Volunteering is a powerful way to experience something new and potentially unexpected.
We met with two students, Yihan Hu (Data Science) and Alina Phang Li Ren (Law) who saw an opportunity to share their passion for sport with young people and combine it with volunteering at Regent High School in Camden.
We worked with Regent High School earlier this year to create a Badminton Coach volunteer role – it was advertised through our volunteering directory and directly to the Badminton Club through our colleagues in TeamUCL.
Yihan tells us that he saw the role, got interviewed by the school and was excited to get selected to volunteer. There were four pupils ready to learn at his first session – he says that he soon learned that the role was more about “bringing joy and fun to the sport over focusing on techniques and tactics” – and that his role as coach this year has been extremely useful in helping to “improve my patience and ability to work with children whilst sharing the joy of badminton”.
Alina tells us she comes from a competitive background of badminton training and applied to the opportunity based on her passion for the sport. She asked friends who played at a national level for tips on how to coach, then realised after the first session with Yihan and the pupils that the weekly sessions were more about fun. “I was surprised at how comfortable the kids were engaging with us. We’ve built a good relationship with the kids and our sessions are full of laughter and fun.”
Both Yihan and Alina said their experience coaching badminton this year has given them new insights into British culture and agree they’ve both achieved their goal to help young people fall in love with the game.
Yihan and Alina intend to continue coaching badminton at the school alongside their studies and club commitments into the new academic year. Yihan tells us that “lots of my friends want to volunteer but worry that volunteering will affect their study. I realised 2 hours a week doesn't harm anything – it brings something really unique to my time here in London.” Alina adds that volunteering in this role has made her a role model for young people – something that has given her a “deeper appreciation for being professional”.
It's our job here in the SU Volunteering team to seek out and develop new and exciting volunteering opportunities just like this one. We work closely with UK-based community partners to ensure you’re only seeing the best volunteering London has to offer. Check out our live selection on our volunteering directory and sign up to our weekly newsletter to be the first to know when Yihan and Alina’s Badminton Coach role goes live this year.