SafeJump

Background Professional sport is very competitive, has a lot of economic potential and is governed by various interests. Young athletes are very driven to success but inexperienced, and therefore very vulnerable to making wrong decisions. It is the task of their coaches and managers to protect them against those threats and prepare them best for the future, whether they reach top results or not. Our cooperation's aim was to raise the quality of our work to facilitate healthy development of young athletes. Objectives Our project's objectives were 4-fold, to: 1) facilitate exchange of knowledge, experience and practice between coaches, provide additional education on relevant topics, upgrade their skills;2) educate the athletes, raise their awareness and increase their competences and skills to face the challenges of professional sports and career life;3) connect our clubs in enhanced cooperation, widen the scope of our work;4) promote this sport and HEPA locally, raise participation in skijumping. Implementation After careful preparation of program and modules, and considering various participating age-groups, clubs organized 3 international training camps, which consisted of joint training excercises, educational modules for coaches and athletes, discussions and exchange. Camps lasted for four days each, and were organized in Banska Bystrica (SK), Frenštat (CZ) and Planica/Ljubljana (SLO). All camps were attended by the same group of athletes and coaches, so it was a continuation of work and learning. Achievements The project was a success, coaches and athletes benefited from the exchange and learned a lot, and will be implementing the knowledge in their future work. A booklet was produced and disseminated, with the relevant educational modules, for further use by the clubs themselves, as well as other interested parties (published on the project's website). Organizations have continued their cooperation, and 3 of the participants of the training camps went on to win the medals in the 2022 Olympics!