Talented Young People

A sport which I don’t talk about much on the blog is cricket. Looking at cricket on a global scale I think the quality of the sport and the image of the sport has gone down in recent years but it is great to see England bucking that trend. This winter for the first time in 24 years England won a series in Australia and retained The Ashes.

Now you may think well the Ashes isn’t a big competition and doesn’t prove anything as it is a competition all about two countries but if you add this to the successes the England Cricket team have had in the last twelve months it really is impressive.

Since England’s Ashes win there has been a surge in people buying tickets for their matches in 2011 when they return home which is great to see. The media attention these last couple of months have been phenomenal as well which has done wonders for the English cricket scene I think.

The only down side to all the hype has been due to it being winter here in the UK and PE syllabuses here it will be hard to capitalize on this hype and convert it in to more children playing the sport. I just hope that the memories of this Ashes series won’t fade too quickly and that when the summer comes more young people will take up the sport.

The one thing the Ashes has done this winter is shown again how sport can give the country a feel good factor, just imagine if we do well in the Olympics in 2012.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

What do terms such as a youth, young person and young adult really mean? What ages would you have to fall between to be classified as one of these? And if it is based on being a particular physical age, should it be this that is used as a quantifier?

Ask a hundred people in the street these questions and I am sure you would get an absolute myriad of answers on what defines you as being young. I know some people who think being young means being in your early teens but I also know people who still see you as a young person if you are in your twenties.

I think personally that being young is about your intelligence, your experience and your maturity. I have known some very mature teenagers with a ton of life skills but on the other hand I know some people in their twenties who aren’t ready to leave home yet and have the same attitudes and maturity that you would associate with a young person.

I don’t think an age range should be put on the term young person although I would like to see some unified clarification on the term. I think that people should be treated as an individual and not be forced in to a new stage of life just because they have reached a certain age.

One organisation trying to do a lot to make sure people in their early twenties get support and aren’t just expected to fend for themselves at 16 is Catch 22 and they currently have a “Ready or Not?” campaign that I urge you to get behind, to support it follow the link below:

www.catch-22.org.uk/ready-or-not-campaign

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Over the last few weeks you will have probably heard, read or seen something in the news about the Commonwealth Games. The competition has got a lot of press this year, a lot of which has been very unfavourable which it wouldn’t have received in previous years.

The Commonwealth Games cost a lot to host and this year it was Delhi who got the pleasure of being hosts but they soon came under fire when in the weeks running up to the event the standards of the accommodation and sporting facilities for the athletes was brought in to question.

The Commonwealth games falls behind the Olympic Games in the pecking order and in many sports World and European Championships are regarded as more prestigious. This has got the press asking whether the games are worth the money the hosts have to pay out and after seeing low attendances to events at the Commonwealth Games in the opening days this year whether the interest is really there.

I personally think it is a shame that the press are spending more time talking about these issues that the people who matter – the athletes taking part. I think any place where an athlete can compete and test themselves against fellow athletes is important. Every chance a person gets to represent their country at an event should be seen as important.

To get good athletes for the Olympic Games in 2012 to represent their country they need to be regularly competing at the highest level possible in the run up and I think the Commonwealth Games are a great chance to do this as I think it is the closest thing to the Olympics you can get and there is no shame in playing second fiddle to the Olympics. By having the Commonwealth Games countries in the Commonwealth have a chance every two years to compete in a major sporting event which can only be a good thing.

I do hope that the events of this Commonwealth Games makes all sporting bodies sit up and take notice. When a country gets awarded to host an international event more should be done to make sure they have the finances and infrastructure to host the event at the standards they require. The sporting bodies should also manage the preparations a lot better so that situations like what happened in the weeks before the Commonwealth Games don’t happen to another sporting event.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

In August we had the first ever Youth Olympic Games with Singapore chosen as the nation to host it. The event spanned twelve days and saw thousands of young athletes aged 14 to 18 competing in a wide range of sports.

When I heard this was happening I couldn’t believe that we hadn’t had this before! But I am very glad that we have it now. It is so great for young people to be able to have the pride of representing their country, being able to meet people from different cultures and to get to compete against the best in the world in their age group.

Having a huge event like an Olympics for young people will also help the media attention and coverage that these youngsters get as many of these young athletes will have been doing amazing things for years with little recognition. The event like the regular Olympic games will be held every four years with China being the next host country. Hopefully with every Youth Olympic games the press coverage will grow even bigger.

I think by having a Youth Olympic Games it will give countries a great opportunity to prepare their young talent for when they are ready to compete in the full Olympic Games. It will also help the Olympic teams spot talent and to give them a test. The Youth Olympics will also help the young athletes prepare themselves to compete at the main Olympic Games.

I can’t wait to see what it is like in four years time!

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

There was a story in the news this week where research had found that in some areas of the UK young people who had parents that were unemployed are more likely to be unemployed themselves.

This started me thinking about whether there was a correlation between young people who achieve their dreams and what their parents achieved in their lives. The other factor to look at is how much a family’s wealth effects the likelihood of their child going on to be successful.

Some people would say that young people from less privileged families can be more motivated to achieve their dreams as they want to change their life, their surroundings and their lifestyle. Then there is the flipside that it is also a damaging effect to be brought up in less privileged circumstances as they don’t have money to buy equipment or attend special lessons in their area of talent and don’t have the contacts in that area, on top of this they can be more exposed to crime and due to their circumstances can be susceptible to ill health.

If you look at young people from privileged backgrounds they can have the money to pay for all the equipment and lessons they need. They have less pressures in the way of money & crime, they can also have access to a better education. It is said however that young people from a privileged background may have less motivation as they have a more comfortable lifestyle.

I know this issue generates some very strong opinions and heated debate. I would like to see some research on this to see what correlations could be drawn if any. I still like to think myself that none of this matters and that success is based on the individual and not on the situation as I have seen young people from all walks of life achieve great things.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

There was a story in the news this week where research had found that in some areas of the UK young people who had parents that were unemployed are more likely to be unemployed themselves.

This started me thinking about whether there was a correlation between young people who achieve their dreams and what their parents achieved in their lives. The other factor to look at is how much a family’s wealth effects the likelihood of their child going on to be successful.

Some people would say that young people from less privileged families can be more motivated to achieve their dreams as they want to change their life, their surroundings and their lifestyle. Then there is the flipside that it is also a damaging effect to be brought up in less privileged circumstances as they don’t have money to buy equipment or attend special lessons in their area of talent and don’t have the contacts in that area, on top of this they can be more exposed to crime and due to their circumstances can be susceptible to ill health.

If you look at young people from privileged backgrounds they can have the money to pay for all the equipment and lessons they need. They have less pressures in the way of money & crime, they can also have access to a better education. It is said however that young people from a privileged background may have less motivation as they have a more comfortable lifestyle.

I know this issue generates some very strong opinions and heated debate. I would like to see some research on this to see what correlations could be drawn if any. I still like to think myself that none of this matters and that success is based on the individual and not on the situation as I have seen young people from all walks of life achieve great things.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

There was a story in the news this week where research had found that in some areas of the UK young people who had parents that were unemployed are more likely to be unemployed themselves.

This started me thinking about whether there was a correlation between young people who achieve their dreams and what their parents achieved in their lives. The other factor to look at is how much a family’s wealth effects the likelihood of their child going on to be successful.

Some people would say that young people from less privileged families can be more motivated to achieve their dreams as they want to change their life, their surroundings and their lifestyle. Then there is the flipside that it is also a damaging effect to be brought up in less privileged circumstances as they don’t have money to buy equipment or attend special lessons in their area of talent and don’t have the contacts in that area, on top of this they can be more exposed to crime and due to their circumstances can be susceptible to ill health.

If you look at young people from privileged backgrounds they can have the money to pay for all the equipment and lessons they need. They have less pressures in the way of money & crime, they can also have access to a better education. It is said however that young people from a privileged background may have less motivation as they have a more comfortable lifestyle.

I know this issue generates some very strong opinions and heated debate. I would like to see some research on this to see what correlations could be drawn if any. I still like to think myself that none of this matters and that success is based on the individual and not on the situation as I have seen young people from all walks of life achieve great things.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

I meant to sit down and give channel Five’s first major attempt at a talent show “Don’t Stop Believing” a watch on Sunday night but other events transpired against me. It is being sold as a ‘Glee’ inspired talent show with each act having to put on a song and dance routine similar to those you see on Glee and performed by Show Choirs or Glee Clubs across the globe.

I think it is ingenious of Five to cash in on the success of Glee and is another twist on the talent show format but really underneath it all it is again a talent content based on singing and dancing. I am interested to see a show for myself as I want to see how they are handling the format compared with the likes of the BBC and ITV.

The one question I start to ask myself is are we in danger of everyone getting sick of TV talent shows as it only seems like the other day that “Over the Rainbow” and “Britain’s Got Talent” were ending and I am sure it won’t be too long before X-factor is back. I am sure we will get to the point soon where on every week on a major TV channel there will be a talent show of some description.

I myself am a big fan of ‘Glee’ and if it is encouraging people to set up similar groups and to sing and dance I am all for it. It will be interesting to see how the UK talent matches up to that of the US. I am glad that Five is giving things like this a go and are doing things to promote talent as it is only by trying these things that they will be able to find out if they can do it or not.

Will the ‘Glee’ phenomenon be a fad? Are we just copying the US? And if we are should we be? We would love to know your thoughts and you can do that by joining in our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=823

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

It has been officially reported today that it is even harder than ever before for Graduates to find work. Now to me this comes as no surprise as I am sure the job market is affecting everyone whether you are a graduate or not. The report I heard said that there were in the region of sixty applications for every Graduate post and that the minimum grade they would accept was a 2:1.

I do however think these findings are slightly floored as they only seem to discuss graduate jobs but if you are a graduate you can apply for other jobs other than graduate positions. Graduate jobs are only a small section of the jobs market. I think the days of going to University with the aim of getting a Graduate position at the end are over.

I think this could be a good thing in the long term as there are many skills a graduate has that will benefit the non graduate jobs market. On the flipside this does it make harder for non graduates who are already finding it hard to get work but for companies and employers it is a really good time as they will have higher level applicants applying for roles.

Another thing I hope this does is to get Graduates thinking about starting up their own companies and enterprises. I think this is something that not enough graduates do but the state of the job market could push more people towards.

If you are a graduate or about to graduate just remember to keep positive about work and to think outside of the box.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Since the new coalition came in to force in UK Government I have been wondering to myself what effect it would have on young people?

With this government looking to reduce the budget deficit with an aggressive strategy on spending it is only natural that services that affect young people will be hit in some way. With the government cutting budgets for vital services like the Police I am worried for youth services.

It’s not only services for young people that are backed by government spending that we have to worry about. It is also industries that young people with talent want to get in to like media and art that will more than likely be affected to.

Yes the government need to sort out deficits and save money where they can but they also need to think of the long term and the effect it will have on today’s young people who in ten, twenty years could be running this country themselves. Not only that but what will employment rates be like? And will young people be given the chance to exceed and fulfil their potential?

I strongly advise anyone to keep to their eyes open and their ears to the ground on where cuts are going to be made and to really engage with this process.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
“Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!”
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com