Board Members for Sport launches at Lord's Cricket Ground

The Sport and Recreation Alliance launched its new initiative, Board Members for Sport, at the media centre of Lord’s Cricket Ground yesterday.

More than 60 people from sport and recreational bodies as well as top commercial, banking, law and finance firms were all in attendance.

The launch provided the first opportunity for business people looking to become independent board directors within the sport sector to talk to key representatives of governing bodies and other sports organisations to discuss potential development and career opportunities at board level.

Key speakers included Rona Chester, COO of Sport England, sharing her insight on why independent boards are so crucial, and Maurice Watkins CBE regaling his vast experience of being an independent director on numerous boards in sport, including his 28 years at Manchester United.

Watch the video of the event:

Joy Tottman, governance and compliance officer at the Sport and Recreation Alliance said:

“Most of us already know that the sport and recreation sector is an exciting place to work, but it’s also a sector that’s undergoing a lot of challenges, changes and developments at the moment.

“There is a great need, for example, for governing bodies and sport organisations to become more forward thinking, fast-paced, commercially-minded and less reliant on funding and grants.

Bringing independent people in to boards from backgrounds other than sport can really help to achieve this.”

Joy said: “The idea of Board Members for Sport is that talented individuals in business can develop their careers at board level, whilst sports bodies will gain access to a big pool of untapped talent and skills to contribute to the effectiveness of their boards – a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

Yesterday’s launch marked the first in a series of networking opportunities as part of the Board Members for Sport programme.

To find out how you can get involved, either as a sports organisation looking for independent board members or an individual looking to join a board in the sport sector, visit the Board Members for Sport section of our website or contact Mikkel Larsen.
 
Click here to watch the full speeches from the event.