On 23 and 24 October 2024, the first Italian GET training activities took place in the Southern region of Calabria: 18 local sports instructors for teenagers participated in a course on the methodology of Sport for Development organized by CISP. The theoretical and practical activities took place at the Zaleuco-Oliveti-Panetta-Zanotti high school campus in Locri.
The training, conducted by Giordana Francia and Raffaella De Luca (CISP, Italy) with the supervision of Jose Maria Ñanco (Fundación SES, Argentina) and Maria Esparza Gonzalez (Advance Inspiring, Spain), included theoretical-practical sessions and a final evaluation. Eight sports science teachers, six sports instructors (football and volleyball), and four educators of minors participated in the two days.
Sport has proven to be a cost-effective and flexible tool in promoting peace and development goals. The Sport for Development approach integrates the teaching of sporting practices with a shared reflection on Olympic values (excellence, respect, friendship) and fundamental socio-emotional skills (empathy, self-esteem, communication, emotional regulation).
Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives. (UN, 2014)
With this methodology, the focus of sporting activity shifts. It moves from race preparation and the development of technical skills to improving physical and emotional health and the development of social skills.
The two-day training was part of the synergy between the GET project and the CIO Olympism365 strategy. GET in Italy, led by CISP, has chosen to participate in it by sharing its vision of sport as a tool for sustainable development and peace everywhere, for anyone, every day.
The synergy between the GET project and Olympism365 arises from the desire to enhance the Olympic values, the base of every sporting practice, and stimulate every teenager’s personal and social skills, regardless of their abilities. Sport is an extraordinary means for achieving transversal educational objectives: in its universality, it promotes social inclusion and gender equality, improves health, and activates young people to take on the perspective of global citizenship.
Continue following us to discover the next GET activities for European educators and teachers.