PINBALL - Preventing bullying IN and through footBALL

The PINBALL-Preventing bullying IN and through footBALL aims to: 1. Eliminate bullying episodes from children’s and adolescents’ football teams Project partners will realize activities adapted to players’ age, to be implemented during football training and matches. These activities will be meant to clarify what is bullying and reduce uncertainty about what qualifies as bullying and the role played by prejudice in some bullying episodes. They will also aim at actively promoting anti-bullying norms (also using captains as role models), making players aware of the different roles in bullying episodes and promoting defending behaviour among bystanders. The proposed approach is suited both to (a) fight existing bullying, and (b) prevent bullying episodes. 2. Providing coaches with skills to fight bullying and create a cohesive and supportive football environment Project partners will conduct transnational and local training trainers, to provide coaches with the awareness and knowledge of the phenomenon, and with the skills to realize and eventually adapt activities prepared for the project; in addition, we will realize a final online course, coupled with guidelines, that can easily spread to coaches of the participating countries and of the 55 FAs associated with UEFA. 3. Promoting a culture based on sport values against bullying in EU Participating FAs are committed to change their code of conduct to formally recognize the importance to report cases of bullying within teams, and to formally include the final online course amongst the courses needed to obtain the coach license. Promoting the course as key to fight bullying on the behalf of UEFA Foundation, whose specific mission is educating children and promoting their well-being through football, represents another key institutional support. Such recognition provides strong institutional support to the role of football in fighting bullying, contributing to spread a football and sport culture that rejects bullying.