Invisible Young Athletes

ended

"More and more children who like to exercise and participate in sports regularly, but do not want to compete are recognised. Unfortunately, the EU sports system for children and young people relies on the so-called ""pyramid system"", which ""forces"" coaches to prepare children for competitions. Many children stop practising precisely because of failure in competitions. These children are often less physically capable but may have talents in other areas. Movement is extremely important for their psychophysical development, but as said, they do not last long in established systems. They may also face other challenges, such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, hyperactivity, behavioural and emotional challenges, long-term illness, and others. In our project, we named these young athletes InYA - Invisible Young Athletes. INYA is also a girl's name meaning ""God has favoured me"" and so we hope with our project we can bring these invisible youth added value in sports. The InYA project will obtain young athletes' experiences and needs through interviews (n = 36) with parents, athletes and coaches. The club's possibilities for cooperation with experts from other fields such as special pedagogy, developmental clinic, psychology and education (n = 4) will be checked. The gained experiences from training with InYA children will be shared among our partners in three workshops. We will also put into practice all the accumulated knowledge at the inclusive camp of the NGO In the Heart. The camp aims to develop the diverse abilities of children and adults through movement, play, self-expression, music, and interaction with animals and nature. The InYA project promotes movement in a safe, loving and accepting environment without competitiveness establishing healthy self-esteem, physical and mental integrity, mental health and well-being of young athletes."