Community Sport Collective

“Nobody knows if your idea is good or bad. You don’t know if it’s good or bad. You need to test your idea, trial it, collide it with reality. That’s the only way to learn.” - Marc Randolph (Co-Founder, Netflix)

As Chris Lomax MBE and I map out the future for Participate World, the above quote (which Marc Randolph Tweeted recently) really struck a chord with me, and underlines something which I’ve believed for a very long time. An idea, or a concept, or a vision, is absolutely nothing without execution.

Similarly, there’s a great line in the film, The Social Network - “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook." - where Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) emphasises his belief that an idea is worthless without doing the work to make it a reality.

Following on from that, I’ve always been incredibly inspired by people who roll their sleeves up and actually do stuff. Not for reward or recognition, but simply for the sheer pleasure of engaging in meaningful purpose toward a greater goal.

It was with immense pleasure then, that along with Dr Jo Clarke and J Simon Rofe, on Wednesday this week, we re-convened with the collective of community sport practitioners who previously came together in September last year at the Leeds Summit for Community Sport & Diplomacy. Sitting in the virtual meeting room, surrounded by great people, was incredibly inspiring, and particularly so when Julie Smith talked us through her incredible work with the Netball Development Trust.

For the two decades or so that I’ve been in and around community sport, I’ve often been frustrated by the lack of recognition (and funding) that great people (actually doing the work) receive. And equally frustrated at the over-recognition (and often funding) that those who talk a good game (but never actually do anything) receive. And whilst I don’t wish to sound negative, that is a huge problem in the community sport space. With too many decision makers and gate keepers, in positions of power, significantly lacking in the grass roots experience and let’s be honest a passion for making a positive contribution to the world.

So, as Chris and I collide our community sport ideas with reality, we’re as committed as ever to supporting the many great initiatives, movements, and leaders, who strive daily to do the same

📸 Al Wadi Park, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, where community sport ideas are coming to life.