Along with the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), it has recently launched a Sector Skills Action Plan for sport and physical activity, the first of its kind in the UK. In its development, more than 100 organisations, both in the fitness industry and across a range of other sectors, 

were consulted on the skills shortages they were facing. It found that a lack of soft skills is holding back growth in all sectors, and in the physical activity sector this skill shortage is of concern to 82% of employers.

Sport can help bridge this gap by developing qualities and skills such as confidence, drive, perseverance, teamwork, problem solving and the ability to respond positively to setbacks. And even non-competitive activities involve setting and working towards goals and moving out of your comfort zone. But Ian Carey, who led on the Skills Sector Action Plan, feels that recruiters don’t always fully recognise its benefits. “There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence regarding the enabling power of sport and physical activity, yet it’s technical skills that are often promoted as the vital ingredient on a candidate’s CV.”

The potential benefit of engaging with sport and physical activity to employers is not limited to skills development, he adds. “A healthy and productive workforce is vital to driving economic growth. If we can advocate the power of sport to develop skills employers are seeking and a workforce that realises the benefit of sport and physical activity, it’s a win-win for employers, the workforce and the public purse.”

By developing soft skills throughout the sector, Active Black Country hopes that it will be better placed to engage the area’s hard-to-reach inactive population in sport and physical activity and so enhance its employability too.

Aspire Sports, a local provider of physical activity coaching and opportunities, is already ahead of the game. “Soft skills such as punctuality, communication, adapting to change and problem solving were lacking in new employees,” says director James Trowman. “We’ve now created our own induction process, which includes a lot of role play, presentations, help with communicating by email, and mentoring and shadowing in all new situations.”

Active Black Country now plans to launch a virtual Sport Skills Factory to broker training and establish a demand-led skills development system for the industry.

Case Study

Volunteering with Black Country in Motion, a local sport engagement scheme, set Aaron Henworth on the path to a new career.

“I’d been laid off from a string of dead-end warehouse jobs and was unemployed for a year. It had crushed my self-esteem,” he says. “I’d left school with no qualifications 10 years before so I felt the time was right to start building up a portfolio.”

He was soon running community exercise sessions, including walking football, sports for people with disabilities, and sessions for troubled teenagers, and was supported to gain a range of qualifications in first aid, safeguarding as well as sports coaching.

“It really helped me develop my leadership skills. I learned how to deal with challenging situations and challenging people. Some of the teenagers were hard to deal with and had been suspended from school but I had to go in with an open mind, and learn how to defuse situations and resolve conflicts. We also had a lot of demotivated people and you have to learn how to encourage them.”

Henworth now has a full-time job with care provider the Huntercombe Group, working with people with learning difficulties. “Volunteering helped me empathise with people’s situation and understand their different needs and treat them as individuals. When I went for the interview I told them I had no experience in care but had loads of transferable skills and I was offered the job there and then.”

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