Character not clout

Sport must step up and be part of the social revolution to reach our 'lost boys'

- Cath Bishop

Mid all the pressing problems of the day, one crisis has cut through: the acute need for greater support, care and steady role models for young men, addressed powerfully through the Netflix series Adolescence, explored in the Centre for Social Justice paper Lost Boys and discussed in parliament. Then came the BBC Richard Dimbleby lecture by the former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate, reinforcing the importance of belief and resilience for young people in a challenging world.

Southgate continues to embody how sport and society can connect in a new way. The question now is whether the rest of sport - its leaders, coaches, athletes, volunteers and fans - stands ready to take up the cause and whether sport has the collective vision, will and competence to do so effectively.

Southgate, Keir Starmer and the CSJ report all called for role models to offer a different path from the populist influencers spouting a vision of masculinity riven with ego, misogyny and intolerance. Sport should be an obvious place to find better role models. Coaches have a formative impact on young people. It is time for sport to prove its relevance beyond entertainment and activity for a part of the population. But changes are needed for sport to help resolve this social crisis.

Leaders need to understand the answer is not just more sport. It is a different quality of physical activity.