UK Sport’s new leadership exchange programme has been launched with representatives from South Africa, Zambia and across the UK meeting this week to be inducted into the initiative.
The International Development Through Excellence and Leadership in Sport scheme (IDEALS) operates in partnership with the British Council and the Youth Sport Trust and aims to establish high quality and progressive projects for young people aged 18-35 from the UK and partner countries.
The voluntary scheme has three strands, 'IDEALS Gap’ targeting 18-19 year olds, 'IDEALS Advanced’ for University students and 'IDEALS Professional’ for teacher or sports development professionals.
The IDEALS Gap and Professional projects operate simultaneously with students and teachers from the same schools working together in their exchange programme. Following their orientation in Bath at the end of the week all delegates will spend six weeks in Britain working in a sports leadership capacity before flying to their African placements.
This investment in the leaders of tomorrow aspires to develop the skills, experience and global awareness of young people as well as increasing the UK’s contribution to international development through sport.
UK Sport’s International Leadership Development through Sport Consultant, Catherine Dean, said:
"This is an exciting new project not only for all the young people involved, but also for all the partners who have contributed to the scheme.
"We are working towards building sustainable relationships between schools in the UK and Africa with the aim of providing a quality experience that increases the skills set of all those involved."