South Yorkshire community sporting heroes recognised at Sheffield awards ceremony

The Levelling The Playing Field Awards are designed to recognise the dedication and efforts from young people, role models and leaders in positively impacting their communities through sport across the project’s four delivery areas: South Yorkshire, West Midlands, Gwent and London.

The winners from all four Regional Awards ceremonies progress to the shortlist for the 2023 Levelling the Playing Field National Awards, in July.

LtPF is a project run by the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice, in partnership with the Youth Justice Board. It uses the power of sport and physical activity to engage and improve health and life outcomes for ethnically diverse children who are more likely to enter, or already involved with, the Criminal Justice System.

Organised with LtPF’s strategic partners Yorkshire Sport, the event at Concord Sports Centre brought together young people and leaders from community organisations, all of whom use sport and physical activity to engage ethnically diverse children and achieve positive change.

Young people, role models, coaches and guests – including representatives from the Youth Justice Service and the Secure Estate – enjoyed activities including wheelchair rugby, dance and basketball.

The winners of the 2023 South Yorkshire Levelling the Playing Field Awards were:

Young Person of the Year: Mufasser Aslam, Saalik Youth ProjectMufasser, 21, has been going to sport sessions in the community of Burngreave since the age of six. He now works with his idol Imran Ali as a coach and role model at Saalkin Youth Project with young people starting on the same journey as his own.

Mufasser said: “Speaking honestly, if it wasn’t for Saalik, I might be doing criminal things because ours is not the best of areas to grow up in and there’s a lot of negative things going on that are easily accessible.

“For us, Saalik plays an important role of being held accountable by your coach and peers for what you say or do. You get questioned on it. That’s very important. You learn responsibility and you learn that all actions have consequences, whether that’s for yourself or other people.”

Role Model of the Year: Imran Ali, Saalik Youth ProjectImran is a pillar of the Sheffield community of Burngreave. He has worked with young people in the area for many years, using sport and physical activity as an engagement tool, to offer them positive opportunities and protect them from harm.

On winning the award, he said: “Being nominated by young people is where the real value comes from and what means most. I’m really happy.

“We’re well aware of the issues that go on in our area so we serve the young people who need us most. We promote youth leadership, social, mental and physical health and it keeps our young people away from negative influences. These guys know we’re there for them all the time.”

Young Cohort of the Year: United 4 Community, Rotherham United Community Sports TrustThe United 4 Communities (U4C) group is formed from refugees and asylum seekers housed around Rotherham. The group gets together to play football, improve mental and physical wellbeing and to help integrate into the local community. Many of its young players have joined local grassroots clubs and some have joined Rotherham United CST as volunteers and have gained coaching qualifications.

“We do a lot of hard work with our United 4 Communities group and I think we’ve earned this award,” said coach Ben Bagshaw. “The impact we’re having on the participants has been awesome.”

Partnership of the Year: Reach Up Youth and Saalik Youth ProjectBoth organisations work in the community of Burngreave and support each other in numerous ways.

Safiya Saeed, founder of Reach Up Youth, said: "We are on 24-hour call with each other and we can rely on each other. We are also transparent when it comes to our vulnerabilities and can cover for each other if we’re lacking skills. We are each other’s voices.

"However, it wasn’t always like that – Levelling the Playing Field has brought us closer together. We both wanted to make our area proud, and the project has given us a lot of guidance and opportunities for young people."

Imran agreed, saying: "We both have a genuine interest in the young people and are both respected in our community. We have different ways of working but we complement each other too."

Organisation of the Year: Reach Up YouthReach Up Youth operates two projects, Big Brother Burngreave (for boys) and Sisterhood (for girls). Led by the irrepressible Safiya, the projects play a huge role in the community, using sport and physical activity as a basis for uniting young people, breaking down barriers, building confidence and leadership skills and keeping them safe.

Asha Mohamed, 22, who is part of Sisterhood, said: “It has had a big part to play in my life. I’ve never felt the unity that you feel from playing sport. Without it I don’t know where I’d be, to be quite honest.”