Innovative education to enhance the skills of Sport Officials in Europe

ONSIDE Project: "Innovative education to enhance the skills of Sport Officials in Europe"The role of sport officials (umpires, referees, judges etc.) is vital in sport. They ensure participants compete within the spirit of the sport or activity through the impartial and consistent application of its rules/laws and ethics. No sport policy or objective can be achieved without sport officials. The recruitment, training and retention of sport officials, most of whom work as volunteers, are of vital importance to all sports, at all levels and in all nations.ONSIDE met the EU priority to “promote education in and through sport with special focus on skills development” and it explored and defined, for the first time at the EU level, the generic competences, skills, and knowledge expected of sport officials – covering all sports and nations. ONSIDE was a truly innovative and ground-breaking project through its focus on collaboration across different sports and different types of stakeholder from the sport sector. The consortium working together to achieve the ONSIDE project brings together a selection of 11 partners from 9 different Member States having a recognised expertise, knowledge, or interest to develop the area of sport officiating. Coordinated by EOSE, the partnership included a unique combination of 3 International/European sport federations, 2 national sport federations, 1 national sports council, 1 national Olympic committee, 1 university, and 2 national associations of sport officials. The methodology employed in the ONSIDE project was the 7 Step Model, or Lifelong Learning Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity, which provided a clear structure for this innovative skills development project. Building on solid research base which included desk research, interviews with European/ international sport federations and an online survey of national sport federations; ONSIDE produced seven indispensable outputs for the sport sector: •Occupational Map for Sport Officiating in Europe (English and French) •Occupational Descriptor for Sport Officials in Europe (English and French) •Functional Map for Sport Officials in Europe - Poster and dynamic version (English and French) •Occupational Standards for Sport Officials in Europe (English and French) •Handbook of Training Modules for Sport Officials in Europe (English and French) •Innovative e-learning Modules for Sport Officials in Europe (English and French) •Guide for Sustainability and Quality Assurance Strategies The partners met eight times throughout the life of the project where the engagement and interaction of the recognised experts from different parts of the sport sector were vital for the success of the project.Consultation with the wider sport sector was an important part of the project; this included industry consultation and targeted pilot seminars to test the content of the e-learning modules. Wide industry engagement was achieved at the final conference entitled ‘International Event on Sport Officiating’ which gathered 250 participants from 39 countries online to discover and debate the ONSIDE outputs. ONSIDE was instrumental in the establishment of a new federation; the International Federation for Sports Officials (IFSO), which has been designated the ONSIDE Legacy Partner and will help ensure the on-going dissemination and use of the outputs in the sector. The journey to develop the area of sport officiating, to increase its visibility, and to ensure the development of sport officials is a priority in sport is a long one. ONSIDE has broken down barriers between sports and made collaboration on skills the norm. Further information available at www.onside-sport.eu