Mark England and Darren Chapple latest guests on the SportsAid Vault

Episode five is themed ‘Games Time’ and sees Mark and Darren talking about final preparations for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, their roles and the importance of creating the right culture across Team England. They also discuss the atmosphere generated at a home Games and how athletes maintain focus – striking a balance between competition-mode and enjoying the experience.  

Mark is one of Britain’s most experienced sports administrators. He has been involved in high-performance sport for close to four decades and will lead Team England as Chef de Mission at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. 

Mark is Director of Sport Services at the British Olympic Association (BOA) and was recently appointed as Team GB’s Chef de Mission for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He also took charge at the last two summer editions in Rio and Tokyo as Team GB secured 67 and 64 medals respectively. 

Mark’s first major event as Team GB’s Chef de Mission came at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015. He had previously been Deputy Chef de Mission at six Olympic Games, including London 2012, as well as Chef de Mission at multiple Youth Olympic Festivals throughout the years. 

Mark joined the BOA back in 2001 and his responsibility for Sports Services encompasses Games, Sport, Athletes and Performance teams. Prior to this, Mark held senior positions with Sport England and the City of Glasgow. He was also Race Director of the Great Scottish Run for four years. 

Mark was awarded an OBE in 2016 for Services to Olympic Sport. He was as an expert advisor on the Co-ordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, appointed by the International Olympic Committee, and Chaired British Judo’s Performance Management Group, among many other roles. 

Darren is a boxing stalwart who has dedicated himself to the sport as a competitor, coach and official since 1979. He will be Team England’s Boxing Team Leader at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and is also the Head of Performance and Talent for England Boxing. 

Darren will be looking to repeat his previous success as Boxing Team Leader when he guided Team England to a record nine medals in the sport – including six golds – on the Gold Coast in 2018. 

In his role as a Director at England Boxing, Darren brings extensive experience as a team manager and has overseen the delivery of performance pathways, also chairing the England Boxing Team Managers’ Panel, as well as being a member of the Great Britain Talent Commission. 

Darren recently retired from 34 years of service in the Royal Air Force (RAF) having started out as an Aerial Erector aged 18. During his service, he became a coach, judge, referee and manager of the RAF and combined service boxing squad. Darren is entirely a volunteer within the sport. 

The second series of the podcast, hosted by Tom Gayle, BBC sports presenter, commentator and reporter, is inspired by Team England Futures. The programme, which is being delivered by SportsAid on behalf of Commonwealth Games England and Sport England, will see over 1,000 talented young athletes and aspiring support staff attending Birmingham 2022. 

The programme aims to give the next generation of athletes a first-hand look behind-the-scenes.…experiencing a major Games in the flesh and better preparing them for future multi-sport competitions. It also plans to help aspiring support staff understand what opportunities they could be presented with at a major Games….as well as the challenges they may face. 

View all SportsAid Vault episodes