From September 25 to 27, 2024, Athens hosted the second transnational meeting of the "Dropping On" project, co-funded by the European Union. The project, which involves the collaboration of the sports associations Sparta Calcio (Italy), Eupragia (Greece), and ASD Trampolimágico (Portugal), aims to develop and promote tools that help coaches foster healthy group dynamics, thereby preventing youth dropout from sports.
The meeting was structured into a series of theoretical and practical sessions, with the objective of raising coaches’ awareness of the importance of their educational role and providing them with specific skills to work with adolescents in sports contexts.
During the theoretical sessions, participants attended a series of trainings focused on different crucial aspects of adolescent development:
Psychological benefits of sports in adolescence: How sports can improve self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and promote mental well-being in young people.
Physical benefits of sports in adolescence: The importance of physical activity for body development, disease prevention, and health maintenance.
Social benefits of sports in adolescence: The role of sports in promoting social relationships, inclusion, and a sense of belonging among young people.
Participants were then involved in interactive workshops, where they had the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge acquired through role-playing activities and brainstorming sessions. Among the most notable workshops were:
Role-playing: How to address group-related adolescent issues, simulating real-life situations and experimenting with conflict management and leadership strategies.
Reinventing sports: A creative lab aimed at finding new and stimulating ways to make training sessions more engaging for adolescents, with the goal of maintaining their motivation.
Innovative topics were also addressed, such as the different approaches to indoor and outdoor sports, the integration of digital tools in sports, and environmental sustainability with the workshop Sports and Sustainability, where good practices to reduce waste in sports organizations were discussed.
A particularly significant moment of the meeting was the practical phase, in which participants were divided into groups and actively worked on the creation of deliverables, that is, concrete tools and resources to be used within the project. These materials, which were developed by combining the knowledge acquired during the various workshops and training sessions, represent the core of the "Dropping On" project and will be fundamental in disseminating best practices among coaches and the associations involved.
The deliverables presentation phase was especially exciting. Many young participants found themselves presenting their work in front of an international audience for the first time, and for many of them, it was also their first experience presenting in English. This represented not only a personal challenge but also an important growth opportunity. Overcoming shyness and language difficulties to share ideas and results in a multicultural context allowed the young participants to gain greater self-confidence, developing communication skills that will be valuable in both their personal and professional futures.
The collaborative atmosphere fostered an intense exchange of experiences and proposals among the participants. Each group contributed a unique perspective, based on the different sporting and cultural realities of their respective countries, enriching the dialogue with innovative perspectives and new methodologies.
The second transnational meeting facilitated the creation of practical tools to combat youth dropout from sports, but it also helped to strengthen coaches' educational roles, raising awareness of the importance of their impact on the personal development of adolescents. Thanks to the cooperation between the associations from Italy, Greece, and Portugal, solid foundations were laid for future collaborations, with the common goal of creating a sports environment that is increasingly inclusive, engaging, and sustainable for the younger generations.
The success of the practical activities and presentations confirmed the importance of transnational collaboration, demonstrating that dialogue and the exchange of experiences can lead to tangible and innovative results. The active involvement of the participants, especially the young people, made the meeting a valuable learning experience, promoting not only the development of technical skills but also of transversal skills such as leadership, teamwork, and intercultural communication.
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