Throughout its history, sport has been able to unite people, nations and cultures, as well as to overcome all social, cultural and national boundaries. Although, sport alone can’t solve all the problems of the disadvantaged groups, it has the potential to contribute to the integration and social inclusion of different groups of disadvantaged people. Engaging in sports activities, in itself, in order to improve athletic skills, requires regular and long-term participation and social interaction, which sports clubs can create, including many favorable conditions for further development of inclusion processes. Often, sporting events are organized within other social activities, which gives additional opportunities for intercultural exchange. In addition to poverty, which is the basis for social exclusion, there are other factors that influence the social exclusion of different groups, such as class divide, gender, ethnicity or disability. Today, one of the biggest challenges is the integration and social inclusion of refugees, immigrants and young people at risk in the European society.
Sport is one of the main tools for social inclusion and integration of disadvantaged children and young people for the local communities. Although, there are numerous initiatives for disadvantaged children and groups, an appropriate tool or methodology can and should be sought to benefit teachers and coaches in their daily work with young people, using the universal power of sport. A method, that can integrate physical activity or sports elements during activities for educational or training purposes. „Building healthy Communities, changing opportunities“ project, co-funded by ErasmusPlus Programme of the European union and implemented in Bulgaria by Bulgarian sports development association and Mundus Bulgaria, proposes an approach that will enable professionals to cope professionally with integration activities through sport and, at the same time, support the integration of disadvantaged people through their participation in sporting activities. One of the project’s results is the creation of an online handbook and an interactive platform for it. The handbook gathers and shares good practices and methodologies for sports training that can be reviewed and used by anyone. They target all educational structures, as well as youth workers, coaches, teachers, volunteers, mentors and other educational, sports and non-governmental organizations. The handbook itself is published on a specially designed platform where other project results can be found and reviewed – https://sportlearning.eu/.
The handbook contains information about the main objectives of the project, the various sessions and training tools used in the “Education Through Sport” methodology, as well as basic information about it. Using the “Kolb’s Styles Theory” as a basis, the methodology helps us to identify and distinguish a number of social problems in today’s society, to develop social competences and to cause lasting social change through sport and/or physical activity. The use of reflexive observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation leading to the accumulation of experience are at the heart of provoking, developing and achieving sustainable social transformation of the participants in the sessions.
The handbook includes 11 new sessions using the “Education Through Sport” methodology, divided into three sections:
– Basic exercises for “Education Through Sport”;
– Energizing activities;
– Team activities.
In the first section, we can find 2 sessions focusing on how sports and physical activity can be used to develop social competencies through team games. The addressed issues include conflict resolution, inclusion and participation. In the “Energizers Activities” section, the focus is on team building elements, confidence, inclusion and emotional intelligence. The last third section of “Team Activities” focuses on topics such as communication and equality. The purpose of the sessions in the section is to prevent discrimination and promote communication between different communities/nationalities. Sport and physical activity in sessions are used as a guide and tool for provoking topics such as how social competencies can be developed, how inequality and inclusion issues can be successfully addressed and awareness for people with disabilities used, using sport as a tool to challenge teamwork and collaboration, problem solving, empathy and understanding.
It is impossible not to pay particular attention to one of the sessions, which was offered, developed and tested by the athletes of VC “Ahil” – “We will rock you”. It raises questions and looks for topics such as inequalities and discrimination against girls and women in sports. The session is designed to help promote understanding of the importance of gender equality, raise awareness of gender issues in sport, raise awareness of discrimination and inequalities in society and to promote inclusion through sport.
The main purpose of the handbook is to have more and more young people with equal access and opportunity to do sports, exercise and train, as well as to involve more young people in volunteering. By using sport as a training tool, we firmly believe that we can tackle a number of issues in society, such as lack of communication, basic human rights and freedoms, limiting deviant behavior such as aggression and violence, strengthening teamwork and a sense of community. With the enormous potential of the personal development methodology, which also reflects the desire of children and young people to attend sports activities, more and more sports professionals, teachers and coaches are expressing their positive attitude to use elements of it in trainings and sports sessions.
