Play Their Way

Dec 10 2024 29 ep. 32 mins 7

Play Their Way Podcast artwork

Dive into child-first coaching with The Play Their Way Podcast! If you're a coach passionate about young lives, this is for you. Join Laura-Jane Jones as she explores the core of coaching children and young people: voice, choice, and journey. Expert guests share their top coaching strategies, best practices, and philosophies focused on children's unique paths. Tune in and delve into how to empower their individual voice, respect their choices, and guide their journeys, cultivating a deep passion for sport and physical activity, while helping them reach their full potential.

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“You can’t be good at it and you can’t be bad at it” – Robin Watkins-Davis on bringing yoga to schools to combat inactivity

Dec 10 2024 28 mins

In this week's episode, host Laura-Jane Jones interviews Robin Watkins-Davis about how yoga can be an essential part of the toolkit for getting through early adulthood. When Robin qualified as a yoga teacher in 2016, she was the youngest in the UK. She then went onto bring yoga to schools, training over 200 teachers and facilitating peer-led yoga sessions too. In this episode, Rob

“It was my escape, it was my freedom” – Ladi Ajayi on cultivating belonging and inclusivity in sport

Dec 03 2024 58 mins

In host Laura-Jane Jones’ words, join us for a ‘life affirming’ conversation with the legendary Ladi Ajayi, Head of Sport at AKD Solutions, Chair of UK Coaching’s Diversity Expert Group and contestant in Race Across the World alongside his daughter, Monique. We talk about Ladi’s journey in sports, and what it means to be intentional about inclusivity as coaches and coach

“Adults and children are crying out for an antidote to modern life” – Rick Jenner on the transformative power of play

Nov 29 2024 32 mins

This week, join us as host Laura-Jane Jones chats with CEO of ParkPlay, Rick Jenner, about how "we’ve become serious and structured about too many things" and how play - both for adults and children - could be the antidote to a modern life which expects too much of us all. Tune in, inspire, and let children #PlayTheirWay! Join the movement ⁠here⁠. Follow us on ⁠Facebook⁠

“Listening is the most underrated form of love” – Javeno McLean on his evolution in coaching

Nov 18 2024 39 mins

Welcome to season 3 of the Play Their Way podcast! To kick off the season in time for #WorldChildrensDay, we speak to the brilliant Javeno McLean about his journey from athlete to coach, how his perception and practice has evolved over the years, and his work coaching disabled children and young people. We can’t #PlayTheirWay unless every child feels they belong in sport and ph

"Our job as coaches is to create places where people belong" - Russell 'Rusty' Earnshaw on helping young people help themselves

Aug 15 2024 45 mins

In the last episode of season 2 of the Play Their Way podcast, we speak to the one and only Russell Earnshaw (better known as Rusty)! Rusty is a Rugby coach and Founder of the Magic Academy, and says his favourite feedback he's received is, 'I like Russell Earnshaw, he treads a fine line between genius and nutcase.’ In this episode, we talk about why Rusty is so passionat

“If you only talk about trophies, you’re alienating the majority of kids” – Eamonn Newell on building an inclusive football club for girls and women

Aug 06 2024 27 mins

This week, we speak to Twickenham Swans and Signets FC Chairman and Founder, Eamonn Newell, about how their club’s inspirational journey from using jumpers for goalposts to taking over Wembley Stadium with 400 Swans members! Eamonn talks about how his own daughter’s interest in football sparked the idea to build a girls’ football team based on the values of inclusivity and c

“Shoving all this pressure on a young child is not helpful at all” – Scarlett Dewar on finding her voice as an athlete and a person

Jul 30 2024 29 mins

Join Laura-Jane Jones in conversation with the inspirational, multi-medal winning age group England and GB rower, Scarlett Dewar. Scarlett joins the Play Their Way podcast ‘crew’ (excuse the pun!) to talk about her journey in the sport, the lessons she’s learnt along the way and the challenges she has faced, including her experiences with relative energy deficiency in sport

"If you measure smiles, engagement and movement, you'll coach differently for the rest of your life" - Jack Rolfe on the transformative impact of child-first coaching

Jul 22 2024 25 mins

This week, sit down with host Laura-Jane Jones and Jack Rolfe, Founder of The Coaching Lab, for a conversation about coaching with dyslexia, the opportunities of halftime, and the transformative impact of child-first coaching. Jack discusses his personal journey which led him to develop his 'dyslexia-proof' matchplay cards which are often image-based and easy for children

“If we have to shout instructions from the sidelines, I’d say we’ve failed as a coach” – Dr Alex Twitchen on why ‘voice, choice and journey’ are more than buzzwords

Jul 15 2024 28 mins

Join host Laura-Jane Jones in conversation with Dr Alex Twitchen about his coaching philosophy and why children’s rights are central to everything he does. Dr Alex Twitchen is Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching Practice and Learning at the Open University, and has worked alongside FIFA, UNICEF and our team at Play Their Way on embedding children’s rights in practice. If you’

“Sport is one of the only areas in society where children can develop themselves as leaders” – Rashan McDonald on sport as a vehicle for advocacy

Jul 08 2024 27 mins

This week, join Laura-Jane Jones in conversation with Rashan McDonald about the possibilities which arise when we encourage children and young people to be leaders in sporting environments – and the implications that has for society as a whole. Rashan is a Sport for Good Development Manager for StreetGames, which are one of 17 partners which make up the Children’s Coaching Coll