Sport Activities Fostering Equity

Background Our project contributed to encouraging social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport among 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 inclusive attitudes and equity. Therefore, sport was presented, not only as a way to stay physically healthy and fit, but also as a mean to develop personal and social skills. Objectives 1. Developing a gender-neutral attitude towards practicing sport through mapping the perceptions of youth, coaches and trainers on gender equity to identify causes leading to gender inequity in practicing grassroots sports. 2. Stimulate participation in sport for teenagers based on a gender-equity behavior in practicing GS. 3. Developing and strengthen the network of partners involved in this project in sharing gender-equity experience and promote sport as a tool for social inclusion. Implementation The project involved 5 partners, including one sport club (OPES) and one sport-umbrella organization (HASK Mladost), and 3 NGOs from RO, BG and ES. During the 24 month of the project, the consortium developed 2 researches at national level that helped to develop a training that was delivered locally by each member of the consortium. The trained sport teachers and coaches tested the knowledge and methods gathered during the training in local activities dedicated to youth and gender equity. Achievements More than 1000 answers were gathered from youth during the first stage of the research, that led us to create a report with the findings from all participating countries that was uploaded on the project website. In addition, another research report starting from the findings of the 1st research, adressed to 100 coaches from all 5 countries was developed and helped us design the training that was delivered. Lastly, teenagers benefited from the methods delivered during local activities.