Youth Sport Trust Conference 2026: Reflections from Our Team

Earlier this week, our team attended the Youth Sport Trust (YST) Conference 2026, joining colleagues from across the UK to explore the future of youth sport, physical activity, and wellbeing.

Representing our organisation were Dan Hilltout (Active Young People Pathway Manager) and Sam Friend (School Sport Officer). The conference offered a powerful blend of inspiration, sector insight and practical learning that we are excited to bring back into our work with schools and communities across Wales.

Inspiring Keynotes: Imagining the Future and Exploring Our Limits

The day began with a captivating keynote from Rob Hopkins, who encouraged delegates to “fall in love with the future” through creativity, imagination and bold thinking. His approach challenged us to rethink what young people’s lives could look like when physical activity and play are embedded at the heart of society.

Later, we heard from Dwayne Fields, whose keynote on exploring my limits brought themes of resilience, aspiration and personal challenge to life. His story was both grounding and motivating, a reminder of the role sport and activity can play in expanding horizons for young people.

Workshops That Sparked New Thinking

Across the day, we attended a rich mix of workshops that covered everything from whole-school wellbeing to community engagement. These included:

· Is a joined up PE and School Sport system key to 60 active minutes?

· From childhood to womanhood: supporting girls in PE, sport and activity

· Developing skills for life through leadership and play: beyond opportunity, celebrating impact

· Improving the health of Class 2035

· The journey of a well school: from start to accreditation with lessons

· Building healthy and connected communities: what is a schools role?

Although many of the sessions were delivered through an English education lens, the themes resonated strongly with our priorities in Wales. It was useful to consider how these ideas translate into the Curriculum for Wales, local pathways, and our ongoing

work with schools and partners. We also gathered valuable insights, as well as cautionary tales about approaches being tested across the border.

The conference marketplace was full of innovative organisations, NGBs, charities and providers. It gave us a chance to reconnect with existing partners and meet new faces offering fresh ideas and approaches. Several conversations have already sparked thoughts about future collaboration and, of course, we left with a few freebies too!

Attending the YST Conference 2026 has left us energised, motivated and full of new ideas. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be exploring how these insights can inform our programmes, partnerships and support for schools, ensuring the young people we work with continue to benefit from the very best opportunities in physical activity and sport.

We look forward to sharing more updates as this work develops.