Meet our Programme Supervisor, Tes

Tes encourages young people to take a chance at volunteering

After starting his career as a volunteer, Tes now encourages other young people to do the same.

Tes is our Programme Supervisor at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EISS). He spoke to us about his role and how he came to work here.

“It was David Bly that initially inspired me to volunteer that led to me eventually working here, I owe a lot to him,” said Tes.

Tes was volunteering in his local community with Big Brother Burngreave, part of the charity Reach Up Youth, it was whilst volunteering here that he met David Bly our Sports Programme and Engagement Manager.

“David witnessed the community work I was doing with Big Brother Burngreave providing activities for young people in the community to help keep them off the street,” said Tes.

“He asked me if I’d like to come and volunteer here (EISS), so I did which eventually led to me getting a job here.”

Tes already had a Football Association (FA) Level 1 Coaching qualification for football and we also funded him to achieve a Level 1 Athletics before he began coaching. He now coaches’ athletics and football at EISS.

“I’ve been coaching formally at EISS since late 2018, so around five years now coaching athletics and football. I then began a new role as Programme Supervisor in January 2021 and have been doing this role ever since.”

“I now also manage the athletics academy, football academy, basketball academy, balance bike and every community event we do and I am also a line manager to the academy coaches.”

Tes’ current job involves working with community groups and as part of the Programme and Development Team he makes sure that all community groups have everything they need from the venue for the organisation of a successful session or event at EISS.

“If a community group wants to run an event, we work with them to help organise it at their chosen venue and make sure they have everything they need.”

Tes’ work does not end in the venue as he is always also looking to see which communities, we can build relationships with and work with to see how we can help them access our venue and activities.

Working with young people is the favourite part of his job.

“For me, the best thing is that I get to work with young people. I like working with kids, and when you see them start off shy and then grow in confidence it is amazing. I love to see them enjoying what they do. That’s the best part of the job for me.”

Finally, we asked Tes what his advice would be for anyone else who would like to get involved in a similar role or in the sporting industry. He said:

“I’d say go for it. I’m always on the lookout for people in the community who do a good job but struggle to find work. If you’re a young person and you’re doing community work, always be on the lookout for any work experience that you can do in any of our venues or in the community in general.

“You can start out volunteering and this can lead to a paid job, and from there you progress. Volunteering work can help you get your foot in the door, show your skills and make contacts to eventually find paid work.”