Take ten with Kate Mills – committee spotlight

We ask Kate Mills, a member of the CIMSPA Youth Panel, ten questions about her work, the panel and its importance

Over the coming months, we will be sharing a series of features that shed light on what the boards, committees and panels that govern CIMSPA do by talking directly to the valued members that steer them.

In each article of the series, we will talk to a member of one of the boards, committees and panels, asking them ten questions to find out more about each group’s essential work. In doing so, the members themselves will provide a true insight into the focus and importance of each division of CIMSPA’s governance.

We will also hear about the member’s own background, role and thoughts about the sport and physical activity sector, showcasing the fantastic individuals that come together to support CIMSPA.

This month, Kate Mills shares her thoughts, having joined the CIMSPA Youth Panel a year ago.

What is your current job?

I’m currently an assistant manager at Trivandi, a major management consultant born out of the London 2012 Olympics that specialises in the event industry. I work on lots of different projects, from strategy to event operations, meaning that sometimes I’m on the ground doing event operational control while at other times I’m at my desk working on research-based projects.

We work at both grassroots and elite level. For example, at the Cycling World Championships, I was on the ground, delivering the flag programme as part of the ceremonies.

On the other side, I’ve also helped to deliver projects such as researching a particular area to find out how much sporting infrastructure it has for the community and then carrying out audits of those facilities and figuring out if, based on expected population, for example, there are enough sport facilities for the population.

What is your connection to the sport and physical activity sector?

I’ve been a swimmer for most of my life, progressing while I was at school up to competing on a national level. Towards the end of school, I also completed the Swim England Team Manager 1 course. That allowed me to manage the more junior swimming competitions and get involved in a different way.

At university, I continued swimming and studied sport management at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I absolutely loved learning about sport governance, policy and integrity.

Studying in Loughborough, I was very lucky in that they host a lot of sport events and have a coach and volunteer academy programme. Through that, I was able to sign up for different events to help out at, including the National School Games finals and the Loughborough Netball Super League.

Once I started my current role, I had to stop swimming competitively – and was ready to. I was looking forward to staying in sport but doing something slightly different. Because I’ve always loved volunteering, I’ve maintained that, helping out with parkrun and traditional sporting events in my local area. I really enjoy doing this alongside my professional work in the sports industry.

Why did you become a panel member?

From learning about different sporting organisations throughout my studies, I’ve always been aware that there aren’t many opportunities for young people to have this kind of youth panel experience. You normally need to be very senior to become a member of a board or panel, so I was really excited by such a fantastic opportunity to bring about change.

The sporting landscape is very diverse, and it’s great to be able to develop and broaden my understanding of all the different careers you can have within the sector as well as to see what goes on at a government level, influencing the policy and changing the industry.

I also just really love volunteering, so being able to jump in and help in any way with different groups within the wider sporting landscape is something I find really fulfilling. I love to learn more about what they do and help by offering ideas and support.

How would you describe the work of the Youth Panel?

The youth panel is a group of highly engaged, motivated young people with a passion for the sport and physical activity sector. We use our collective voice to offer suggestions, make recommendations and help to bring about change.

We want to have an influence on the sector, and we do this through individual members joining different committee meetings to feed in input from the youth panel as a whole. We also attend events on behalf of CIMSPA, we provide feedback on strategies that are presented to us and we also provide support with marketing and engagement.

Why is the panel’s work important?

As a group, we all come from slightly different backgrounds, so we bring a really nice range of knowledge to the table. Because of this, we are able to throw lots of ideas around and provide insight from our experiences.

Having a youth panel opens doors for CIMSPA to connect with other organisations, for example one of our members worked with Street Games and their youth panel on their Young Person’s Manifesto.

It’s quite rare for young people to be given this kind of platform, so it’s also great to showcase this amazing dialogue CIMSPA has created so that other organisations can see and draw on our experiences to broaden their own offering.

What is a highlight of the panel’s work since you joined?

A highlight of the Youth Panel this year has been meeting so many of the CIMSPA team. We’ve had the opportunity to connect and meet with the Skills Hub Managers of our local areas and the departments within CIMSPA that we are interested in supporting and learning from. Being closely knitted into the team means we’ve been able to provide some great suggestions and bring ideas to the table, which is incredibly rewarding especially as a young person.

My personal highlight has been attending a careers fair at Oxford Brookes University, which I was able to do through connecting with my local Skills Hub Manager. She invited me to the fair, and it really helped me to understand how important the endorsement of university and college courses is and how it works, which informs my perspective on the Youth Panel.

Why is participating in the sport and physical activity sector important to you?

I’ve been very lucky to have had a really positive experience in sport and physical activity throughout my life so far. This has spanned across my experience of the sector – when participating, volunteering and working both at grassroots and more elite level.

I just want to keep being involved and give back as well.

What challenges do you see in the sector going forward?

One is that I think there’s still a lack of women in leadership and high-powered roles within the sector, particularly within high-performance sport – while the number of women coaching in Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK has doubled, there is still a big gender gap. It’s great having Tara Dillon as the CEO for CIMSPA to set that precedent for the future.

Another challenge is making sure that there are really clear pathways for young people moving into the sector. We need to ensure that it’s seen as a career for life, not just
something that you do when you’re young and then you move on within a few years. I think having chartered status to aim for and aspire to will help this.

What opportunities do you see in the future?

I would like to see CIMSPA professional recognition for the entire sport and physical activity sector. When you look at other sectors such as architecture and accountancy, it’s the norm to have status with a professional body and be a registered professional.

It’s really exciting to see how this is progressing, and I think the knock-on effect will be people making full, long-term careers out of sport and physical activity work as well as better regulation of coaching to eliminate malpractice allegations.

What would you say to someone thinking of becoming a CIMSPA Youth Panel member?

It’s an absolutely amazing opportunity to learn about what CIMSPA does – the important work, what they’re pushing for and how they’re pushing change within the industry. It’s also an opportunity to meet like-minded people within the industry that are at similar points in their careers to learn and develop skills yourself.

There are opportunities to join meetings, provide feedback on strategies, gain marketing experience and you can choose which areas you have an interest in and you’re really able to provide input that will bring benefit for the industry.