UK COACHING WEEK 2026

Between the 22nd and 28th June 2026 is UK Coaching Week, UK Coaching’s annual campaign celebrating the coaches in the sporting community. This year’s theme is Purposeful Play.

This year, UK Coaching is celebrating the power of #PurposefulPlay to inspire everyone to celebrate playful coaching and share moments of fun that encourage others to embrace the power of purposeful play.

There are multiple ways that our members can get involved:

• Record a short video or share a written post about a game or activity you love doing in coaching sessions and why it works.
• Share it on your social channels and encourage others to get involved by showing how they bring purposeful play to life.
• Tag UK Coaching and use #PlayItForward and #UKCoachingWeek to spread the message and join the celebration.
• Video can make a powerful impact, and a 30‑second clip is ideal. Briefly describe or demonstrate the activity and explain why you enjoy it.
• Find resources, videos, and bite-sized learning to help you better understand purposeful play and, importantly, how to use it in your sessions. Click here to learn more.

There are also a number of daily themes. Click on the links below to access more resources:

• Monday: Why play is so important, for both children and adults.
• Tuesday: What is purposeful play? What are the benefits? What does it look like in a session?
• Wednesday: Play for performance. How performance is unlocked and the love of the sport is sustained.
• Thursday: Children’s right to play – essential for a child’s learning, well-being and health.
• Friday: #PlayItForward and the Play Book – encourage coaches and participants to share their favourite playful activities on social and email.
• Saturday: Inclusion in play – play looks different in different contexts and depending on the people. Play is shaped by age, culture, ability, neurodiversity, confidence and life experience.
• Sunday: Play that lasts – embedding purposeful play into every session and looking forward to the Play Book.

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