Last week, together with Martin Havel, we attended the introductory training for the GLIDE project (Grassroots Links for Inclusion, Diversity & Engagement through Sport), which took place in Berlin. The training brought together all partners of the project, which is funded by the EU under the Erasmus+ program.
Our group expanded right from Prague, where we were joined by our lovely neighbors from Slovakia – Alena Müller and Igor Miškovič. Together, we spent four intense days helping each other better understand this relatively complex and challenging topic. We would like to thank them for the pleasant cooperation and great company.
In Berlin, alongside the German Disc Golf Association, we were joined by colleagues from Ukraine, Austria, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Finland. The project focuses on four target groups that it will support over the next two and a half years: individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, people with mental or physical disabilities, seniors aged 60+, and women and girls. The goal is to promote their more frequent involvement in sports activities through disc golf.
The first two days were primarily dedicated to the theoretical part. We discussed the challenges of working with individual target groups and planned activities for the first year of the project.
The second part of the meeting was mostly practical. Colleagues from the German club Pfeffersport e.V., who have twenty years of experience in the inclusion of disadvantaged athletes, prepared a series of activities for us that can be used when working with the target groups. We then jointly modified and adapted these activities to meet their specific needs.
We focused in detail on approaches to individual groups, key aspects of cooperation, and methods for establishing effective and sensitive communication. In one of the activities, we were assigned specific roles to experience, for example, playing disc golf from a wheelchair. This experience helped us better understand which aspects need to be taken into account when organizing similar events.
Each target group is specific, making a highly individualized approach essential. The meeting was demanding but, at the same time, very beneficial. Thanks to discussions with colleagues from partner associations and practical experience from the activities, we gained valuable insight into the needs of individual groups. We realized how crucial it is to offer these groups the most open, understanding, and safe environment possible, where they will not feel any anxiety about getting involved.
There is still a lot of work ahead of us within the project, but after this meeting, we perceive its benefit and importance even more intensely. In the near future, we will reach out to the clubs that expressed interest in participating in the project, with the aim of passing on all the knowledge and experience we gained during those four days.
Michael Studnička, Chairman of the ČADG Executive Board