Sport for Children's Development: promoting a safe environment to benefit from sport at the grassroots level

Background The project came from the idea that sport is a fundamental tool which allows for personal and professional development of individuals and of the entire society through its physical, psichological and social impact. At the same time, sport has a dark side, made of bullying, discrimination, abuse, which has a negative impact on participation to the sport field, in particular for children, with the the risk of short-medium and long term consequences on their lives. Objectives The project “Sport for Children’s Development” was realised through a 24 months-partnership which aimed at the creation, dissemination and implementation of guidelines and good practices at the grassroot level, to prevent and fights harm, abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect, different forms of violence thatchildren might face in sports, promoting the implemetation of measures that make the sport field a safe space for children to make experience, grow and benefits from physical activity. Implementation We started from the collection of goood practices, then tested by the different organizations at the local level to collect inputs and feedbacks to create the final version of guidelines addressing grassroots sport clubs and NGO working with children. The results were presented into a final conference in Sofia (on 12th of December 2022) and online through a raising awareness campaign. the process involved coaches, teachers, youth workers and volunteers interested and involved in sport. Achievements The main results of the project were:-the creation of guidelines for policies and practices related to the creation of a safe enviroment for children playing sport at the grassroots level; The guidelines were created thanks to the inputs and feedbacks of sport movements members (volunteers, coaches, teachers) and NGO working with children;-an online campaign aiming to raise awareness on the benefit of sport on children, linked to the importance of maintaining a safe environement.