What if ... sport could be used as a tool to reach young people, get them connected, and give them opportunity?
So, what is WAY Sports?
WAY Sports is a project that uses sport to reach, connect and give opportunity to children and young people who face disadvantage. Our clubs and activities are focused on long-term journeying alongside young people to build community, receive mentoring, and find purpose in a positive and inclusive environment.
"Out of everything that I do, this is the most fun". - Young person, aged 9
Awesome, but why sport?
At WAY, our vision is to meet young people where they’re at, and for so many young people, sport is an easy, accessible, and enjoyable way to do something that they love in an environment that feels more comfortable than sitting down and discussing their feelings. This way they can receive mentoring, while also building community and developing skills, confidence, and fitness in a setting that is fun and much more approachable, inclusive, and engaging.
So, what sports do you actually do?
Here are the sports and games sessions we do, co-produced with children and young people, across Swindon. Take a look for yourself at our projects below…
Afterschool World Games
Our afterschool games are a set of co-created inclusive activities designed to enable children and young people to be resilient, positive learners - laying the foundations for a confident transition to secondary school in a fun, relational way.
WAY co-produced these sessions with key staff members at 3 primary schools in North Swindon, to understand the needs of their children and young people. We designed a set of inclusive afterschool games inspired by traditional sports and games from around the world. These games were tailored to the needs identified by the schools and co-created with WAY’s young leaders.
34 young people were supported through this project.
Of the students who were identified as showing behavioural challenges and/or a lack of engagement in education:
36% saw a reduction in behavioural incidents in school.
50% saw an increase in positive school engagement.
93% didn’t see a decrease in resilience
Afghan Sports and Games
These are our sports and games sessions that are co-produced with Afghan families to provide their children and young people with a uniquely available environment to play sport and build community with each other and coaches. This is done through the Swindon Borough Council Warm Welcome team.
Co-Produced Sport Project
We will be reaching 50 children and young people in Park North (an area of high deprivation), co-producing inclusive and engaging sports based on their interests. This will be as a part of our work at The Base, and in partnership with Goddard Park Primary School, focusing on building positive relationships, providing opportunities, improving engagement with education, and reducing involvement in risk-taking activities. Launching April ‘25...
Jack's Story
Jack couldn’t do a session without getting upset, angry and threatening other students. He has a stronger sense of fairness and hates losing, so anytime he felt something wasn’t fair or if he was losing, he would struggle to regulate his emotions. However, once we adjusted the games to focus on working as one team, he found it much easier to overcome challenges. Jack showed signs of frustration and came close to disengaging, however, with the encouragement of his peers, he found he was able to overcome that and continued to join in. He took part multiple sessions without a single incident and enjoyed every session whilst encouraging his peers in different activities.
*Young person's name changed to protect identity
Want to get involved?
Work with us to co-produce
At WAY we specialise in co-production – working with other organisations to create high impact projects that see lasting change in the lives of young people of their communities. Could you work with us to co-produce or partner to run one of our programmes?
Become a volunteer coach
Could you give a some time every week to be a coach and journey alongside young people through the WAY Sports project? Being a consistent, trusted figure for young people in a fun and safe environment can change the direction of their future. This could be your way of making a tangible and lasting change in your community – just by playing sport!