Summer sports programme changing the fabric of our community for generations through sport

The GSLA's Summer Sports and Stay and Play programmes have once again demonstrated their value to the community this summer, providing safe, well-attended and free activities for children and young people throughout the school holidays.
Fresh from attending Commonwealth meetings during the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, Minister for Sport Leslie Bruzon quickly turned his attention back to the domestic scene, visiting the Bayside Sports Complex to see first-hand how this year's programme was progressing.
The visit provided an opportunity not only to meet the organisers, leaders and volunteers who give up their time each summer, but also to highlight the scale of a programme that has quietly become one of Gibraltar's most significant community initiatives.
Having evolved considerably since its early years, the programme now runs with an efficiency built on experience. There were few complaints for the Minister to hear. Instead, there was praise for a scheme that has continued to improve year after year while offering far more than simply keeping children active during the holidays.
Perhaps its greatest success lies not in the activities themselves, but in the young people delivering them.
From leadership and communication to organisation, safeguarding and responsibility, more than a hundred young volunteers and leaders, some as young as sixteen, will by the end of the summer have accumulated over two months of daily hands-on experience working with children and vulnerable participants. Behind them are another 72 young people who completed leadership courses this summer, ensuring a steady flow of future volunteers through the ranks.
The Summer Sports and Stay and Play programmes now operate side by side across an expanding network of venues, including Bayside Sports Complex, the GASA swimming pool area, Europa Sports Complex, Lathbury Sports Complex, the Special Olympics sports hall, the beaches and beach volleyball courts, and even the Kings Bastion Leisure Centre.
Supported by partnerships with a wide range of sporting associations running their own summer camps, the GSLA has developed a programme capable of adapting to changing demands while maintaining consistently high standards of care.
One of the most noticeable developments, as highlighted by GSLA Chief Executive Officer Reagan Lima during the visit, has been the programme's response to increasingly hot summers.
What was once primarily an outdoor programme has evolved into a flexible indoor-outdoor rotation, allowing organisers to respond quickly whenever temperatures rise to uncomfortable or unsafe levels.
As heatwaves have become an annual challenge, organisers have adapted their approach. Additional shaded areas have been created, activity sessions shortened to allow for more frequent water breaks, and alternative indoor activities prepared whenever conditions require schedules to change.
These adaptations have become more than simple operational improvements. They have also become part of the education of the young leaders themselves.
Each adjustment teaches practical decision-making, risk assessment and safeguarding, giving volunteers experience that few classrooms could ever replicate.
The programme is already providing the community with a growing number of young people gaining valuable experience caring for children and vulnerable participants. Some volunteers who first joined as teenagers are now in their early twenties, having accumulated five or six years of practical experience through successive summers.
These are lessons that cannot be learned solely in a classroom or lecture theatre. Real-life situations expose young volunteers and leaders to challenges requiring judgement, patience, empathy and responsibility.
At the same time, organisers continue learning themselves. Every summer brings new experiences, leading to improved safeguarding procedures, wellbeing protocols and support systems that continue to strengthen the programme year after year.
Monitoring participants, supporting volunteers, providing counselling where necessary and adapting procedures have all become routine parts of the operation. Particularly within the Stay and Play programme, organisers have recognised that caring for vulnerable participants also requires caring for the young people providing that support.
As Reagan Lima explained during the visit, "The good moments can be great, but the bad moments can be just as bad."
His comments reflected the reality faced by those working with vulnerable participants. A day filled with smiles can change in an instant without warning, requiring young volunteers and leaders to respond calmly, safely and professionally.
Although still very young themselves, they are expected to manage difficult situations while ensuring the wellbeing of those in their care. That responsibility is supported through teamwork, guidance from experienced supervisors, workshops and wellbeing support whenever required.
Years of experience have enabled organisers to build a culture where learning from previous summers has become one of the programme's greatest strengths. Every challenge encountered helps shape the following year's planning.
Yet, despite the responsibilities carried by those involved, the overwhelming impression from the visit was one of enjoyment.
Everywhere there were smiles.
The children were clearly enjoying themselves. So too were the volunteers and leaders who had become role models for many of the younger participants.
The sports halls echoed with excited voices. Basketballs bounced across courts, children splashed through water activities on the hockey pitch, games unfolded across the MUGA and groups moved enthusiastically from one activity to the next.
Amid the organised chaos, the young volunteers in their light and dark blue shirts remained calm and in control. They directed activities, maintained discipline and ensured everyone remained safe, all while encouraging children to enjoy themselves.
Perhaps most telling was the respect shown by the participants. Instructions were followed willingly, with the same trust and confidence normally associated with experienced teachers and youth leaders.
It is easy to view the Summer Sports and Stay and Play programmes simply as providers of holiday activities. In reality, they have become something much greater.
Each summer they produce another generation of young people equipped with practical leadership experience, safeguarding skills, confidence and a sense of community responsibility. Those skills do not disappear when the holidays end. They are carried into workplaces, sports clubs, schools and community organisations across Gibraltar.
With hundreds of young people now having passed through the programme over the years, its influence extends well beyond the summer months. The experience gained, the friendships formed and the values instilled are helping shape the social fabric of Gibraltar.
While children enjoy another memorable summer of sport, the programme continues to build something even more important — a generation of experienced leaders, carers and volunteers whose impact on the community will be felt for many years to come.

(more images in Friday's print edition)