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

Project:
ng
local
he “Play to Train” project
team met in Rome from 4th
to 6th October 2019, taking
part to a training course that
involved 30 participants from
3 countries: Italy, Slovenia and
Bulgaria. The project carried
out by OPES together with its
partners, Academy Rudi Hiti
and Champion Factory, aims to
support women’s participation
as coaches in the sport field
and to raise awareness on the
importance of gender equality.
The
Italian
#WhenWomenCoach
team
During the two days of training
in Rome, the participants of the
“Play to Train” project ideated
and planned activities to be
carried out within their local
contexts. The Italian team team
members worked together with
the aim of proposing activities
with
common
objectives
and based on a common
strategy, to be implemented
in 6 regions and involving
different
sports
disciplines.
Since November, behind the
slogan - #WhenWomenCoach,
each member of the team has
been working in his/her own
territorial context with girls
aged between 12 and 19 years.
During the first phase, the team
focused its work on the creation
of a questionnaire, aimed at
collecting expectations, skills
and interests of the participants
in the activities with the
T
purpose of adapting them to the
specific needs of each target
group. The strategy identified and
followed by all the team members
involved the girls participants
as actors in the preparation and
management of the workouts,
with a frequency of once a week.
For each group, a mentor was
identified with the task of guiding
the participants in a process of
reflection on their experience.
What is happening in Piemonte
In Northern Italy the member
of the “Play to Train” team is Dr.
Pierantonio Soldato (expert
VI Dan of Ju Jitsu). After taking
part to the preparation of the
questionnaire,
Pierantonio
proceeded to collect information
from the participants in the
activity, to plan the activity
itself. The path was not easy and
some of the main difficulties
encountered by the girls in
the first phase were to deal
with their own insecurities
and anxieties, due to the fear
of making mistakes or being
judged. Maintaining a constant
dialogue has been an important
component
in
overcoming
these first barriers. A second
fundamental aspect was the
preparation and programming
of the lessons held by the girls,
which allowed them to lead the
path with greater awareness.
Pierantonio himself underlined
how,
after
overcoming
a
first phase of curiosity, the
complementarity and complicity
that arose among the girls
allowed them to face their own
insecurities. This progress was
perceived by the whole group
and acted as an engine to create
an environment in which each
component felt comfortable. A
second phase of the activity has
recently started, during which the
girls were asked to directly follow
small groups of 3 or 4 people,
being in charge of improving the
technical part of the discipline
and not only the warm-up and
the preparation phase. A time
for reflection on the emotions
that the girls feel during the
activity has been added to this
phase, creating spaces where
participants can eventually share
their feelings. We will continue to
follow the activity in the coming
weeks.
Next appointment in Slovenia
from 17 to 19 April
The activities carried out in the
three countries and their results
will be presented during the
next meeting in Bled, Slovenia,
from 17th to 19th April, when
the 3 national teams will meet to
evaluate together the path taken
and to work on the preparation of
guidelines that support clubs and
sports associations to increase
the participation of women in the
sport field, in the role of coach.