Denise meets YPF and agrees athletics must have broader focus

Sunday 8th June 2025

Denise Lewis with young Combined Events athletes from North Ayrshire AC at Grangemouth (photo via social media)

Thank You: our gratitude to all our volunteers who make our sport happen

UK Athletics President Denise Lewis made a flying visit to Scotland over the weekend.

Denise spent some time with our Athletics Trust Scotland Young People’s Forum at the Emirates Arena and met with the senior staff team at scottishathletics as well as our Chair, David Ovens, and our President, John Rodger.

The Olympic heptathlon gold medallist and TV pundit then headed for Grangemouth to attend a Scottish Schools event in the company of UK Athletics Vice-President, Stephen Wallace, of Cumbernauld AAC.

Keen to absorb an overview of what’s happening in athletics in Scotland, Denise spoke about the key role played by volunteers in our sport at the end of a week which saw a particular focus on Offiicals and Coaches via #VolunteersWeek and #UKcoachingWeek.

The sessions with the Young People’s Forum were full of engagement by members of Cohort Two as well as a couple of mentors from the original Cohort One. The YPF project is now into its fourth year.

Denise was really keen to soak up feedback on why athletics can be about more than competition and how the sport needs to foster a broader appeal.

Learning curve: YPF Conference hits the right notes

‘In my brief time here in Glasgow it has been great to hear from the Young People’s Forum,’ she told our Digital Content Creator, Eilidh Miller, in an interview.

‘It has been absolutely inspirational for me to meet them and hear the detail and the level of exploration of the challenges faced by young people in athletics.

‘They have given me really good feedback on how we can move the sport forward. We know we need to make it more fun. We need to take some of the competitiveness out of it – because there can be a point where that is detrimental for to the health of young people.

‘We talk about the maturation point in the sport. It varies. Nobody can tell when an individual is going to excel or going to peak. So we need to try and keep the base fresh and more fun. Let’s give people hope instead of killing off their passion.

‘I am really excited to know that young people at the heart of the Forum and have some clear ideas about what they want to see in athletics.’