Police & Crime Commissioner: Sheffield Sports Youth Club 2023

Two evenings a week. One safe space to move, talk and belong. Backed by the South Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner (SYPCC), our Sports Youth Club ran in north‑east Sheffield to make winter evenings safer and more positive for local boys — mainly aged 13–17. By the mid‑point (Dec 2023) we’d engaged over 70 young people and built a steady routine that swaps idle time for sport, friendship and calm.

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Why it Matters

Evenings can be a pressure point for teens; structured sport makes safer choices easy.
Trusted spaces and relatable coaches reduce barriers to joining.
Consistency builds friendships, confidence and respect for simple rules (turn up, tidy up, look out for each other).

Safer winter evenings for local boys

Mondays at the Sheffield Grand Mosque Activity Hall and Wednesdays at Astrea Academy, we kept the doors open and the games flowing — indoor football, softball cricket and mini‑challenges. Activity first, conversation always.

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Youth‑led, coach‑guided

An ECB‑qualified coach set the tone while boys shaped formats through quick huddles and quick polls. That ownership kept behaviour strong and brought quieter teens into the mix.

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Real‑world impact

We saw new friendships, more respect for rules, fewer “bored evenings” and better moods at home. Attendance stayed steady through dark winter weeks — proof that simple, consistent sport works.

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Proudly SYPCC‑funded

As shared on our Instagram update, this project is proudly supported by the South Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner (SYPCC) — helping us turn winter nights into stronger futures. See the post here.

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Affordable access

Special thanks to Sheffield Grand Mosque (Emaan Trust) for offering the facility at a subsidised rate so local boys could take part.

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Award

Player

Team

Numbers

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Voices from the Club

“Wednesday nights are the one thing I don’t skip — I feel better after and I’m not just hanging around.”

— Participant

“We’ve gone from managing behaviour to boys managing themselves — captains set the tone now.”

— Jawad Akhtar

Coach

Impact & What's Next?

Thanks to SYPCC support, we offered consistent, positive nights that reduce unstructured time and strengthen peer networks. Next, we’ll protect quality and, where possible, add capacity so no one is turned away.