It was an absolute joy to celebrate the achievements of our South Yorkshire partners at the 2023 Levelling the Playing Field Regional Awards in Sheffield on Saturday 11 March.
Organised with our strategic partners Yorkshire Sport, the event at Concord Sports Centre was the second of our Regional Awards events (West Midlands and Gwent are still to come), with all the award winners going through to our 2023 National Awards in July.
Last Saturday's awards brought together young people and leaders from the brilliant community organisations in the Levelling the Playing Field network across South Yorkshire, all of whom use sport and physical activity to engage ethnically diverse children and achieve positive change.
Young people, role models, coaches and guests – including representatives from the Youth Justice Service and the Secure Estate – enjoyed activities including wheelchair rugby delivered by Sheffield Eagles, dance sessions with Rationale Method and basketball led by young people from Reach Up Youth.
All our partners work tirelessly to improve the wellbeing and life chances of their young people. Levelling the Playing Field brings them together to share good practice, train frontline staff and help all partners evidence their impact, so we can scale up this work and advance policy, practice and future investment.
Our South Yorkshire winners were:
Young Person of the Year: Mufasser Aslam, Saalik Youth Project
Mufasser, 21, has been going to sport sessions in the community of Burngreave since the age of six. He now works with his idol Imran Ali as a coach and role model at Saalkin Youth Project with young people starting on the same journey as his own.
Mufasser said: “Speaking honestly, if it wasn’t for Saalik, I might be doing criminal things because ours is not the best of areas to grow up in and there’s a lot of negative things going on that are easily accessible.
“For us, Saalik plays an important role of being held accountable by your coach and peers for what you say or do. You get questioned on it. That’s very important. You learn responsibility and you learn that all actions have consequences, whether that’s for yourself or other people.”
Role Model of the Year: Imran Ali, Saalik Youth Project
Imran (pictured above with Alliance of Sport COO Justin Coleman) is a pillar of the Sheffield community of Burngreave. He has worked with young people in the area for many years, using sport and physical activity as an engagement tool, to offer them positive opportunities and protect them from harm.
On winning the award, he said: “Being nominated by young people is where the real value comes from and what means most. I’m really happy.
“We’re well aware of the issues that go on in our area so we serve the young people who need us most. We promote youth leadership, social, mental and physical health and it keeps our young people away from negative influences. These guys know we’re there for them all the time.”
Young Cohort of the Year: United 4 Community, Rotherham United Community Sports Trust
The United 4 Communities (U4C) group is formed from refugees and asylum seekers housed around Rotherham. The group gets together to play football, improve mental and physical wellbeing and to help integrate into the local community. Many of its young players have joined local grassroots clubs and some have joined Rotherham United CST as volunteers and have gained coaching qualifications.
“We do a lot of hard work with our United 4 Communities group and I think we’ve earned this award,” said coach Ben Bagshaw. “The impact we’re having on the participants has been awesome.”
Watch: All about Rotherham United Community Sports Trust's U4C project
Watch: Interview with one of U4C's longest-serving players Yaqoob Adam
Partnership of the Year: Reach Up Youth and Saalik Youth Project
Both organisations work in the community of Burngreave and support each other in numerous ways.
Safiya Saeed, founder of Reach Up Youth, said: "We are on 24-hour call with each other and we can rely on each other. We are also transparent when it comes to our vulnerabilities and can cover for each other if we’re lacking skills. We are each other’s voices.
"However, it wasn’t always like that – Levelling the Playing Field has brought us closer together. We both wanted to make our area proud, and the project has given us a lot of guidance and opportunities for young people."
Imran agreed, saying: "We both have a genuine interest in the young people and are both respected in our community. We have different ways of working but we complement each other too."
Organisation of the Year: Reach Up Youth
Reach Up Youth operates two projects, Big Brother Burngreave (for boys) and Sisterhood (for girls). Led by the irrepressible Safiya, the projects play a huge role in the community, using sport and physical activity as a basis for uniting young people, breaking down barriers, building confidence and leadership skills and keeping them safe.
Asha Mohamed, 22, who is part of Sisterhood, said: “It has had a big part to play in my life. I’ve never felt the unity that you feel from playing sport. Without it I don’t know where I’d be, to be quite honest!”
A massive thank you to Tom Hughes from our strategic partners Yorkshire Sport and for everyone who came along and celebrated with us!