The volunteer

Khaled Ahmed - Stepney Green, London

Khaled has been involved with StreetChance since the project’s introduction in Stepney Green by StreetChance coach Shahidul ‘Ratan’ Alam in 2008. Having attended initially as a participant and played for a couple of years, Khaled showed considerable promise as a young leader and was encouraged by Ratan to consider taking on a bit more responsibility at coaching sessions by volunteering. Khaled increasingly did just that, helping with registers, umpiring and mentoring the youngsters, and matured rapidly during his active role in sessions in the borough of Tower Hamlets. As a volunteer he really came into his own when he accompanied the younger members of the borough’s teams to competitions, getting them to the venue safely, on time and encouraging them to express themselves and really enjoy their cricket.

Through the StreetChance Volunteer Programme, set up thanks to funding from the national young volunteers service v inspired, Khaled received funding for his Level One coaching assistant badge plus reimbursement for his travel expenses to enable him to attend projects in Stepney and Bethnal Green and develop his experience alongside his coach. Now qualified to assist in the delivery of cricket coaching sessions, Khaled is employed by Capital Kids Cricket as an assistant coach. Returning to his old stomping ground, Khaled admits that the transition from player to assistant was tricky.

“The younger kids recognise me from my days playing and expect me to be joking and messing around.”

He admits that his volunteering was the ideal platform to try coaching and to step up to some responsibility.

“I am now the one arranging the drills, umpiring games and helping the lead coach - I was one of the players just a year ago.”

He is further developing his coaching skills outside of his comfort zone, working with a different coach as a paid assistant coach on the Lambeth StreetChance project, and continues to relish each new challenge as much as the last. Now at college completing his Level 3 BTEC in Sport, Khaled has his sights set on a career as a PE teacher. He credits the volunteering and training opportunities provided by StreetChance with his informed decision to go to college. He has gone seamlessly from playing to volunteering through to employment on the project, and seems sure to inspire many more like him in the future through his chosen career path.

“Khaled is reliable, keen to learn and always willing to step out of his comfort zone. These qualities will help him inspire kids in the wider community as a coach.”
Md. Shahidul Alam, Tower Hamlets Community Coach