Former Olympic silver medallist Leon Taylor believes the Team England Futures programme could have a huge impact in preparing young athletes multi-sport events. 

The 44-year-old from Cheltenham, who won silver in diving's 10m synchronised event alongside Pete Waterfield at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, is the lead ambassador and mentor of the initiative. 

Run by charity SportsAid and funded by Sport England, it has allowed over 800 athletes and aspiring support staff to attend the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and gain their first experience of such an event. 

As well as having a tour around the athletes’ village and witnessing a variety of sports, they were also given a behind-the-scenes look at some of the other facilities made available to competitors. 

Taylor said: “A programme like the Team England Futures is probably one of the biggest impacts we can have on an athlete or support staff member early in their career. 

“You don’t know what you don’t know and a multi-sport event comes with idiosyncrasies and complexities you would only really experience when you turn up and actually compete. 

“To give athletes and support staff the chance to experience it before they get the chance to do it for real is the dress rehearsal of all dress rehearsals. 

“We could have kept it small and exclusive, but we’ve tried to make it as accessible and as broad as possible, so huge numbers are coming through, and the feedback is just wonderful. 

“You see athletes’ eyes light up, coaches are saying ‘I didn’t realise this, I didn’t realise that’ and the learnings are so rich because they are going through them.” 

Team England Futures seeks to better prepare athletes to deliver medal-winning performances as either Team England, Team GB or ParalympicsGB debutants at future Games, while also giving support staff a first-hand look at the opportunities they could be presented with, as well as challenges they may face, at a multi-sport competition.

Those involved were honoured by a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Princess Charlotte, at the University of Birmingham. 

The Duchess has been the patron of SportsAid since 2013 and she joined in a series of workshops to provide the athletes with some further insight on the mental challenges that lie ahead. 

Taylor said: “To have a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is a very special thing. 

“A lot of planning goes into it and, as you can well imagine, everyone in the Royal Family is very busy. 

“The Duchess of Cambridge is our patron at SportsAid, so she has been across the work of SportsAid before and it’s something she is genuinely passionate about and interested in. 

“Many people here got the chance to get some time interacting with her.  

“She’s very well informed, very interested to learn and also has a wonderful way of including people in the room and making them feel at ease. 

“She’s just the embodiment of what we’re talking about here, which is performing under pressure when people are looking and building one’s confidence up.” 

Commonwealth Games England has appointed SportsAid to lead on the development, management and operational delivery of Team England Futures at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. You can find out more about the programme by visiting https://www.sportsaid.org.uk/partnerships/team-england-futures/.