The drama of adolescence has highlighted the corrosive impact of social media and the dangerous stereotypes on the masculinity that some teenagers see online.
In today’s digital age, the supply of an interaction with influencers of “real life” is more important than ever, according to Slater.
“I think we give them this space to see a face -to -face model,” said the 52 -year -old man. “They can talk about what they want to talk about, and they will be listened to. A good coach listens first.
“I think that so many of our young people today have the capacity to establish these relationships. Their social interactions are limited. Everything is online, either on their phone, or at the end of their PlayStation 5 or other.”
Mark Gannon, Managing Director of UK Coaching, said that the face -to -face role of sports coaches was particularly important to “try to make young people understand the reality in terms of what they might see on social networks, in particular with misogyny (online)”.
Each day, around 30 young people confronted with major challenges in their lives come to the raw mentoring site of Reading, which Slater manages. They receive individual training in different sports and activities, while being supervised.
Zeph, who has been in eighth year at school, has been supported here for three years, saying to BBC Sport: “It makes me happy. When I come here, I don’t want to leave. I used to fight almost every day, I’m much calmer now.”
This is something Puente can identify, describing her weekly entries with the police and “an idiotic teenager” who embarked on many fights before changing his life.
“When you are young, your brain is like a sponge,” said Puente, who now helps young people alongside her work to manage a personal training company.
“You just reflect everything you see. And I think that if you do not have this strong model as it grows, you only pass these transition periods in adolescence a little lost and not guided.
“I think it is underestimated how a structured model and a support person can be beneficial.”
He says that even now Slater is “probably a person, if not the most influential” of his life.