#BalanceforBetter

In Episode 24, Dave heads to East London to catch up with the Monday morning session of Walking Football, run by the West Ham United Foundation.  We hear from the staff, volunteers and participants about the difference the sessions are making, how the games are as inclusive as possible and who scored the most goals! Make sure you check out the new 'Any Old Irons' podcast from the West Ham Foundation for more on their work in the Community  The gang then reflect on the interviews and relate to their experience of inclusive coaching.  The quiz rivalry is renewed as Lee and Sara take on the walking sports challenge with info from the excellent Just Get Active Website. This is our last podcast for 2019, but we will be launching a new season in 2020 where we aim to amplify the voices of people who have personally experienced the value of sport and development. We would love to hear from organisation in England who would be happy to have one of us come to speak to staff/volunteers/participants. If you are further afield, please drop us a line as we can advise on capturing content which we will edit and put together.  Please do get in touch through the usual ways: Twitter: @goodsportscast Instagram: @goodsportscast Facebook: facebook.com/goodsportscast Email: [email protected] As always please review, rate and subscribe on your preferred platform. Please enjoy the pod and thank you for listening!  

In episode 23 we kick off our focus on sport for development personal stories by speaking to our friend and fellow Cricket Without Boundaries volunteer Jhon Cosgrove (@pickledjhon on social media). We talk to Jhon about his love of running going from a reluctant jogger to a sub 3 hour marathon obsessive. We discuss the benefits of parkrun, how his new habit has helped his mental health and his positive use of social media. We also explore the particular benefits of individual sports versus our more familiar territory of team pursuits. Jhon also joins us for a slightly irreverent quiz on running - will he be able to beat out the regulars quizzers Sara and Lee? We would love to hear from others who have used running to help their health, or if you have any general questions or comments, you can get in touch with us on: Twitter: @goodsportscast Instagram: @goodsportscast Facebook: facebook.com/goodsportscast Email: [email protected] Our upcoming episodes will be focusing more on hearing the personal stories who have lived and breathed sport for social good. We've got some exciting stories in the pipeline! As always please review, rate and subscribe on your preferred platform and enjoy the pod!

Reporting “from the field”, this episode of the Good Sports Podcast features interviews recorded during a recent Cricket Without Boundaries project to Rwanda. Lee was in country with a volunteer team from Leeds Trinity University, after travelling to Huye and Giterama the team returned to Kigali and were lucky to deliver several sessions at the Gahanga Stadium. A big thank you to Vero, Mary, Audifax, Parfait and Eric for taking time away from the cricket to chat about their cricketing journey and how cricket is helping to change lives in Rwanda. Featured organisations: Rwanda Cricket Association Rwanda Cricket Association is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Rwanda. The RCA is Rwanda's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an affiliate member and has been a member of that body since 2003. It is also a member of the African Cricket Association. https://twitter.com/RwaCricketAssoc Cricket Builds Hope Cricket Builds Hope is the successor organisation to the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation (RCSF), which was founded in 2011 to build the country’s first proper cricket ground - the Gahanga Cricket Stadium. https://www.cricketbuildshope.org/ Cricket Without Boundaries Cricket Without Boundaries works with partners around the world to grow the game of cricket, while using the sport as a platform for health education and social change. It is run almost entirely by the dedication and enthusiasm of its volunteers. Founded in 2005, CWB is one of the world's leading cricket development charities. http://cricketwithoutboundaries.com/ Finally, a reminder to get in touch! We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a message via email [email protected] or tweet us via @goodsportscast

In this month's episode, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for sport to contribute towards tackling climate change. We kick off with Sara giving us the run down of the latest news stories in the world of Sport for Development. The main part of the pod is an interview with Lew Blaustein, creator of the Green Sports Blog. Dave chatted to Lew about his journey in sport for development, where sport is making a difference in environmental matters, the challenges of sport and what the future holds. The pod then discuss their views on opportunities and challenges, for instance how does the globalisation of sport and sport for development align with climate change messaging? Finally we return to the quiz, where Lee is 11-6 down to Sara, with a tough quiz on sport and sustainability. The links supporting the questions are below: https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/55/63/72/2556372_DOWNLOAD.pdf https://environmentism.com/6-worst-sports-for-the-environment/ https://www.connectsport.co.uk/directory?keys=&field_region_tid=All&sort_by=created&sort_order=DESC&keys=&field_region_tid=All&field_area_of_interest_tid%5B%5D=55 As always a massive thanks for listening, please hit the subscribe button and share on social media. All reviews and subscriptions make a massive difference. Please do get in touch with us with your thoughts and questions. Also if there are any topics you think we should be focussing on, please get in touch via the methods below. Twitter - @goodsportscast Instagram - @goodsportscast Email - [email protected] Thanks and see you next month!

In Episode 20, we look at Esports and their contribution to sport for development. We kick off with a news round up from Sara, summing up some of the latest stories from the world of sport for development. Our main interview is with Richard Loat, a sport for development consultant with a focus on Esports and founder of @esportsforchange. He spoke to Dave on the Esports growth, how it can contribute to social good and the challenges around this The pod then chew over Esports, the challenges and the opportunities. Our recent twitter call out showed that there were strong nostalgic memories for many people regarding sport and video games, but can it be a positive force for social change and if so how does it do that? Finally, we have we have the latest installment of the quiz, on Esports of course. Can Lee or Sara win out in a head to head battle on Esport facts. As always we would love to hear from you so please get in touch in the usual ways: - Twitter: @goodsportscast - Instagram: @goodsportscast - Facebook: @goodsportscast - Email: [email protected] Please do rate, review and subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and make sure you tell all your friends! If there is an issue or topic you would like us to discuss, please drop us a line.

In Episode 19, the Good Sports look at the health and wellbeing of sports fans. The Sport Insider Pod kick off the episode showcasing their excellent podcast. The interview this episode is with Dr Matthew Philpott Executive Director of Healthy Stadia, European Healthy Stadia Network.  Matthew and Sara explore a range of topics including fans initiatives, corporate responsibility and the future of healthy stadia. Following on from this, the Good Sports debate the role and responsibilities of sports in promoting healthy behaviours. Should tighter regulation be employed or is education the key? Finally, the quiz is based on this report from Health Stadia. Who will win this episodes quiz between Sara and Lee? As always we would love to hear from you so please get in touch in the usual ways: - Twitter: @goodsportscast - Instagram: @goodsportscast - Facebook: @goodsportscast - Email: [email protected] Please do rate, review and subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and make sure you tell all your friends! If there is an issue or topic you would like us to discuss, please drop us a line.

In this month's episode we digest the recent activity by the Good Sports team both in the conference halls and the delivery field. Firstly, we hear from Simon Lansley from ConnectSport who gives us the latest news from the world of Sport for Development. We then hear from Paralympian and passionate Sport for Development advocate Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE who Sara caught up with at the recent Bond Conference. Sara also caught up with  Tobias Smith from the Bond Sport and Dev Group and Benji Sundblad from Tackle Africa. Sara then talks through her perceptions of the conference and how Sport and Development was received by the wider International Development community. Dave has also attended a conference recently, as he was at the SportforDevelopment Coalition event hosted by Twitter UK. We hear about how Sport and Development can break into the mainstream and whether its possible to articulate the work that many organisations are doing in this space under the umbrella of well-being. Meanwhile, Lee has actually been out in the field delivering, as he has spent two weeks in Uganda with Cricket Without Boundaries. Isaac from Family Spirit sums up the trip better than any of the Good Sports can, but we have a go at understanding the learnings and challenges from the trip. Finally, the traditional format of the quiz returns as Lee, 4-10 down to Sara, looks to start his fightback. This month the quiz focuses on sporting language as a nod to the recent International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. As always we would love to hear from you so please get in touch in the usual ways: - Twitter: @goodsportscast - Instagram: @goodsportscast -Facebook: @goodsportscast - Email: [email protected] Please do rate, review

As March 8th is International Women's Day, we have dedicated an episode looking at theme of the day, gender balance.  Firstly we hear from the I think She's Offside Podcast, exploring all things women in sports. You can follow them on twitter here. As usual ConnectSport's Simon Lansley talks us through the latest in the world of Sport for Development. The pod then gets in to the issue of gender balance in Sport. Dave gives his perspective from working with older people and physical activity. Lee and Sara reflect on their time coaching with Cricket Without Boundaries and how gender balance has played an increasing part in delivery, while Sara highlights the work of Parivartan for Girls, using Kabaddi to challenge ideas of what spaces are suitable for girls. Sara speaks to Hannah from Mini Mermaid UK, a running club dedicated to improve the confidence of women and girls. We also hear from the women and girls involved in Lee's Nepal project with Connecting Clubs from last year on how cricket is being used to address gender imbalance.  Finally, Sara takes the reins for a one-off quiz, testing Lee and Dave on their knowledge of female participation in Olympics, with suprising and shocking results. Her quiz is based on this IOC report. As always, please rate, review and subscribe, it really does help us pick up new listeners. We always want to hear from people with questions, challenges and ideas. You can get in touch with us via: Twitter -  @goodsportscast Facebook -  @goodsportscast Intstagram -  @goodsportcast Or email on [email protected] Thanks for listening!

In Episode 16, we explore the role of sport and human rights. We kick off with brief word from Rob Arnott, who hosts the Sport and Recreation Podcast, well worth a listen! Next, we hear from Simon Lansley of ConnectSport, who takes us through the latest news from the world of Sport for Development. Our main interview is with Minky Worden (@minkyshighjinks) Director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch. She spoke to us about the impact Sport has had on human rights, through mega sporting events to funding for sport for development projects. The pod digest the interview and highlight the link between elite and grassroots sports, how does the failings of the former impact the delivery of the latter? Finally, we finish off with the traditional quiz. Will Lee gain some ground or will Sara go to a commanding 10-4 lead? The quiz explores some of the initiatives using sports for the advancement of human rights including: Yuwa The Fare Network Sport Inclusion Network Climbaid Teqball in Jordan Berlin Kickt Our next episode will be celebrating International Women's Day by focusing on the role of sport for development for women and girls worldwide. If you've got any inspiring stories or case studies please get in touch via the usual means: Twitter - @goodsportscast Instagram - @goodsportscast Email - [email protected] As always please rate and review, it really helps us grow and spread the good work of sports for development. Thanks for listening!

Happy New Year to everyone, here’s to a happy and prosperous 2019.  Starting 2019 on a positive note, our first podcast of the year looks at what sport for development people are excited about for this year. Before we jump into that, we first hear from Carl Ferguson from Cricket Without Boundaries, a charity we are all passionate about, who gives us the lowdown on the latest volunteering opportunities. We then hand it over to Simon Lansley from ConnectSport for a round up of the latest news in sport for development. We got in touch with some familiar voices from 2018 to hear about whats in the pipeline for 2019 and what can we expect from the sector as a whole. There’s an exciting mix of new projects, interactions with with other sectors and new ways of contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. Sara and Lee preview their year, which features more cricket coaching with different social focus, new self-testing HIV projects and setting up of two more women’s clubs in Liverpool. We talk about our desire (and several of the contributors) to see sport for development take the next step, proving its worth to people in health and social care, prisons, education etc to become the properly funded and respected discipline that we believe it should be. Finally, the quiz continues with Sara 8-4 up over Lee. In this episodes the quiz focuses on the big sporting events in 2019, will Lee claw some points back or will Sara continue as she left off in 2018? As always a massive thanks for listening, please hit the subscribe button and share on social media. All reviews and subscriptions make a massive difference. Next months episode will look at sport and its contribution to human rights. We want to hear from projects working in this field about the benefits, challenges and the future of the work. Please get in touch via: Twitter – @goodsportscast Instagram – @goodsportscast Email – [email protected]