Soft Skills through Sport for Active Youth

Background Our project contributed to the promotion of education in and through sport focusing on soft skills development in youth, aged 15-20 years old, from high schools in small towns or rural zones in participating countries. Our actions aimed to link sport to the development of soft skills for the target groups. Therefore, sport was presented, not only as a way to stay physically healthy and fit, but also as a mean to develop the brain, personal and social skills. Objectives 1. Promote physical activity in high schools in participating countries, to young people, as a way to develop soft skills for the future.2. Raising a positive attitude regarding the importance that sport plays in developing soft skills in youth in order to help match certain sports to certain skills.3. Increasing the awareness of relevant stakeholders in participating countries regarding the importance of soft skills development in order to be involved in promoting sport for soft skills. Implementation The project gathered 18 high-schools from all participating countries, that were part in sport events.This created the opportunity for promoting sports to least advantaged teenagers, who don’t get as many chances to benefit from such international events and initiatives.The results of the research were disseminated on social media platforms in order to show the view of the pupils regarding sport, and the fact that they were really happy that they were involved in this kind of project. Achievements The results of this research helped us highlight the positive benefits of sport on the development of personal and social skills in teenagers. It will also served as a tool to show why sport plays an important role in developing additional skills that are useful in any career and life in general. We contributed to making young people, schools, parents and other relevant stakeholders in the field of youth and sport aware of the importance sport can play in youth soft skills development.