National Volunteers Week ‘Power of Youth Day’ Story – Striving for Success, Trafford Handball Club’s Youth Sport’s Coach Volunteer Sadie Shares her time and passion for the Sport to help younger kids shine!
‘I want to be the next Karen Brady’ was how local 19-year-old Sadie Quinn Sports Management student from Manchester described her ambitious sporting career goals.
Local girl Sadie who has volunteered for Trafford Handball Club for the past 2 years said, ‘I tried out a taster handball session at my school in 2018, the same time the club started up, loved the sport, joined the club and haven’t looked back since’.
‘Rewarding, Challenging and Exciting’ was how Sadie summed up her experiences of volunteering with the club.
Sadie who coaches on a voluntary basis the under 12’s academy and referees at school competitions across Trafford and Greater Manchester said, ‘my main motivations for volunteering were to share my love for Handball by giving back to my club for the amazing opportunities and experiences they have given me over the past 4 years whilst positively impacting and empowering the kids I coach to progress their Handball skills.’
‘To see the progress in the young kids I coach is very rewarding, it’s helped develop my own personal skills and learning in other areas of the sport and not just as a player. It’s great to be able to be a positive role model for younger kids, helping them to learn and engage more in handball as a new sport in the curriculum.’
Sadie said: ‘volunteering has personally benefitted me too, I’ve built new friendships engaging with wider teams, gained a lot of confidence and improved my communication skills from coaching and refereeing younger kids. It’s been great working alongside head coach Stan to develop my coaching skills further to ensure we can deliver the best sessions possible, creating new ways to improve the skills for the U12s Academy.’
‘By Coaching and Refereeing in the club, this has opened up opportunities for me to gain qualifications such as Level 1 and 2 Coaching, which will help me develop and progress my passions for the sport and coaching which is strongly supported by the club, and I am very grateful for that.’
When asked what difference do you think you’ve made through volunteering, Sadie said:
‘I think the time I have given through volunteering with the club has helped to grow the sport in Trafford, especially with the U12s Academy by introducing local kids to a new sport and ensuring as a team we deliver exciting and engaging sessions where young kids can build friendships and be part of a welcoming sports-based community to keep interest in the sport and to continue to attend our Handball sessions.’
Also, through volunteering at the school competitions which our club hosts, this has helped local schools to begin to compete in Handball, as well as raising the profile of Trafford Handball Club as a sport’s club for younger kids to join outside of school; offering them new learning opportunities and positive health and wellbeing benefits around taking part in the Sport.’
When asked what advice would you give someone who is considering volunteering, she said:
‘Just take a leap and throw yourself into it, don’t be afraid to ask questions, or be nervous and be open to taking on advice from more experienced people within the group or club you volunteer with as this is how you can improve and learn as you are volunteering.’
‘I’ve found being approachable is very important and being able to adapt to different situations helps to ensure everything runs smoothly.’
Sadie Quinn, in action coaching the U12’s Trafford Handball Club kids
Trafford Handball Club has just announced an exciting new European partnership with the largest Swedish Handball Club IK Sävehof which will provide young players involved in the sport locally the opportunity to play Sävehof in Sweden from September 2022 during the UK half terms (October half-term, December half-term, February half-term, Easter half-term).
Young volunteer coaches will also be given the chance to visit the Swedish Club, Sävehof for further development and learning opportunities through workshops on theory and practice of the Sport.
To read the full story and to find out more about how you can get involved in the club visit: https://traffordhandball.co.uk/partnership-with-ik-savehof/