Sport together, active forever

The project aimed to develop new skills and competencies for the bocce game, a sport discipline that should be practiced by both disabled and non-disabled people. The project was an opportunity for the mentally disabled athletes, project team, parents/social workers and volunteers to increase their level of participation in training sessions and sport competitions, promote equal and social inclusion, respect the rights of all people and develop their personal and professional competencies. Besides, the project tried to change mentalities about a disadvantaged group and promote their abilities rather than disabilities. The network created for project implementation included 4 organizations from 3 different parts of Europe. The partners had different experience in adapted sport, the teaching of bocce and the management of European projects. The project had 6 work packages, each of them with a different content. The partners were involved in all of them, but each partner coordinated one or more work packages depending on their experience and competencies. The project had two target groups. The first group was made up of 60 mentally disabled people, each country involving 20 athletes (children and adults) who attended bocce training classes over the 17 months. During the project implementation, bocce competitions were organized. Most of them were at the local level. But an international competition was also organized during the second transnational meeting, with the participation of mentally disabled athletes from all 3 countries involved in the project. The second group was made up of non-disabled people – the project team, trainers, volunteers and parents/social workers. The activities carried out during the project implementation consisted of 3 transnational meetings, a workshop organized on the second day of the kick-off meeting, a seminar organized during the second transnational meeting, and dissemination activities that were organized by all partners. Some of them were compulsory and established by the application form such as the project site, public demonstrations, participation in an international congress, posting photos on the Facebook page of each partner, etc. The partners also performed other dissemination activities such as TV reports, a brochure, reports in different publications, etc. The project resulted in: a book (Bocce – practical guide), which involved the contribution of each partner depending on their experience; attendance lists for the mentally disabled athletes who attended bocce training classes; attendance lists for the volunteers who helped with the organization and progress of the training classes; lists of results obtained by mentally disabled athletes in the bocce skill tests applied three times during the project so that we could assess the improvement of their bocce skills; satisfaction questionnaires applied to mentally disabled athletes, volunteers and parents/social workers so that the project team could assess bocce training classes and improve their activities. Moreover, there were also intangible outcomes such as the knowledge and experience gained by the members of both target groups, the development of new bocce skills, new cultural and language skills. All of this was done to help both disabled and non-disabled people to know their capabilities and learn together a sport discipline that provided them the opportunity to spend time together, with direct effects on each one’s life and health. At the same time, parents/social workers also learned bocce, a sport game they could use as a leisure activity together with their children or relatives. Finally, the project opened new possibilities of collaboration in the created network and opportunities for further projects. Thus, the project has achieved its goal of promoting education in and through sport with special focus on the development of skills.