notHing lEss thAn an athLete
Project Code: 622847-EPP-1-2020-1-PL-SPO-SSCP
EU Grant: 48.600 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Sport
Action Type: Collaborative Partnerships
Coordinating Organization: Sport Club Beniaminek 03 [Poland]
Participating Countries:
- CHAMPIONS FACTORY IRELAND LIMITED [Ireland]
- ASD POLISPORT NUORO [Italy]
- ASSOCIAZIONE SPORTIVA DILETTANTISTICA MARGHERITA SPORT EVITA BASKET [Italy]
Project dates: 01-01-2021 – 31/12/2022
MVNGO is involved as consultant of Polisport Nuoro.*
“notHing lEss thAn an athLete” (HEAL) is a Small Collaborative Partnership in the field of Sport aiming at empowering women exploiting the potential of sports practice as an avenue for dispelling stereotypes and determining more favorable attitudes and capacities of female integration in sports and through sport.
In Europe, in general, women practice sport less than men, but there are exceptions. The White Paper on Sport and the recognition of sport in the Lisbon Treaty bring new life to it: “Sport is one of the areas of human activity that most concerns and brings together citizens of the European Union. Due to its capacity to reach out to everyone, regardless of age or social origin, sport can play various roles in European society” (White Paper on Sport, 2007).
The “Charter of Women’s Rights in Sports” of 1985, proposed by UISP and adopted by the European Parliament in 1987 as the Resolution on Women in Sport was an important step to acknowledge the disparity of the condition for women and men in sports. The Charter highlighted the very high in equality between women and men in the field of sport and stressed the importance of overcoming the numerous cultural barriers that prevent women’s involvement. In spite of some progress and the increase in the number of women practicing sport, discrepancies still exist in terms of equal opportunities in some areas of sport.
There are several reasons that can lead to a low participation of women in sports, among those, media representation is certainly top of the list. It is in fact clear as there are sports presented historically as “sports for men”, such as football, rugby, basket, etc. and “sports for women” such as figure skating, artistic gymnastics, etc. This concept act like a deterrent for women interested in practicing a sport in which they don’t think can fit or make a career out of it. The aim of the project is to fight this conception and promote female participation in sport as a mean to disrupt gender stereotypes in sports and life.
HEAL is expected to have an impact on inclusion and equal opportunities in the sport field producing an impact on local communities raising the awareness of communities about the concepts of “sport for all”, equal opportunities and equal access to sport activities. Mainstreaming these concepts is a key to open sport practices to more women in Europe.
- Research on women participation in Sports in their countries and identification of best practices to disrupt gender stereotypes in and through sport.
- Development of a training format for operators in the field of sports to unlock their potential into reaching out and involve more women in doing sports-Piloting of the training format with participants at the local level (one pilot per country).
- Awareness-raising activities at the local level via online campaign, local activities, involvements of local sports club.
Events and Project target groups:
Transnational Project Meeting
- Kick-Off Meeting (KOM), Poland, 8 participants (2 per partners)
- Mid-term Meeting, Ireland, 8 participants (2 per partners)
- 2ndMid-term Meeting, Barletta, Italy, 8 participants (2 per partners)
- Final evaluation project meeting, Nuoro, Italy, 8 participants (2 per partners)
Sport Events
- “HEAL” Tournaments Target group: young women
Project objectives/is supportive of the identified priorities as follows:
- Research on women participation in Sports in their countries and identification of best practices to disrupt gender stereotypes in and through sport.
- Development of a training format for operators in the field of sports to unlock their potential into reaching out and involve more women in doing sports
- Piloting of the training format with participants at the local level (one pilot per country).
- Awareness-raising activities at the local level via online campaign, local activities, involvements of local sports club.
More info about the project: