Throughout September 2022, 619 young people from local secondary schools and their mentors came together for the welcome return of the Young Ambassadors conferences.
At the heart of the Young Ambassador programme is the principle that their views, and those of other young people are heard, valued and influence decision making. Each year two pupils from every secondary school in Scotland have the opportunity to be selected as Young Ambassadors to promote sport, and motivate and inspire other young people to get involved in sport in their schools, clubs and local communities.
Young Ambassadors is a National Lottery-funded programme and a key element of sportscotland’s contribution to developing young people as leaders in sport. The programme has welcomed more than 6,000 young people since it started in 2012. The conferences play a key role in providing the young people with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to undertake the role of promoting and inspiring other young people to get involved in sport within their schools and communities.
Six conferences were held across Scotland in Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh, with the young people given the chance to meet Scottish athletes including Kirsty Gilmour (badminton), Leanne Crichton (football), Qasim Sheikh (Cricket) and Lynne Beattie (Volleyball), who shared their inspiring journeys in sport and help prepare the young people for their role as role models within their schools and communities.
The conferences were hosted by former athlete and broadcaster Rhona McLeod, who shared her views on the power sport can have in developing key leadership skills, the impact the young people can have through inclusion, as well as talking through her own career in sport.
Young people at the heart
Young people were at the heart of the conferences, with the workshops delivered solely by the 29-strong Young Ambassadors Delivery Team, who took the new YAs through the content required to undertake the role within their schools and communities. The Delivery Team, aged 16 to 19, were selected earlier in the year and attended training sessions and a residential at the sportscotland national centre Inverclyde to enable them to be able to expertly deliver the sessions.
Six of the group were given the opportunity to open one of the six conferences and share their own experiences of being a YA in a Q&A with host Rhona.
What they said
Lynne Beattie who was the guest athlete at the Aberdeen and Inverness conferences, said: "It was absolutely brilliant being up in Aberdeen and Inverness at the Young Ambassadors conferences.
"For me young people are an absolute asset to sport and physical activity.
"They have a great ability to contribute to not only getting new people involved in sport but also in creating new ideas and influencing decisions across the sporting system."
Stewart Harris, chief executive for sportscotland, attend all of the conferences, said: "Becoming a Young Ambassador is a fantastic role, as it provides opportunities to develop new skills, builds confidence and meet like-minded people in sport. Having young people at the heart of these conferences, shows the passion and determination the younger generation have when it comes to providing sporting opportunities within schools and communities.
"It's a programme we are very proud of that has helped develop young people for nearly 10 years and wouldn’t be possible without the National Lottery and lottery players.
"We encourage our Young Ambassadors to motivate others to get into sport, helping shape decisions to ensure youngsters have the best possible sporting experience across Scotland."
Find out more
Learn more about our Young Ambassadors programme
