The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James speaks to Cynthia Mumbo, a Kenyan, who from humble beginnings has become one of the most influential female sports leaders in Africa. Cynthia’s story is the perfect description of rising above the odds. She is a risk-taker, and she believes in going for what she wants in life.

Cynthia is the founder and CEO of Sports Connect Africa. Her passion for marketing and sports drove her to launch Sports Connect Africa, with a mission to support the commercialization of sport across the continent. She shares her journey and outlines the potential for the sports industry in Africa. Also, they will cover her life as a female executive in sports, and her vision for Sports Connects Africa being the destination for organizations wanting to enter the market.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• Cynthia’s first sporting memories and family life
• How Cynthia transitioned from sports to being a sports executive
• Cynthia’s entrepreneurial journey and experience in marketing
• The services that Sports Connect Africa offers and how it has revolutionised sports in East Africa
• Her challenges, philosophies, and her vision for Sports Connect Africa in the next 10 years
• Cynthia’s leadership philosophy
• Daily habits that help Cynthia keep performing at a high standard

…and so much more!

Connect with Cynthia Mumbo:

Website: http://www.sportsconnectafrica.com/

Linkedin: Cynthia Mumbo

Twitter: Cynthia Mumbo

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James will be talking to Fred Turner, Executive Director at Beyond Sport. Fred was raised in a sports family, with most of his immediate family being in TV production for sporting events from the last seventy years. In this episode, he shares how whilst TV production wasn’t for him, he found a calling in social impact through sports.

He is driven by a passion for placing Sport with intention at the heart of creating solutions to the world’s most pressing issues - through partnership, collaboration, and real-life storytelling, varied experience in global partnerships, programming, strategy, and fundraising.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• Fred’s earliest memories in sports and background
• Fred’s sporting family and he got into the sports TV production world
• Fred’s events experience at Benchmark Sports
• The origin of Beyond Sport and how they choose partnerships
• Challenges that Fred has encountered in business development
• Recurring operational challenges that Fred faces managing a global organization with many partners
• Major setbacks that Fred and the organization have had because of COVID-19
• How Beyond Sport uses data to make decisions
• Fred’s vision for Beyond Sport & his strategies for leading an international team

…and so much more!

Connect with Fred Turner & Beyond Sport:

Website: https://www.beyondsport.org/

LinkedIn: Fred Turner

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James is joined by Will Stone, the Head of CSR Strategy at NFL UK. An avid traveller and sports enthusiast from a young age, he has worked on projects that have led him to visit and live across 50 countries. Initially influenced by a gap year coaching in Cairo and Mozambique, he found his passion for sport for development and went on to work at Laureus as they launched into Asia.

Will and James discuss the vision for the NFL in the UK, moving from simply hosting games to a year-round strategy for developing the sport across the country, as well as Will's approach to leading with empathy.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• Will's early sporting memories and background
• The interesting features Will found in coaching
• What influenced Will into creating a career out of his love for sports and social impact
• Some of the big decisions that Will wrestled with during his career
• The challenges faced and lessons learned while running CSR for NFL
• Why social responsibility is important to Will
• The various initiatives that NFL has come up with
• Insights into Will's leadership and the importance he places on empathy
• Some of the projects that Will has really enjoyed most

…and so much more!

Check out Will Stone & The NFL UK:

Website: www.nfl.com

LinkedIn: National Football League (NFL)

Will Stone’s Linkedin

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James chats to Nana Badu and Olivia Eastwood Gray of East London’s Badu Sports. Nana is the Badu Sports and Badu Community founder, and Olivia is the brand and project manager for Badu Sports. Like many of Nana’s team, Olivia has a unique story of how Nana reached out to them and provided them with a space at Badu Sports. Whilst Nana moved to the UK at 10 and sport played a huge part in his life, his traditional background was not as enamoured with it as he was!

Badu Sports provides quality PE and activities to schools in the East London area, as well as mentorship and development programs for children and young people in their local area.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• Nana and Olivia’s early life, leading to their roles at Badu Sports
• How Nana got into sports and his future as a national footballer for Ghana(!)
• How Nana transitioned from being a volunteer to running a sports business
• How Badu Sports developed and its sources of funding
• The challenges that came with COVID-19 for Badu Sports
• How and why Nana chose to rebrand Badu Sports
• Nana, Olivia & Zeneice’s impression of the future of Badu Sports
• The professional habits that Nana has that help him stay on top of things
• Advice that Nana would give to his younger self

…and so much more!

Connect with Nana Badu/Olivia Eastwood-Gray/Zeneice Hall

Website: https://badusports.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nana-badu-175224a6

Instagram: @badu_sports_

Follow Zeneice Hall - (Head of Women in Sport & The Centre of Excellence) @zeniecehall

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James speaks to Emily Cherry, the Executive Director of The Bikeability Trust. The Bikeability Trust is an organisation that focuses on bringing cycle skills to the entirety of the UK, benefiting young people, families, and disabled people, and bringing a sustainable form of transport to UK streets.

Emily remembers from her own childhood, lots of room to move, walk and cycle. With a great upbringing, she saw the need for safeguarding and policy change for many of the country's children. With experience across the sciences and children's development, she is well-versed in policy and strategy development.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• How Emily’s early influences led her to the roles in safeguarding for children and families
• How Emily was first introduced to cycling and her experience taking cycle lessons with her family
• How her experiences and skills led to her playing a key role in policy and strategy-setting for Bikeability
• Her experience of being a lockdown leader and what it taught her
• The mantras of leadership and empowerment that Emily embraces
• The challenges that Bikeability went through because of COVID-19
• Bikeability’s initiative to tackle the challenges cyclists have and their new family program
• How Bikeability emphasises young people’s employment opportunities
• How Emily habits help her operate at a high-performing level

…and so much more!

Check out Bikeability:

Website: www.bikeabilitytrust.org

Check out the Lockdown Leadership blog:

Lockdown Leadership Blog

Linkedin: Emily Cherry

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James speaks to the CEO of Youth Sport Trust and sporting advocate, Alison Oliver. She will be speaking about her role at Youth Sport Trust, her journey through education and teaching, what the future holds for YST and the challenges she has encountered as CEO of YST.

Youth Sport Trust is the UK’s leading sports charity, but she has been on a mission to raise the profile of sport since the beginning of her career. Starting her experience as a PE teacher, she developed her understanding of how sport can improve or pass young people buy. Now she is on a mission to improve every young person’s education and development through sport and play. In the last year alone, more than 300,000 young people have gotten active through YST programs. In 2020, she was awarded an MBE for her services to sport.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• How Alison developed her career from teaching to working at The British Sports Academy
• Lessons that she learnt from her love of sport, specifically Netball
• How the introduction of the PE and Sports Premium has impacted the sector
• What her ideal outcome is for the continuation of funding for the PE Premium
• The challenges that Alison has responded to as CEO of YST
• How common misperceptions can lead to misunderstanding the role of YST
• What’s the YST vision for the future?
• The finer details of Alison’s leadership style
• Alison’s thoughts on virtual lessons, school sports week and the Well School movement

…and much more!

Connect with Alison and YST:

Youth Sport Trust: youthsporttrust.org

LinkedIn: Alison Oliver MBE

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James speaks to Pat Hawkins, CEO of the UK Cheerleading Association. Cheerleading is a relatively new sport in the UK but it has great results, with national, regional, and international competitions taking place all over the country. With competitors like FutureCheer and BCA, she prides her organisation as being one of integrity and primed to safeguard young people.

Pat opens up about the challenges of building consensus in the sector and getting cheerleading the recognition it needed to become an official sport. She has not only been growing UKCA to its now 200,000 affiliated members and 4000 clubs, she has never ceased her campaign to make cheerleading an officially recognised sport in the UK.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• How Pat’s background in dance led to her building a career from the age of 14
• How she challenged the educational status quo with her first formal employment at 17
• What led to her working with cheerleaders, basketball and fashion in Manchester
• How difficult it has been to categorise cheerleading as an NGB
• How Pat pivoted UKCA competitions with COVID-19 restrictions in place
• Pat’s philosophy, routine, habits and mission for the next five years for UKCA

…and much more!

Connect with Pat Hawkins at the UKCA:

UK Cheerleading Association: https://ukca.org.uk/

Pat also supports Wythenshawe Safespots – a premier organisation for supporting female victims of domestic abuse

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James has a round table discussion with the HAF Alliance, an organisation that came together to offer best-practice methods for running a holiday and food program. Northumbria University’s Professor Greta Defeyter; founder and former CEO of Street Games Jane Ashworth OBE; and ukactive’s Jade Harris, Head of Children, Young People, and Families, join James on The Drive Phase podcast to talk holiday hunger, holiday activities and poverty amongst children and their families.

The panel will be exploring the program, the research gathered to make it a reality, and their future aspirations to make this program, a permanent fixture in the UK.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• What the landscape looks like for disadvantaged children and families across the country
• How the HAF program is funded and how local councils can apply
• What the main findings were from the pilot HAF program
• How children and their families face stigma in their involvement in holiday activities
• How school can be a safe haven for children
• The models, best-practice and steps needed to create a positive outcome for children, young people, and communities
• Why training delivery partners is not an area to be overlooked
• What does a successful HAF program look like for 2021, and how can you get there?

…and so much more!

Connect with Our Guests:

HAF Alliance: https://www.hafalliance.org/

Jane Ashworth OBE: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jane-ashworth-obe-70883041

Jade Harris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jade-harris-b4421775/

Professor Greta Defeyter: https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/en/persons/greta-defeyter

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James speaks to Jo Scalpello & Tilly James, leaders in the development of Stagecoach as a global franchise. Stagecoach Performing Arts provides children with opportunities to learn singing, dancing, and acting with the purpose of establishing discipline, creativity and in their own words, 'Courage for Life.'

Jo Scalpello is the Group Marketing Director for Trafalgar Entertainment and manages the Stagecoach’s marketing hub and Tilly James is Principal at Stagecoach Buckingham. Jo has worked in the retail and entertainment industry for much of her career and understands just how much performing arts can build confidence and employment prospects. During its 30-year history, even Jo’s own daughter has grown and developed within the franchise. Stagecoach gave Tilly the opportunity to not only teach but to build a business for herself in Buckingham. With a background in acting and singing for musical performance, she has helped honed and expand the confidence of every child that has come through her doors.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• Jo’s early years, career history and getting started in the performing arts
• Tilly’s journey through performing arts school and her experience of joining Stagecoach
• How Stagecoach evolved to become a successful franchised business
• How celebrity household names have found their feet at Stagecoach sessions
• Marketing principles that Stagecoach lives by
• Tilly’s experience of becoming a principal on a greenfield site
• How certain business routines help Jo deal with the challenges of leading an organisation during COVID-19
• The day-to-day challenges of working in and running a franchise business
• The future growth potential for Stagecoach

…and so much more!

Check out Stagecoach Performing Arts:

Website: www.stagecoach.co.uk

Facebook: Stagecoach Performing Arts Schools - Worldwide

LinkedIn: Stagecoach Performing Arts

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast

In this week’s episode, James speaks to Rob Sherwood, Director of Get Active Sports. Rob has dedicated his career to creating solid, engaging coaching experiences for children.

Get Active Sports provides a multitude of activities to over 10,000 children every week, and deliver more than 9000 sessions every month. On the show, Rob talks about his journey to starting his own business, the expansion of his business and how he sees his role working with children and young people.

What you’ll find out in this week’s episode:

• Rob’s background and why he decided to start Get Active Sports
• How he transformed the business by stepping out of the daily running of the business
• How Rob expanded the business by bringing in two new directors
• Rob’s experience of working with less than fortunate children
• How COVID-19 has impacted children’s capacity to engage in sports and activities
• What types of evolution that Rob has seen in the sports and activities sector
• The most significant challenge that Rob has overcome
• A discussion of the eight companies that Rob has begun
• How Rob stays on top of his daily routine
• How Rob has evolved his business management since he started

…and so much more!

Connect with Robert Sherwood:

Get Active Sports: https://www.getactivesports.com/

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rob-sherwood-23b701124

Connect with James:

Instagram: @james_ventures

Facebook: Coordinate Sport FB Page

LinkedIn: James Moore

Coordinate Sport: The Drive Phase Podcast