Nottinghamshire’s first sport ambassador tackles new post

A 26-year-old rugby player and coach with a passion for sharing his faith started work this month as the Church of England’s first Sport Ambassador – based in Nottingham.

Tim Friend, who is a History graduate from York University, played as a flanker in the Gloucestershire Premiere League, before moving to Nottingham to take up the new post, with the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham.

Photo opportunity:
He will start work by meeting Nottingham Rugby Club’s players and coach at their Ladybay training ground, The Bay, Holme Road, West Bridgford NG2 5AA at  2pm on Monday 28th January 2008 – photographers welcome.

Tim said he was looking forward to the challenge of the new role. He quoted Nelson Mandella, who said: ”Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way little else can do. It speaks to people in a context they can understand.”

He explained: “As Sports Ambassador for the diocese I’ll be looking for ways to bring the world of sport and the church community closer together. I am aiming to help Christians in sport live out faith in the context of their surroundings and challenging churches to make their welcome and message relevant to those who share a sport mindset.”

The Bishop of Sherwood, the Rt Revd Tony Porter, who will line manage the new ambassador said: “I’m looking forward to the fresh energy that Tim will bring to this work. He has a track record in evangelism and sport and is also someone who has a proven ability to motivate other Christians in using sport for evangelism.”

After graduating, Tim spent a year in Kenya teaching, coaching pupils in sport and leading Christian discipleship groups. As a qualified rugby coach, he ran training sessions each week in rugby and also led Christian groups for the same young players on Sunday evenings.

Tim said the new role was very important: “Sport is huge..it’s massive, there are 106,000 sports clubs in England with 8.1 million members. There is also massive potential for growth as the government plans huge investments in sport with the aim to increase the number of people involved in sport from the current 40% to 70%.”

Tim is married to Kerstin, who worked as a Scripture Union Associate Children’s Worker for an ecumenical charity in Gloucestershire.

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