The Oxford Sport Leadership Lab
The Oxford Sport Leadership Lab is pioneering a set of programmes to use sport as a platform to inspire, educate and further a greater sense of belonging locally and globally
The Sport & Education Programme
During Michaelmas Term 2023 the Lab bought together ten postgraduate students to develop an innovative social impact programme in partnership with Greyfriars School.
The programme took place one day a week over six weeks with thirty year eight pupils from Greyfriars School spending a day a week at Oxford University.
Each day the pupils would take part in a different sport each morning, have lunch in a different venue around the university, and in the afternoon take part in an interactive educational workshop.
The sports that the pupils tried included:
Basketball with the Oxford Blues team, Football with the Oxford Blues 1st team coach, remote control car racing with RC Vision in Said Business School, American Football (non contact) with the Oxford Lancers and the NFL, rowing at Falcon Boat Club with Olympians and the Oxford Blues Team, and athletics with a first time attempt at joint "Bannister Mile" race against an Oxford Blues athlete.
The pupils had lunch and tours of Trinity, St Hilda's and Christ Church Colleges.
The educational workshops included "Football on the Brain" with the Neuroimaging unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital, "Maths vs Sport" with Dr Tom Crawford, the anthropology behind football supporters and the psychology lessons from sport.
Immediate Impact & Next Steps
The pilot Sport & Education Programme has already led to an immediate project being developed in the community in Oxford.
- The added impetus into a community focused rowing programme at Falcon Boat Club
Following the successful pilot scheme, we will be delivering a second programme involving pupils from three local secondary schools during Trinity Term 2024.
As well as social impact work, the Lab has delivered a number of executive focused leadership programmes that combine character and leadership education with practical learning how to row.
