We’re thrilled to introduce the ‘Behind The Curtain Coaches Network Podcast’, in partnership with Champions In Community. It spotlights the amazing people, groups and organisations championing movement in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
We spoke to Shay Fenlon, Leap’s People Development Manager, to find out more:
What was the inspiration for creating the podcast series and what is its purpose?
It started out as a conversation with Benson Miyoba about how before Covid, we delivered a lot of training opportunities face to face. The people attending told us they got so much out of connecting with others in the 15 mins before the course started or in the tea break. We felt that we had lost those golden moments since training has moved online.
We started to think about ways we could replicate this, and we felt it was about making people aware of other people in their local area who are doing cool stuff in the movement, physical activity and sport space and then being able to connect with them. The idea of the podcast developed, which empowers people through people by highlighting great coaching going on across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. We hope that it means we inspire more people to become involved in coaching, leading and volunteering.
Who is the podcast for?
We’ve created the podcast for anyone who is interested in hearing about the inspiring people who are improving the lives of residents in our community through movement, physical activity and sport.
“I think the key thing for me is, you don’t have to be ‘sporty’ to enjoy the episodes, these people are humble heroes who are doing brilliant things for their communities and they just see it as part of their role. I think it’s really important that we highlight these people, in my opinion often these people don’t get the credit they deserve for the difference they make to peoples lives, they are our sector’s most precious resource and their potential is limitless”
Tell us about the host, Benson Miyoba
Benson is the founder of Champions in Community and one of our Community Champions is the host. We have worked with Benson and his team for a number of years now and it was really important to us that it was coaches talking to coaches which is why it works. Benson is the perfect host for this, he’s so natural and authentic in his hosting style despite being fairly new to podcasts himself. His knowledge and experience around all things coaching, as well as his enthusiasm for people and hearing their stories means we are thrilled to have him involved.
Who are a few of the people we can hear from?
- Ruel DaCosta, Ninja Warrior, Personal Trainer, Pilates Coach, Busy Dad and founder of the UK’s first ever indoor Parkour gym. Ruel’s story is a great example of how you can turn a passion in to a sustainable career.
- Abbi McKane is a working Mum with a passion for helping people to believe in themselves. Hear how Abbi has managed to balance her own mental and physical wellbeing.
- Coach Nicola is a women’s health expert and offers support for people with long term health conditions. Hear how she helps people overcome life’s challenges.
Any challenges when recording and how they were overcome?
I think the main challenge has been coordinating everyone’s diaries, a massive shout out must go to Anya Forbes-Phyall from the Leap team. She has made sure all coordination has been as smooth as possible. We recorded all the episodes of series one face to face: in the future we are going to test a mix of online and face to face. This will allow us to speak people who we think will be great guests but we couldn’t meet for series one. Watch this space!
What do you have planned for the future?
Series two recording is already underway and will focus on local skills development. This is how we bring education, employers and stakeholders in our sector closer together so that career pathways, education and training improves so people entering the workforce are work ready and have the knowledge, skills and behaviours to meet local need.
We’ll be talking to a range of guests: education providers, employers such as leisure facilities and coaching companies. Young people who are currently in education and on the pathway to join our sector. It has all the ingredients to be a thought provoking and insightful series.
How can people get involved?
Most importantly, you can listen to them here:
We’re always keen to speak with more people so please email if you or you know someone who would make a great podcast guest chat@teamcic.co.uk