Job Description
About us – Bristol Sport Foundation and the Bristol Flyers
Bristol Sport Foundation (BSF) is on a mission to use the power of sport to encourage Active. Healthy. Happy. communities across Greater Bristol (City of Bristol, South Glos., North Somerset) and Bath and North East Somerset (BANES). Working collaboratively with our partner schools, who act as hubs within their community, we deliver PE lessons, sport-based interventions, high-quality sports education programmes, after school clubs, community hubs and holidays camps with the aim of positively impacting the overall health and well-being of the participating children and their families.
Bristol Flyers
Bristol Flyers is the only professional basketball club in Bristol, currently playing out of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College’s WISE campus, achieving sell out crowds at every home game. In the 22/23 season, the Flyers finished 3rd in the league and reached the semi-final of the playoffs.
The community arm of Bristol Flyers sits within BSF, facilitating a broader reach and greater impact. The main aim of the Bristol Flyers Community is to harness the love of basketball inspired by the senior team and engage young people across the city to play basketball. The Flyers Community team strive to provide every individual with a pathway to participate in basketball and reach their potential, no matter their background.
Our Bristol Flyers Community programmes
Health Squad
Bristol Flyers Community’s Health Squad programme is a healthy lifestyles programme for Year 5 and Year 6 pupils. Using basketball and the Bristol Flyers brand, children are engaged and empowered with the knowledge and understanding to be able to make positive lifestyle decisions. Children are taught this through a combination of classroom-based lessons and practical basketball sessions. Often, the classroom-based lesson is taught by one of BSF’s qualified teachers, whilst the practical element is led by a Flyers Community Coach.
Topics covered in the classroom include the benefits of physical activity, the dangers of hidden sugar, the importance of good sleep patterns and an understanding of the workings of the brain. Then, through the practical basketball session, children will develop core basketball skills such as dribbling, shooting, passing and teamwork.
Forever Sport
Forever Sport is BSF’s flagship primary school PE and sports coaching programme. BSF currently delivers its Forever Sport programme in 50+ partner schools across Greater Bristol and BANES. Forever Sport provides children with the opportunity to experience a range of different sports delivered by specialist coaches, of which our Flyers Community coaches are the specialist basketball coaches. They use their expertise and passion for basketball to help children to fall in love with the sport.
Forever Sport provides the initial pathway for children to engage with the Bristol Flyers Basketball Club and the Flyers Community team. If children enjoy the coaching that they receive in their school it often leads to them attending at least one of a Flyers Community hub, the Basketball Centre, a Flyers holiday camp or attending a Flyers game.
Project Take Off
Project Take Off is a fully funded Bristol Flyers Community programme that provides children from disadvantaged backgrounds, with the opportunity to take part in basketball. Through Project Take Off funding, the aim is to remove barriers for the families such as the cost of the session, transport, or equipment, to enable children to attend Bristol Flyers Community sessions and play basketball. Children on Project Take off are selected by Bristol Flyers Community Coaches based on the Project Take Off criteria and their basketball ability.
Several families across Greater Bristol have already been supported through Project Take Off with a number of these children progressing on to play in the Bristol Flyers national league programme.
Holiday Camps
Bristol Flyers Community holiday camps provide children with the opportunity to continue developing their basketball skills during the school holidays. Our holiday camps provide a safe and fun environment for children to play basketball with their friends, continue their basketball journey outside of term time, as well as build new friendships. The camps provide a game sensed environment to ensure that the participants’ enjoyment and ‘ballin’ time is maximised.
Community hubs and our Basketball Centre
The Bristol Flyers community basketball hubs and Basketball Centre provide children between the ages of 7 and 16 (school years 3 to 11) with the opportunity to develop their basketball skills outside of the school environment to take their game to the next level. They provide a safe, fun and inclusive environment for children of all abilities to enjoy participating in basketball under the watchful eyes of our Bristol Flyers Community coaches.
Our Basketball Centre allows children to experience more age-appropriate coaching with each age group (Under 5s, 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s and 16s) having their own hour of court time. In this environment they can hone their skills through the game sense approach endorsed by our Flyers Community coaches.
Player Development Pathway (PDP)
The Flyers Community PDP is a new Flyers Community programme that was launched last year, with the aim of providing a stepping stone between our community hubs/Basketball Centre and the Flyers’ national league programme. The PDP provides children, who are showing the potential to progress to the next level, with the opportunity to train with others who are showing similar promise, to help them to achieve their goal of making it in the Flyers national league programme.

The Role
Job Title: Bristol Flyers Community Development Officer
This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified and experienced basketball coach who shares our passion for the life-changing role of sport, physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices.
Reports to: BSF and Flyers Community Delivery Manager
Contract: A fixed term contract until August 31st, 2024, with a view to extending the contract dependent on performance and funding.
Requirements: The right to work in the UK and a full valid UK driving license and access to a car.

Responsibilities:
To lead on the organisation and delivery of the six Flyers Community programmes outlined. To support the BSF and Flyers Community Manager and BSF’s Director of Programmes with shaping the growth and development of the Flyers Community programmes.
Working hours: Full-time – 37.5 hours. Monday-Friday from 9am until 5pm with a 30-minute unpaid lunch break. Community hub and PDP sessions are delivered on various weekday evenings (between 5pm – 9pm). Our Basketball Centre is delivered on Saturdays (between 9am – 2pm). Non-working mornings will be provided in return for your time delivering the community hubs, Basketball Centre and PDP sessions.

Benefits:
The opportunity to work with wonderfully passionate people for a forward-thinking charity that makes a positive difference to 1000s of lives every week, branded BSF and Bristol Flyers coaching clothing, travel expenses, 4% pension scheme, two complimentary Bristol City Football & Bristol Bears rugby tickets per home game, opportunities to support at Bristol Flyers home matches, CPD opportunities, access to childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme and other benefits through the HR platform, Perkpal, a fantastic open plan office at Ashton Gate Stadium and regular team social events.
Annual leave: 20 days plus public holidays moving to 22 days and 25 days plus public holidays after two years and five years, respectively, of continuous service. Additional leave days are provided over the Christmas break when the BSF office is closed.
Salary range: £23,000 – £27,000 – inclusive of an unsociable hour’s allowance. The starting salary is dependent on qualifications, experience and the strength of application.

Key dates:
• Closing date – Sunday, July 2nd, 2023.
• Interviews and practical coaching observations – weeks commencing July 10th and 17th.

How to apply
If you are interested in joining the Bristol Sport Foundation team, please send your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role to Tom Monks, Director of Programmes – tom.monks@bristol-sport.co.uk and Mike English, BSF and Flyers Community Delivery Manager – maickel.english@bristol-sport.co.uk. Please also email if you require further information or you would like an informal conversation about the role.