Dear Director of Sport (future/current),

This is a great job.

Underpinning everything that you do is the ability to shape the health and well-being of our young people. In a world where screens and being constantly sat, are having a detrimental impact on children, you can teach them to move and be outside, whilst also building curriculums that will help the team around you deliver this day in, day out at school. In a world where teenagers feel lonely and disconnected, you can raise the profile of team sports and all of the benefits that come from playing them. In a world where there are significantly fewer adults playing sport today in their post university years, you can foster a lifelong love of sport that will see people continue to play sport for fun or competitively.

Do get a mentor.

This person or people should be from outside of education. The echo chamber that is school and teaching can often make you forget that there is a huge world out there where there is real struggle and challenges. Get someone in your professional life who will give you a dose of reality when needed, will help you talk through problems, and will give you tangible solutions that you can implement time, and time again. Use your mentor to not only help you but also the team around you, which will then in turn make your work life even more enjoyable and fulfilling.

Do look for confirmation.

But be careful where from. Remember who you are doing this job for - the pupils you teach, the colleagues who are delivering each day with you, and even your family whom you want to provide for. Chasing praise and justification may lead you to making decisions that do not benefit the key stakeholders of sport at your school. Be decisive and inform all decisions by listening - you were given two ears and one mouth, and when you have assembled the team around you, they will have many of the answers.

Do work hard and be kind.

Take colleagues with you by demonstrating the work ethic and delivery that got you to that position, but make sure you have capacity to react to problems in a calm and measured way. Have processes and operational systems in place so that you are not constantly red-lining, allowing you to help colleagues when they most need it. The power of covering an after-school session, or going to an away midweek fixture with someone, is bigger than you might realise. You can only do this if systems, plans, correct delegation, and your time, are all in order.

Do keep a journal.

Take it to every meeting; write in it at the end of each day, week, half term, and term; refer back to it at the start of each term; and be proud of the progress you make each year. Find the quiet moments to help you review, reflect and respond, to a job that is constantly dynamic.Never believe you ‘know it’, because that is when you stop learning from everyone around you and it is a vast, experienced community. Go to the conference each year to meet people and widen your network. If you learn something to take with you for your practise, great, and if you nod along because you are already doing something, even better. Pick up the phone, send an email, meet for a coffee or a pint, as it will make you better at your job, and the impact on the pupils will be there for everyone to see.