XL, l'house organ di OPES anno 2, n°1, gennaio 2020 | Page 31

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PES 2020 began with the launch
of two new European projects
that will see the International
Relations
Department
engaged on crucial issues
such as volunteering in the
sports world and the fight
against discrimination through
sport. These are the themes of
“V as Value” and “A hat-trick
for inclusion”, the two sports
partnership projects that will
see OPES take the field on the
front line until June 2022.
V as value: volunteering
recognition as a Value Added
at Local level for the Universal
development and growth of
sport in Europe
The project stems from two
fundamental
assumptions
that recognize the role of
volunteering as a tool to
encourage
inclusion
and
sports practice as a means
of transmitting fundamental
values, helping to improve
the mental and physical well-
being of individuals. Starting
from this awareness, OPES and
its partners intend to test and
experiment an educational
sports program for sports clubs
at local, regional and national
level to improve their skills
in attracting, training and
coordinating volunteers and
being able to recognize and
enhance their work, in order
to organize accessible and
inclusive sporting events. The
O
project kick-off meeting was
held in Ciampino (Rome) on 15
and 16 January, which started
an intense phase of research
on existing good practices.
OPES will start from the work
carried out at national level,
through “Generatori” project, as
a starting point for developing
a model that can be applied
at European level. The project
will see the collaboration of 6
partners who will undertake
to create an online training
course based on a model that
transcends national borders
and from which all associations
active in the sports field can
benefit.
A hat trick for inclusion:
recognizing, preventing and
contrasting hate speech for
more inclusive sport
With this project, OPES and its
partners face a very topical
issue linked to discrimination
and hate speech that today
have found new channels of
propagation with social media.
Unfortunately, the world of
sport is not exempt from
this phenomenon: insults,
offenses, choirs addressed to
athletes, referees, coaches
and supporters of other teams
are on the agenda and end up
producing acts of violence.
The actions of the “haters”
have serious effects on those
who suffer them, leading
many to abandon sport, giving
up the benefits that derive
from it. The impact of this
phenomenon cannot leave
indifferent those who believe
in sport as an instrument of
growth and above all in the
value of each individual. For
this reason OPES has decided
to enter the field with the
aim of creating a training
program that benefits from the
contribution of methodologies
from different sectors and
promotes a new attitude
among those who gravitate in
the sports field: volunteers,
coaches, teachers, athletes,
referees or supporters. Video
tutorials made at the end
of the project will provide
dynamic guidelines for sports
associations.
In the coming months OPES
will send its members, and not
only, an invitation to identify
potential participants who will
have the opportunity to take an
active part in the development
of the two projects, becoming
responsible for their impact at
local level. A busy year awaits
us but we are ready to play the
game with great motivation
and determination, with the
wish to enlarge our team more
and more with those who share
with us the passion for sport
and the recognition of the
values transmitted by it.