TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Christina Demetriades
The Game Changing project includes two events that are designed to enable youth work practitioners, representatives of National Football Federations/Associations and young changemakers to learn from each other, to exchange best practices, as well as to initiate and develop collaborative projects in the framework of the Erasmus+ EU Programme, as well as of other programmes from the football and youth sectors.
The project aims to link the ‘worlds’ of youth work and football, so as to foster constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation between them, with a specific interest in supporting youth participation, social inclusion and women’s empowerment.
The Game Changing Project is a collaboration between the Erasmus+ National Agencies of Cyprus, Turkey, Italy, Portugal and UEFA, with the support of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), the Football Association of England (FA) and the Romanian Football Federation (FRF).
Targeted participants with the following profiles:
1. Youth work practitioners with experience in the fields of women’s empowerment and/or youth participation in civic life and decision-making, and/or social inclusion of under-represented groups, as well as with experience/an interest in collaborating with the football/sport sector.
2. “Young champions” – young changemakers aged 18 to 30, active in their communities, sport clubs or organisations, with a strong interest in football, willing to develop collaborative projects with the other actors involved in this initiative.
3. Representatives of National Football Federations/Associations with an interest in the themes of the project (youth participation, social inclusion and women’s empowerment) and with the capacity to develop new initiatives in their organisations, or implement constructive changes in the existing policies and programmes that will be generated as outcomes of this project.
There were 11 countries represented at the Contact Making Event in Cyprus: Ireland, Malta, Italy, Georgia, England, Wales, Cyprus, Turkey, Portugal, Israel, Norway.
- a variety of experiential workshops
- networking activities & games
- interactive talks with guest speakers (facilitated)
- local visits followed by debriefing for the value of the visit and contextualization
- open space
- online communication & collaboration
- focus groups
Outcomes of Contact Making Event:
The empowerment of participants and the creation of a network of “young champions”/ young changemakers.
A better recognition of the important role that youth work plays in society (value creation, young people’s development and sense of belonging to society, etc.).
A new culture resulting from merging the youth field and football, characterised by innovative participation methods, such as co-management, deliberative participation, co-creation, participatory spaces, etc.
A review of programmes, structures and processes in line with best practice in diversity, gender equality, solidarity and inclusion.
Action plans that aim for an increase in young people actively engaged in policy, governance, decision making and programme implementation in football & for a better representation and engagement of young people in the structures of football (specifically females and ethnic minority groups).
The development of a common research agenda between the “worlds” of football and youth work, regarding how the merging of these 2 can positively impact global society.
Progress regarding a variety of developments by National Football Federations/Associations that result from this project, i.e. setting up youth councils, developing more inclusive policies and programmes, setting up youth and female leadership programmes, etc., with representatives of Football Associations/Federations present and committed to supporting their young and/or female members towards this.
The development of follow-up projects, e.g. cross-sector collaborative projects, toolkits, research maps, etc.
I was one of three facilitators, responsible for:
- designing the event
- facilitating all activities of the event
- delivering experiential workshops
- supporting the participants' learning
- supporting the participants' application of learning outcomes into practical action plans
- facilitating participants' Q & A for guest speakers
- coordinating with guest speakers, invited guests who delivered experiential worskhops, and with participants for the workshops they offered