Anni Townend in Conversation with Bradley Pritchard - Founder of The Sporting Way and Ex-Professional Footballer

Leaders in Conversation with Anni Townend

In episode 2 of our second series of Leaders in Conversation, we are delighted to be joined by Bradley Pritchard.

Bradley has had an exciting career in football and has gone onto to become the founder of The Sporting Way. A social enterprise which educates and inspires young people to fulfil their potential.

From Zimbabwe to the UK

Bradley shares his experience of being born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe for the first 10 years of his life before moving to the UK.

Bradley shares that “… It took me a long time to, to adapt, I think I always felt like an outsider. And I still feel like an outsider at times. But I've learned to embrace that, that feeling of being an outsider, rather than trying to conform with the environment trying to appreciate my differences and turn them into strengths”.

A sense of belonging

Bradley shares that “It’s one thing to say…just be happy being different. But it doesn’t get rid of vulnerability, that insecurity, of not having a sense of belonging”.

He shares that it’s important to find someone we can relate with and someone that you can talk with. He believes that once you’re able to do that and accept that we can’t change our differences we can learn to love them.

“I think that’s when the real strength comes in, because you are then able to see it as a positive.”.

Breaking down barriers

His mom encouraged him to complete his A-levels before he did anything within professional sport where he went onto have great success. At 25 he shares that he was working as a performance analyst as an intern for Charlton Athletic Football Club and the manager at the time, Chris Powell, offered him a trial as a player.

He shared that “I always talk about the number of young players who stopped playing completely by the time they're 21. So, for me to be able to jump in at 25. I was at that point where I was emotionally mature. So, I was able to cope with the adversity that comes with being a professional footballer.

The Sporting Way and The Dripping Pan

Bradley goes onto discuss The Sporting Way and his return to football at 'The Dripping Pan'. Bradley said that “I have always said that if I'm going to play non-league or play part time football, I want it to be about two things, convenience and enjoyment. Because, football at this point in my life really is just about continuing a love. But it has to fit within the work that I'm doing”.

Before he knew it, he returned to football at the club and also set up a community garden in a corner of the ground which is run alongside volunteers and Michael Kennard who runs ‘Compost Club’ in Lewes.

He hopes to soon grow the community garden team and bring in people with no interest in football, but who want to grow food, particularly those across a variety of demographics to help increase a sense of belonging.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:

• The layers of identity and breaking down barriers
• Emotional readiness in a 'survival of the fittest' culture
• The Sporting Way and The Dripping Pan
• Learning from your mistakes
• Building a diverse community

Discover more

To find out more about Bradley and about The Sporting Way and how they might be able to support work in your community school or college, or how you could partner and support their work visit The Sporting Way or contact Bradley via email on [e-mail]