Volunteer is flying the flag for young people and sport

3 June 2010

Volunteers' Week, which runs from June 1 to 7, is the UK's annual celebration of the work volunteers do. To mark the event, here we highlight some of the volunteering work taking place within sport in Derbyshire.

18-year-old Oliver Hooper began volunteering in sport at school in year 10, and in the past four years has given up hundreds of hours of his time.

Much of Oliver’s work has been as a volunteer coach in a variety of sports such as football, basketball, netball and boccia, and in the past year he has also begun to take on more of a strategic role, flying the flag for young people and sport.

This includes sitting on the London 2012 Youth Diversity Board, the Youth Sport Trust National Young Ambassador Panel, and the England Netball Youth Advisory Group.

He has also been invited to speak at various conferences, including the Youth Sport Trust Young Ambassador Conferences in Newcastle, Manchester, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London.

Oliver said: “The more strategic work has just sort of happened, I’ve been pushed in that direction and I really enjoy it – it has more reach and allows you to be able to influence more people.”

Last year Oliver was one of six young volunteers nationally to be chosen to go to Olympia, home of the Olympic Games in Greece, with the Youth Sport Trust, and after immersing himself in the history of the Olympics he is now able to have a direct influence on the future through his role on the London 2012 Youth Diversity Board – giving his thoughts and ideas on volunteering and how young people can best be involved.

Oliver said: “It’s great to have the opportunity to be able to make an impact. I started volunteering after doing my leaders award in year 10. I hadn’t been interested in sport before that but it all snowballed from there.”

He added: “I still really enjoy the coaching as well. It’s easy to get the best out of yourself, but I enjoy getting the best out of other people, working with them and seeing them achieve success.”

Oliver was the Connexions Derbyshire Limited Young Sports Leader/Young Coach of the Year at last year’s Derbyshire Sports Awards, and was also named Student Volunteer of the Year at the Derbyshire School Sports Awards.

A pupil at Brookfield Community School, he is a member of the Derbyshire Sport Leadership Academy. His coaching work includes coaching Brookfield’s Year 8 netball team and setting up a successful cheerleading club at the school. He also has an active role within the weekly Sportsability Club at Brookfield Community School and volunteers with Sporting Futures.

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