Stakeholder Engagement isn’t a Tick-Box: My reflections from the SGA's Manchester networking event

I recently attended an SGA networking event in my role as Northern Region Chair for British Wrestling, as well as through my involvement with Sharples Wrestling Club. It was a really valuable evening, one of those sessions that gives you a lot to think about on the journey home.

A big focus was stakeholder engagement. 

It’s something we all know matters, but in reality, it’s easy for it to become reactive or treated as a one off exercise rather than something that should be cyclical. It got me thinking about how well we actually map our stakeholders, not just within clubs, but across regions, the home nations and the wider NGB landscape. More importantly, how we manage those relationships day to day, and who is responsible for them. Because if that ownership isn’t clear, things can quickly drift.

One point that really stuck with me is that engagement isn’t a tick-box. It’s about building relationships over time, bringing people with you, and being open to honest conversations, even when they’re uncomfortable. In truth, if people aren’t talking to you, that’s usually the clearest sign something isn’t working. 

So the real question is, what are we doing about it? That feels particularly relevant at the moment. 

Within British Wrestling, we’ve been through a challenging period, with governance issues well documented in the governance project. Significant change has followed including the re-establishment of regional structures as they were none existent. There’s a real opportunity now to reset how we work, stakeholder engagement has to be at the heart of that.

There were also some really useful conversations around capacity and succession planning what should that look like? These aren’t new challenges, but they’re very real ones. 

Balancing regional delivery with consistency across the organisation isn’t straightforward, and it reinforces how important it is that we collaborate, share what works, and learn from each other.

The session also made me reflect more intentionally on how we engage. Looking at this through the lens of the Gunning Principles, engagement needs to be genuine, inclusive, and transparent. Members need to know that their feedback is important, see how we’ve responded to their insight and be assured that they are heard throughout, not just at certain points in a process.

It’s also a reminder that understanding your audience is key. 

Not everything can be measured through response rates or surveys. Sometimes the real insight comes from conversations, from relationships, and from creating space where people feel comfortable speaking openly.

All of this links to a bigger question for me. 

As we look ahead and shape the future of the sport, including through the current unleashing potential strategy work, are we doing enough to genuinely capture the voice of wrestlers themselves? 

Because if stakeholder engagement is about bringing people with you, then that voice can’t be an afterthought, it absolutely has to be central.

That’s something I’ll certainly be reflecting on, and I’m keen to keep those conversations going.

Thanks again to the organisers for creating the space for an open and honest discussion. Looking forward to the next one.

A big "thank you" from the SGA to Ruth Miller, Craig Anthony and Kathryn Smith for joining our panel and contributing to an insightful discussion and to Lyndsey for sharing this recap!