Knowledge and experiences were being exchanged during national meetings and workshops within the different countries (Belgium, Finland, Romania, Portugal, Ireland and the Netherlands) to select and improve the best information, products and tools and to implement it. Sport professionals and volunteers who work with youngsters at local level, important national and regional stakeholders (sport federations and associations, universities, applied science sport studies and fitness centres) were invited. In that way knowledge and experiences from international, national and/or local level is exchanged. Finally, during the final conference, we presented the outcomes of the project which are applicable at sports clubs all over Europe. Via the TAFISA and HEPA Europe network we are disseminating the products also to other (European) countries. Find out more about the several (national) meetings that took place.
March 2019 the final conference ‘Keep Youngsters Involved’ took place in Amsterdam, where the partners presented the outcomes of the project which can be used all over Europe.
International inspiration Keep Youngsters Involved
Final Conference, 14-15 March 2019
How do you keep youngsters involved in sport? How do you prevent them from dropout? These are questions in different countries in Europe. Thanks to an approved Erasmus+Sport project co-funded by the Erasmus+Sport programme of the European Union, eight European organisations have been involved in this theme for the past two years. The final conference of Keep Youngsters Involved (KYI) took place in the city of Amsterdam on the 14th and 15th of March 2019. During this final conference, we presented the outcomes of the project which are applicable at sports clubs all over Europe.
A highlight was the lively dialogue with more than 30 Dutch young people who spoke in their best English with sport professionals and researchers from all over Europe about their own sport experiences. With help of the card game, developed by the KYI project, they discussed the role of coaches, the support of parents, the ambitions within a team, differences in approach between boys and girls and much more.
The interactive final conference has given the participants a lot of inspiration to continue in their own country with implementing the ‘14 factors’ which were identified during the project. These factors are important in preventing the drop-out of sport among young people. The participants from 13 different European countries, professionals and youngsters from the Netherlands got inspired by playing the card game and touching the issues of the motivation of youngsters.
The location – Sport club Only Friends in the Northern district of Amsterdam – made an important contribution to the open atmosphere of this international meeting, organised by Knowledge Centre for Sport Netherlands. Only Friends is a unique accommodation where disabled children and adults can fully participate in sports.
Report final conference
Click here to download the full report of the final conference Keep Youngsters Involved.
Outcomes and tools
The infographic, the 14 factors and the toolkit with card games can be downloaded from this website. The Keep Youngsters Involved card game is available in English; the intention is to make it available in a number of languages before the project is officially closed and secured in September 2019.This website also clearly shows how much attention has been generated on social media with #keepyoungstersinvolved and how many national meetings are organised already in the different countries. Download press release Keep Youngsters Involved conference
Blog by Joey Murphy (University of Limerick)
In this blog Joey Murphy discusses the final conference from Keep Youngsters Involved by highlighting the key outputs from Keep Youngsters Involved. Read the blog.
Case-of-study KYI at Erasmus+ Seminar Romania
6th December 2018
On December 6th, the National Institute for Sport Research (NISR) organized, in collaboration with the national Erasmus agency (ANPCDEFP – Agenția Națională pentru Programe Comunitareîn Domeniul Educației și Formării Profesionale) a workshop dedicated to rising the awareness on participating to the ERASMUS program of the European Union “Funding Opportunities in Sport through Erasmus+ Program”.During the event, a case-of-study was presented based on Keep Youngsters Involved project, starting with the idea, the international team with everyone’s role and mission, the collaboration standards and financial and administrative rules.The event was attended by 42 participants, school teachers, sport managers, trainers, sport association staff, sport federations delegates, others.
KYI dissemination at Erasmus+ Seminar Romania
6th November 2018
On November 6th, the National Institute for Sport Research (NISR) participated to the joint
Erasmus+ seminar for sport organizations at the Ministry of Youth and Sport, with the participation of EACEA staff Mr. Yves Le Lostecque, Head of Unit and Mrs. Agata Dziarnovska, Commissioner, DG EAC – Sport. Secretary of State for Sport, Mr. Cosmin-Razvan Butuza and Deputy Secretary for Youth, Ms. Cristina Mădălina ANDRONIC also attended the event. The event reached 36 attendants, sport trainers, coaches, sport and physical education professors, operational staff from different sport federations.
During the seminar, Mr. Dan Boboc, Deputy director of NISR held a presentation of some of the `erasmus projects deployed by the institute. The project Keep Youngsters Involved was presented in detail, underlining the factors correlated with preserving children and youngsters in sport clubs and all actions the project proposes to reach this goal. There was a brief debate on this topic and interested persons were directed to the project site for more information.
Irish National Meeting
29th September 2018
The Irish national meeting was organised at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) at the University of Limerick, represented by 25 participants.
More info to be added.
National meeting Finland
22 October 2018
The national meeting of Keep Youngsters Involved was held in Jyväskylä Finland. In the meeting were 27 participants presenting sports clubs in central Finland. The clubs are in a process of creating a development plan for the year 2019. The plans are supported by the Ministry of Education. The development plans are sparred by national and regional sport federations. This meeting was chaired by the Regional Sport Federation of Central Finland. Students from the University of Jyväskylä Social Sciences of Sport were recruited to help sports clubs to develop the plans and also to orientate to sport club as organization.
In the meeting, key factors were presented and discussed. The importance of defining the dropout and measurable goals were seen essential in choosing and evaluating the impact of strategies and specific actions were stressed. Past experiences (successful and avoidable) were shared in an informal manner. The task of LIKES is to monitor and evaluate the project (the method is development evaluation).
National meeting Portugal
19 September 2018
The Portuguese National Meeting aimed to present the project and to discuss with the different national sports agents, the strategies to prevent dropout sport in youngsters between 12-19 years. Partners presented the overall general information about the project as well as the 14 factors associated with sports dropout prevention identified in the literature review. In addition, actions and instruments associated with these 14 factors were also discussed. The interactive session included in the programme aimed to promote a close discussion between the grass root professionals and project partners regarding these issues.
The majority of the participants were professionals coming from national sports federations, coaches, athletes and former athletes, physical education teachers and youngsters.
The discussion between grass root professionals and project partners contributed to experiences and perceptions sharing in this domain. The debate was carried out increased the opportunities to implement in future the actions and instruments in a practical context. In fact, the discussion about the tools created by the project was of most relevance to understand the practical applicability of the developed work. On the other hand, the national meeting was also a great opportunity to start disseminating the material developed among sport organisations and professionals of the Portuguese national system.
This Portuguese National Meeting was endorsed by the Portuguese Secretary of State of Youth and Sport and by the President of the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (PISY). The project was publicly supported and its relevance to the national sports system highlighted. In addition, the presence of several presidents and board members of various national federations, including football, athletics, handball, shooting, and swimming demonstrated that the Portuguese sports system is fully committed with the implementation of the outputs developed by the project. In this sense, the content of this national meeting was in line with the needs demonstrated by the different national grass root sports agents. The political and institutional support that PISY will provide will also be relevant for the future implementation of the project actions and practical instruments in our national sports system.
National meeting Belgium
6 June 2018
Successful national meeting in Leuven discussing actions for clubs and coaches to prevent dropout in youth sports. Approximately 50 trainers, coaches, club officials, federation staff members, sport officials, attended the meeting.
Based on the 14 different factors, the participants interactively started working with the associated critical success factors for dropout among youngsters.
National meeting, Romania
26-28 March 2018
A fourth project meeting and a national workshop was held in Bucharest, Romania. The representatives of the 5 European partner countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Romania and Finland) and TAFISA (International Association of Sport for all), as well as international experts, Prof. David Lavallee (Abertay University UK) and Aurelie Van Hoye (University of Lorraine, France) attended the meeting.
As part of the project meeting in Bucharest, the National Institute for Sport Research (NISR), the Romanian partner of the project, initiated a national workshop ‘Why do young people dropout from sport?’. The event was opened by Minister Ioana Bran of Ministry Youth and Sports of Romania. More than 30 guests from sports federations, sports club directors and presidents, counsellors, coaches and athletes participated in the event, together with the project teams.
A presentation of the project’s objectives and activities was made, followed by a review of factors associated with prevention of dropout in sport. Then, a breakdown of the actions associated with these factors, actions that can reduce the dropout rate, was presented.
The discussions that followed, with the participants in the meeting, were particularly active and stimulating, guests who took the floor having a great experience in working with young people in sports. Their messages were received with interest by the project team, as an expected feedback to the proposed ideas and strategies.
During the two working days of the partners at INCS headquarters, all these discussions led to comments and debates with the invited international experts, completions and corrections of the project documents were created, the prerequisites for the drafting of the action guide for the maintenance of the young people involved and connect with sport, decisions have been made on the next actions and activities.
National meeting Netherlands
Youngsters involved in Youth panel at Swimming Congress The Netherlands
29 September 2017
Four young swimmers shared their experiences of being a member of a swimming club during the annual swimming congress from the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB). In swimming, there is a high number of drop out after the age of 11.
Four youngsters in the age of 14, 15 and 18 told the participants of the two workshops about their views on participation in sports. What prevents them from dropout? In what way can the adult sport leaders influence their stay at the club? What kind of sports climate do they prefer?
Approximately 40 trainers, board members and volunteers participated in the two sessions. The session started with an introduction to the project ‘Keep Youngsters Involved’. After highlighting the importance of preventing dropout in sports, a presentation was given of the 14 factors. Then there was time for an interview with the youngsters. They kept the audience attention by telling their positive and negative aspects of being active in a club. Main factors are: scheduled time of training, the ‘click’ with the coach, friendships with peers.
After the stories of the youth panel, the participants in the workshop discussed in small groups their own experiences, gave feedback on the 14 factors and searched together for practical solutions in their local situation. All participants realised that there is a world to win on this subject and were inspired to improve youth involvement in their own club.
