In His Own Words: Harry

Harry joined the Coach Core Berkshire programme in 2019, working for Places’ Loddon Valley Leisure Centre. We recently caught up with him and asked if he’d be able to recap that experience and let us know what he’s moving onto now:

My name is Harry, I am 19, I’ve always been into sport and being active. Especially football I love football and always go support Reading FC since I was little. I was always hard working at school and tried my best but wasn’t academically gifted and struggled but always put 100% in to my exams and work. When I finished school I always liked the idea of doing an apprenticeship earn whilst you learn and going straight into full time employment at the age of 17 was exciting.

I ended up finding an apprenticeship which I was interested in doing. It was the Coach Core Level 2 Community Activator Coach and multi-skills level 2. It intrigued me as I said being a sporty person being able to coach sport was the best thing and being able to learn new skills and gain new experiences and get a qualification. It was also within a leisure centre as my place of work which was also a bonus, one it being so close to my house and a site I grew up going to but also it was a massive thing to do as I was a shy and not very confident person at first. I managed to learn so much gain so much confidence speaking with customers and carrying out tasks to help the centre run whilst being able to coach in front of groups and different kind of people.

At the leisure centre, which was called Loddon Valley Leisure centre, I carried out lots of different tasks. I was contracted to 7 hours a week coaching and one day of education with my Lifetime trainer which was great. Then the other hours I would help run the building, set things up, make sure things are set up on time like badminton and tennis, then I would do other jobs such as cleaning and helping tidy the centre, even gardening. Not all the jobs were nice and can be hard work but I always put maximum 100% effort in and went the extra mile. I would get given jobs by the duty manager onsite and it gave me aspirations to get that job. So halfway through the course, as much as I loved coaching, I was dedicated to go into management and hopefully be given a duty manger role, which I was!

I went to many different sites, also to help in the gym, which gained me more experience of the gym environment and always greeting and talking to customers. Being that hardworking and always polite and friendly I gained a good connection with my mangers and other colleagues which makes you work well part of a team and helps you enjoy the day more.

I added commitment and hard work to the business, it helped the day to day running of the centre go freely and I was able to be relied on. I also got involved in different events of the centre from ball room dancing competitions help set up and make it run freely and also with coaching I did WAK summer holiday camp and was one of the coaches for the day making games and activities for the children.

Unfortunately I didn’t experience many events and opportunities, with Covid hitting in 2020 it stopped me learning and missed out on a lot. I gained the qualification and now starting a new Level 3 Manager course and pursuing the duty manager role with hard work and gaining all the experience in the leisure centre – I find myself with a manager role which I can’t wait to start! I’m proud of myself with not having many qualifications coming out of school just hard work and commitment you can start to build a career.