Volunteering in School Sport

The Volunteering in School Sport (V2S) project gathered 24 young volunteers from 6 different European countries, members of the International School Sport Federation. They participated in three mobility experiences to learn more and raise awareness on the individual and collective benefit of volunteering, and specifically of volunteering in school sport.Their journey started in Budapest, Hungary, with an introduction to the Education Through Sport metholodogy. The training was facilitated by a team of 6 trainers, from each country represented in the project. They came from the field of youth and sport, and largelly contributed to the introduction of new approaches in the world of school sport. The Partner Hope For Children Hungary brought its expertise in non-formal education and monitored the team of facilitators.During this training, the young volunteers created and designed activities to be implemented during the European Schools Badminton Championship in Clermont Ferrand, France. In parallele of the competition, they proposed pedagogical and thematic activities for all participants of the event (athletes, coaches, volunteers, etc).Between each mobility activity, the young volunteers worked hand in hand with their national school sport federation and were involved at the local level on specific volunteering missions. They took more responsibilities, and were given the recognition they deserved by bringing in their own project ideas, and being given the space to implement them.Finally, the group gathered in Zagreb, Croatia, to evaluate the whole project. The young volunteers were able to reflect upon their own skill development, and contributed to the creation of a Youth Pass Certificate. The key competences they acquired will be reinvested in their academic, professional, and personal path.V2S brought people from different sectors to work together : the sport movement, the youth sector, and the (formal) education framework. This had a huge impact on the development of volunteering programmes within the world of school sport. For the first time, side activities were conducted on an ISF event; which results was disseminated during an official conference organised by the project Partner and European Think Tank Sport and Citizenship.The project impacts are tremendous, at all level. It paved the way for the development of a sustainable volunteering programme within the ISF, through the creation of a Handbook on volunteering in school sport which provides guidelines for the national school sport federations willing to (re)shape their actions in this field. Morevoer, it set the ground for other project promoting youth voice and participation within the ISF events and governance. Five young volunteers of the V2S project have joined the first ISF Youth Council project implementing "Fun & SKills" zones during ISF competition.