Is a project co-funded by the Erasmus Plus Programme of the European Union. 

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Sports Youth Workers and Sports Managers have a crucial role in providing marginalized young people with access to sports and ensuring they have equal opportunities in the sports sector. They are key actors who can create an inclusive sports environment that offers equal opportunities for all. However, for this to happen, they need to recognize the power and significance of sport as a tool for social inclusion.

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The project focuses on three levels:

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SPORTS ASSOCIATIONS MANAGER'S ROLE:

Sports association managers can improve their methods by establishing best practices and innovative tools to enable marginalized young people to access sports and provide them with equal opportunities and perspectives. These managers have the potential to build inclusive spaces for everyone. They need to understand their role's importance and influence in shaping the sports environment.

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SPORTS YOUTH WORKER'S SKILLS:

Sports youth workers play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of sporting experiences for young people. Coaches significantly impact young athletes, particularly through their personalities and interactions. Youth workers must be aware of their role in young athletes' lives and understand the sports group's dynamics. The quality of the youth workers/trainers strongly influences the sports experience of young people. When parental models are often questioned in adolescence, sports instructors can quickly become important role models for young adults. Therefore, sports educators, who are more than just technical coaches, need to recognize the importance of their role in the lives of young athletes and understand group dynamics. To become effective advocates for the health and well-being of adolescents, youth workers must undergo specific training. This project aims to create such a training process.

 

Through the project's outcomes, youth workers, not only those directly involved in the project, will be equipped with the necessary tools to become valuable interlocutors capable of addressing common youth problems related to parents, school, friends, partners, sexuality, drugs, family issues, violence, and abuse. Youth workers should be able to identify when young people are seeking dialogue and provide appropriate support or referral within their area of expertise. It's important to note that they should not be expected to address specialized problems outside their competence.

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SPORT AS A SOCIAL INCLUSION TOOL:

In the context of the Poverty Observatory, we often focus on the quality of education, social services, and accessibility of cultural offerings when combating educational poverty. Unfortunately, sports are not commonly associated with these efforts. We tend to limit our understanding of sports to competition and physical activity, overlooking their crucial role in personal growth. Sport promotes physical and psychological well-being, countering discomfort, deviance, violence, and drug addiction.

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The most innovative aspect of this project is to use sports as a transformative channel, leveraging frustration as a driving force for personal development. The core objective is to redirect difficulty and frustration in a constructive direction rather than allowing them to become destructive and isolating. The project fosters innovation by developing a new, replicable, sustainable work program.

Not everyone has access to sports and sports opportunities, so the project focuses on sports organization managers—individuals responsible for planning and creating marks and social integration spaces. The project aims to help these managers understand the power they possess to promote sports among marginalized young people. It emphasizes the need for emotional, inclusive, and psychological methodologies within their organizations and staff training to ensure safe behaviours and environments. Sports associations must recognize their role in community development and emphasize the social values of sports by implementing inclusive practices. By creating safe and welcoming spaces, sports associations can foster the growth and development of young people within the community.

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