'Leaders Like Us': Co-designing a framework to develop young physical activity leader programmes for girls from underserved groups

There are stubborn inequalities in children and young people's physical activity (PA) levels. Girls, and people from deprived areas and ethnic minority backgrounds are the least active. Inequalities in PA levels have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Bingham et al., 2021). The consequences of low levels of PA play out in child and adult health, wellbeing and academic outcomes. Tackling PA inequalities is at the heart of Sport England's latest strategy, Uniting the Movement (Sport England, 2021).

PA leaders who young people relate to (due to similarities in, for example, age, gender, background, ethnicity) can engage the least active, as they show that PA can be for people like them, and make the young people feel comfortable. However, the UK PA workforce is largely white and male, which contributes to lower levels of PA in females from underserved groups (Sport England, 2018). The International Society for PA and Health (ISPAH) has recently published a call to action, which advocates for diversification and upskilling of the sport and PA workforce as a key component of a systems-based approach to increasing population levels of PA and reducing inequalities (ISPAH, 2020). Developing young female PA leaders contributes to positive youth development (PYD), which can build sustainable PA provision and improve the life circumstances of young females from underserved communities. Despite several young PA leadership programmes being delivered by different providers across the UK, none have been specifically designed to target underserved groups of girls, they focus on sport (rather than PA more broadly) and they are not evidence-based.

This research will co-produce a framework, underpinned by PYD, for developing young female PA leaders from underserved groups (herein described as 'Leaders Like Us'). We use the terms 'female' and 'girls' for brevity purposes, but we aim to be inclusive of young people aged 16-25 who identify as female, non-binary or other minority genders. 'Leaders Like Us' can be used i) to adapt existing programmes to support uptake and delivery to underserved groups of girls, and ii) to develop new, locally-tailored programmes that benefit from enhanced quality and robustness but remain adaptable. The framework will include guidelines on how to identify, recruit and maintain engagement with young girls (aged 16 - 25) from underserved groups, outline learning outcomes for young female PA leader programmes, and provide recommendations for working with specific underserved groups.

We will develop 'Leaders Like Us' through a two-phased approach, underpinned by the Double Diamond approach (Design Council, 2015). Phase 1 focuses on discovery; we will systematically map existing young PA leader training programmes, and conduct focus groups with stakeholders involved in developing and delivering programmes which target underserved groups, to understand what works, why and how. Phase 2 focuses on development. We will co-design 'Leaders Like Us' with a range of young females from underserved groups, practitioners and academic partners, through a series of workshops. We will then test its acceptability and feasibility through think-aloud interviews.

'Leaders Like Us' will help drive positive change in young leader development in practice, as it provides an evidence-based resource to support the development of local programmes that are relevant and meet the needs of females from underserved groups. This will help work towards a socially just and gender-balanced PA workforce, and ultimately promote lifelong participation in PA in girls and young women.