First Ascent are excited to announce our partnership with Team Scotland and sportscotland to deliver a world-class learning and development programme for the Sport Team Managers, who will be integral in leading the team to success at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
At the heart of the new partnership is a two-year, personalised training and development programme for selected Team Managers, which will be delivered in the run up to the games through a combination interactive workshops, e-learning, digital resources and peer learning.
This practical programme, rooted in robust science and contemporary thinking, will ensure each manager is highly confident, ready to deliver in their role and equipped to support athletes to perform to their potential at Birmingham 2022. Development will focus on cultivating the leadership knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours needed to succeed in the high-pressure environment of the games.
Jon Doig OBE, Chief Executive at Commonwealth Games Scotland said:
“Our Team Managers are as diverse in background as the sports themselves, so it’s an exciting step to be able to combine our knowledge of the Games environment with First Ascent’s expertise in leadership and learning to offer a fully tailored and personalised development programme over the next two years.
Feedback following Gold Coast 2018 highlighted an appetite for a more targeted approach to people development and we’ve worked closely with sportscotland since then to create the framework to achieve this. Whether someone is at their first major multi-sport Games or their tenth, it’s important that they have the confidence and skills to operate in what is a highly pressurised environment. This is a fantastic opportunity bringing long-term benefits, not just for these individuals and Team Scotland, but more widely as they take what they have learned back into their individual sports.
First Ascent specialises in providing tailored learning and development programmes that utilise the latest scientific knowledge and tools to drive accelerated performance. They bring a sound understanding of high performance sport, having provided leadership, team development, recruitment and executive coaching programmes to organisations such as UK Sport, EIS, Sport England, Sport Wales and over 20 National Governing Bodies of Sport.”
David Sales, Director of First Ascent, said:
“We are extremely excited to be partnering with Team Scotland as they prepare for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. We are looking forward to working together over the next two years to select and develop the talented individuals who, as Sport Team Managers, will play an integral role in leading Team Scotland to success at the Games. Team Scotland 2022 is going to be a force to be reckoned with!”
Mike Whittingham, Director of High Performance at the sportscotland Institute of Sport, said:
‘‘We are delighted to be working alongside our partners, Team Scotland and embarking on a new partnership with First Ascent. Our collaboration is designed to make team management as effective and seamless as possible. It is this type of preparation that fuels our ability to perform at our best, giving our athletes every opportunity to fulfil their potential.
We are looking forward to building on a decade of success in Scottish sport and, while Birmingham 2022 will provide new challenges for all of us, we are ready and prepared to maximise the opportunity another UK-based Games presents following on from Glasgow 2014.’’
The search to find potential Team Managers and Understudy Managers has now begun! Team Scotland are seeking leaders from diverse backgrounds who have a desire to play a key role in this exciting, unique global sporting event. If you are attracted to the role, find out more and apply on Team Scotland’s website.
If you are interested in finding out more about First Ascent’s approach to people development or our other high performance sport partnerships, please get in touch.