Imagine a world of true athletes
A feeling, to an idea, to a team, to a butterfly in flight
Originally from England, Sam Parfitt moved to the USA to play college tennis. He experienced the best and worst of sport – ending with long periods in and out hospital, suffering with poor physical and mental health. He was left wondering how a kid who loved playing in the garden ended up so lost and unhappy.
But he soon had opportunities to grow in new ways through sport; he worked with at-risk Hispanic immigrant youth, and became the Director of Athletics at a small independent school. There, he had the chance to create a novel sports programme, which aimed to shift perceptions about what it means to be an “athlete”, away from a win-at-all-costs approach.
He introduced parkour, mindfulness, sports poetry, tai-ji, studying sport and peace, and learning about heroes like Muhammad Ali. The children loved it, and it made Sam imagine what the world would be like if everyone had these joyful and meaningful experiences of sport.
In the ten years since then, we’ve grown into an international movement, working with athletes, coaches, and organisations across the globe to reimagine what sport can be, and to create transformative experiences.
Soul Craft
Sam creates a pioneering PE program at St.Peter’s School, Tennessee.
Float Like a Butterfly
Sam presents his work at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, where the TAP butterfly took flight!
Early Experiments in Mindful Sport
We form a US nonprofit and pilot workshops and retreats.
Flagship Mentoring Program Begins
Starting small, we match our first mentors and mentees, facilitating truly life-changing relationships.
Building our first Partnerships
We establish a charity in the UK and build sustainable governing body partnerships.
The Team Grows
Year-on-year we strengthen our team - a diverse group of individuals who “feel TAP on their skin.”
Vision Evening
Sporting greats join us as we celebrate our journey so far, and look to the future: “As you walk along the way, the way appears.”
Major Multi-Year Funding Achieved
Jacobs Futura Fdn and VW Foundation demonstrate their belief in our mission; our movement takes hold; the community grows.
Soul Craft
Sam creates a pioneering PE program at St.Peter’s School, Tennessee.
Float Like a Butterfly
Sam presents his work at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, where the TAP butterfly took flight!
Early Experiments in Mindful Sport
We form a US nonprofit and pilot workshops and retreats.
Flagship Mentoring Program Begins
Starting small, we match our first mentors and mentees, facilitating truly life-changing relationships.
Building our first Partnerships
We establish a charity in the UK and build sustainable governing body partnerships.
The Team Grows
Year-on-year we strengthen our team - a diverse group of individuals who “feel TAP on their skin.”
Vision Evening
Sporting greats join us as we celebrate our journey so far, and look to the future: “As you walk along the way, the way appears.”
Major Multi-Year Funding Achieved
Jacobs Futura Fdn and VW Foundation demonstrate their belief in our mission; our movement takes hold; the community grows.
"With TAP, every child is an athlete. Sport becomes less battle-ball, more soul-craft"
Chattanooga Times Free Press
We integrate mindfulness, movement and mentoring into the delivery of sport, at every level from grassroots to elite.
Our work goes beyond results. We help athletes understand who they are and what they value, give coaches the tools to lead with compassion as well as expertise, and support organisations to build cultures where people can thrive. The result is sport that is kinder, more connected and more meaningful and people who carry those same qualities into every part of their lives.
Mindfulness
“Mindfulness is not just a ten minute breathing practice. It’s a way of life. It’s how we show up. How we listen. How we engage with difficulty and help others.”
Sam Parfitt, TAP Founder
Movement
We bring creative movement practices to the world of sport, making sport playful again, and supporting the performance and wellbeing of athletes and coaches alike.
Through movement, we help athletes develop adaptability and self-expression while supporting coaches and leaders to find movement practices that feel nourishing.
We want to shift the culture from move to perform to move for joy, curiosity and wellbeing, helping athletes build adaptable, resilient bodies that can support them throughout their sporting lives and beyond.
See it in action
Mentoring
Mentoring is proven to be among the most effective tools we have for enabling transformational growth and development in people. As leaders in running safe and effective mentoring programs, we’ve matched hundreds of young people with elite, Olympic and Paralympic athlete mentors.
Every year, we see mentees improve performance, feel better, take on big life decisions, and have hope for the future.
Our butterfly
Small changes lead to Big impact
The butterfly is a universal symbol of change, awakening and peace. It also symbolises the “butterfly effect”; how small changes and actions can make a big difference. In this way, it perfectly captures our mission to transform the world, one true athlete at a time.
The orange and blue represent the yin and yang – the calm and the fire, the strength and the sensitivity needed by athletes to achieve excellence in sport, and in life.
Finally, the logo also reflects the inspirational figure of Muhammad Ali, at whose Center, in Louisville, Kentucky, our project took flight!
"TAP is one of the most interesting and important organisations in world sport right now"
Simon Mundie
BBC Broadcaster
Host, Champion Thinking Podcast
"The True Athlete Project is a beautiful contribution to the world."
Hana Ali
Author, Daughter of Muhammed Ali
Featured In
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