. I was also a volunteer at helping primary schools prepare for their athletics sport day. 

Advice for young people who are considering volunteering/leadership roles and how can they get involved in community/club sport? 

My advice for young people is ‘Get Involved’ it’s something I preach because if you do not ‘get involved’ then it can be loads of missed opportunities. You get to meet and work alongside incredible individuals who love sport and are passionate about continuously striving to make it better for the future generations coming through from grassroots. Working on leadership with other passionate young people can make the experience a whole load better for individuals. No matter the time you have available I would suggest for people to go out and give back to sport regardless of if they have been involved or not, it is incredibly rewarding.  

How can someone get involved? 

Individuals can identify a sport which they love or one they wish to try and do the research to see if there is a local club of that sport in their local area. They can also speak to someone who is involved in sport for some assistance (PE teacher, Active Schools Coordinator or Active Campus Coordinator’s). They can also get in touch with a Local Sports Council or ClubSport Network who know many clubs in local areas. They can also contact a club themselves and see what opportunities they have available for volunteers (which may be coaching) as local sport clubs are always seeking new volunteers.