Speaking at September’s Impact Unlimited Summit, Jason Sugrue – a former British table tennis champion – challenged the assumption that participation in sport automatically develops young people’s character.
“There’s this long-standing myth that sport is this wonderful thing that builds character. It’s just not true,” he said. “You have to be intentional.”
In a fireside chat with David Cohen, Investigations and Campaigns Editor at The Standard, Jason shared how his own experiences of tragedy, sporting success and fatherhood had fundamentally changed his approach to coaching.
Growing up in north-west London, Jason discovered table tennis through his adoptive father, Buxton, who ran a club in the local community. When Buxton was tragically murdered, the sport became a way of coping with his grief and maintaining their connection.
“People say sport saved my life. Well, it absolutely did in my case,” Jason told the summit audience.
He went on to become British and Irish men’s table tennis champion. But winning brought little personal fulfilment.
“Winning became my identity. But it didn’t ever feel right. I wasn’t happy winning.”
Developing the child, not the player
Joining Greenhouse Sports gave Jason a new purpose – although initially his coaching remained focused on producing winning players.
His outlook changed when he recognised that sporting achievement was not necessarily translating into greater opportunities for the young people he coached.
At the London 2012 Olympics, he handed back his Team GB accreditation, questioning the value of elite sporting success. Becoming a father to Emily two years later reinforced his conviction that coaching should prioritise children’s wider development.
“What winning should really mean in sport is that children are able to express themselves. They’re able to have fun. They’re able to communicate with people.”
Greenhouse Sports has since developed a coaching approach focused on life skills, with sport providing opportunities to solve problems, build relationships and learn through failure.
Its coaches work across 60 London schools, supporting young people through basketball, table tennis and tennis.
“Every person needs time, every person is vulnerable, every person needs a champion in their corner,” Jason said.
Read Jason’s story, written by David Cohen, in The Standard.
The power of mentoring
David said sport was often what first attracted young people to Greenhouse, but relationships with trusted coach-mentors kept them engaged. Since its foundation, the charity has reached more than 100,000 young people.
The summit talk connected to The Standard’s Sporting Chance campaign, which champions sports coaching and mentoring for disadvantaged young Londoners. The Standard’s Dispossessed Fund committed £500,000 to launch the initiative, supporting Greenhouse and four other sports charities.
David illustrated Jason’s philosophy with a personal story about encouraging his grandson to complete a junior Park Run. Jason had challenged him to ask himself: “whose need are you fulfilling? His or yours?”
It made David rethink the importance of understanding a child’s individual needs ahead of imposing adult expectations.
Jason’s message extended beyond sport. Meaningful impact, he argued, comes from being “intentional about every second of every minute of every day”, creating supportive environments and recognising the potential in everyone.
The summit fireside chat was delivered as part of Impact Unlimited’s media partnership with The Independent and The Standard.
Jason Sugrue was talking to David Cohen at the Impact Unlimited Summit at Rich Mix on 30 September. Watch the full conversation on YouTube.
Photography and video by Gaia Visual.
