Equal opportunities through inclusive cooperation in basketball (EPIC-Basketball)

The EPIC-Basketball (Equal oPportunities through Inclusive Cooperation in Basketball) had as its main goal to contribute to the promotion of equal opportunities in sport. To achieve it, it sought to promote the participation of women and to sensitize about gender equality in grassroots basketball.It focused on four female basketball teams with players aged 17 and 18, as well as in the student community up to that age in Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Italy. These are countries where basketball is an extended sport with a capacity for social impact and countries in which there are currently incipient citizen debates and social movements related to gender equality.The project combined sports activities (competitions and exhibitions) and sensitization and capacity building activities given by players, coaches and future coaches and promoted by a municipality (Pedreguer, ES), two sports associations (Associação Desporiva Cultural e Social de Carvalhais, PT, and Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Margherita Sport e Vita, IT) and a Basketball Club (Pedreguer, ES). Players and coaches have received a previously specific training in equal opportunities in sports and how basketball can be a tool for achieving gender balance in the societies of the countries where the project was implemented. The University of Inonu (Turkey) and European experts were in charge of strengthening their capacities.The Municipality of Pedreguer and the local basketball Club showed a successful long-term partnership experience which replicability inside and outside the project was promoted through different meetings and actions. The transfer of project results was also a priority for which a network is set and contacts have been established with provincial and national agencies of different countries. As an example, the Valencian Basketball Federation participated in the activity held in Pedreguer, in order to incorporate the results of the project into different sport initiatives organized in the region.The young basketball players have also participated in social and cultural activities such as gastronomic events and cultural expressions that have strengthened ties of friendship between them. They have also attended informative conferences on European policies and values where they have learned about the benefits of European citizenship and different programs to finance future activities.