Inclusion & Gender Equality Through Softball (IGETS)

The 1st transnational meeting (TM) held in Ghajnsielem (March 2017) focused on coaching during the early stages of the development of athletes. During a seminar for stakeholders, the importance of the multilateral approach was highlighted along with the necessity to encourage young participants to practice more than one sport and not to specialise too early in a single sport. The process of exchanging good practices in coaching softball got underway as did the process of raising awareness about gender imbalances in sports with policymakers and stakeholders.Inclusion, sharing of best practices in club management, and capacity building in coaching youth & senior softball teams, were tackled during the 2nd TM held in Haarlem, in May 2017. Progression in teaching players how to pitch; fun games to use during practices; helping athletes to enhance their core human characteristics; ways to encourage more volunteers to help out; and taking advantage of fund raising opportunities, were all covered during this meeting.The 2nd phase of the implementation of IGETS involved using the knowledge gained during these meetings to improve the skills of the youth softball players of the three clubs. There was a push to increase awareness about gender equality in sports and efforts to try to reduce it with various activities held by each partner in their locality.These activities included regular softball sessions at schools, Fun Days for adults to play coed softball, the Girls & Women Sports Fest, several meetings with stakeholders and policymakers, and IGETS Day during children & youth summer camps, among others. Much of the focus was on promoting gender equality with children as it is more effective, which is why 60+ sessions and 100+ hrs were dedicated to softball at schools. In the long run, it is also more sustainable and much easier to increase the rate of participation in sports by improving the physical literacy of children.The implementation of IGETS reached its climax with the 3rd TM held in July 2018, in Zagreb. The U17 teams of the clubs participated in a softball training camp and tournament. There was further capacity building and sharing of best practices between the coaches of the partners. The players showed improvement during the course of the training camp. They also benefited from the nutrition and sports psychology seminars along with the forums that were organised for them. The most important achievement of the activity was that the players grew to love softball even more, and as a result are more likely to continue to play the game for many years to come. This was the most important legacy of the training camp.The partners wanted to conclude IGETS with something special for a greater impact in achieving the various objectives of the project, and to disseminate their findings. A high level tournament was organised in Gozo, for the 4th TM, in November 2018, with the participation of some of the best senior players of the three clubs, each reigning national champions of their respective country. The two games which were played for the Gozo Cup lived up to the expectations and more. The youth players of the Redcoats were the surprise of the tournament as they played with confidence and performed exceptionally well, empowered by the experience of playing alongside such high level international players. The event gave us an opportunity to continue to increase the awareness about gender imbalances in sports, while the spectacular finish to IGETS provided a platform from which the results and outcomes of the project could be announced.Through two years of hard work and co-operation, the partnership succeeded in bringing this project to its successful conclusion. The passion for the game of the partners along with their organisational and administrative capacity saw this project through, achieving the multiple aims set out. In turn, each club benefited considerably from IGETS.