TACKLE Racism in Grassroots Football
▶Summary
Background TACKLE actively contributed to combating racism, discrimination, and intolerance in sports by putting forward a comprehensive approach to address and assist in rooting out racism in grassroots football. The project focused on coaches and managers working in the field who benefitted from the project team’s multidisciplinary expertise, comprised of organisations with in-depth know-how in football, sports, education and training, integration, and inclusion. Objectives -Enhance the awareness and competences of football coaches and managers in grassroots football to proactively manage and prevent racism, xenophobia, and other forms of intolerance-Contribute to the prevention & mitigation of racism and xenophobia incidents in grassroots football-Enhance awareness of national and transnational football-sports stakeholders as well as the general public about the severe impact of racism on players, grassroots football, and sports in general Implementation In WP2, the partner countries conducted desk research and interviews with grassroots coaches and players to map the current status in the field (IO1). In WP3, the partner countries developed educational material to upskill grassroots coaches in building inclusive and resilient teams(IO2, IO3, IO4). The project team delivered piloting activities to coaches and players. The consortium held two transnational meetings online, one in person and several online meetings throughout the project. Achievements -IO1“Transnational Report”: A report on the realities, challenges, and approaches in combating racism in grassroots and professional football.-IO2“TACKLE Curriculum online training course aims at educating and empowering coaches and trainers to tackle racism in sports. -IO3“Toolkit”: Educational resources to be implemented with grassroots football teams to increase awareness of inclusion. -IO4“e-Learning Platform”: An online space that hosts the Curriculum and Toolkit providing free access.