The Wolverhampton Social Coach Leadership Programme (SCLP) marked a significant milestone in the Youth Charter’s #Call2Action and equally and with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games legacy pledge of engaging 1 million children and young people aged 5-25 across the West Midlands with the joint aim of improving the sport and physical activity opportunities in particular those from historically deprived and disaffected communities.

The Wolverhampton Wresting Club provided an ideal setting as one of the hosts of the baton relay and unsung heroes in Ranjit Singh to hold the second West Midlands SCLP of the year, following the initial workshop held in February at PwC in Birmingham City Centre.

With combat sports providing the most equitably diverse and inclusive participation pastime, this workshop also concluded the Birmingham 2022 90-day community engagement plan.

This ongoing legacy journey will see the recruitment, selection and deployment of existing unsung heroes of the streets who work in some of the most challenging communities with their social coach leadership fast track module adding to their well established and developed interventions in engaging, equipping and empowering young people. The social cultural and economic impact can now be mapped, tracked and measured with the Community Campus portal funded by Sport England’s Commonwealth Active Communities fund and Avanti Communications.

With the Commonwealth Karate Championships having taken place only one month following the highly successful Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the forthcoming 2025 World Kabaddi Championships will see Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton provide an ideal roadmap that will see the Wolverhampton Wresting club and combat sports in the region provide a truly sustainable and beneficial impact on the delivery of a legacy participation opportunity for all.