The SO Europe Eurasia Foundation (SOEEF) has been a proud partner of the Erasmus+ funded I Coach Girls (ICG) project since 2022. As the project moves towards it close this year, SOEEF has worked closely with the project consortium to develop a set of high quality resources and programmes that can be used by any sports organisation or club who wish to engage more girls in their programming.
Girls Missing Out on Benefits of Sport
The project was set up to develop new ways to engage girls between the ages of five and 12 years old who have not played or dropped out of sport. Research has shown that participation in sport by girls is still a serious issue. Girls in the European Union (EU) across a broad range of sports and countries are four times less likely than boys to engage in organised sport (Emmonds et al. 2021). By not participating, girls are missing out in all the potential physical, mental, social and professional benefits of regular physical activity. Importantly, early negative experiences of sport, physical education and physical activity during the primary school years contribute to girls’ lower levels of activity as they become older.
Dedicated Programme for Girls with Intellectual Disabilities
SOEEF was invited to join the ICG project consortium in order to ensure that the needs and input of girls with intellectual disability (ID) were also included. Girls with ID face even more barriers to inclusion in sportdue to the lack of specific programming for this cohort. In order to develop clear data and feedback about what specific approaches would work for girls with ID, SOEEF worked with Special Olympics Slovakia on developing a dedicated programme. In total, Special Olympics Slovakia engaged 136 girls with ID between the ages of five and 12 across 18 centres in 13 cities across Slovakia. Eight special schools participated covering 10 sports disciplines, with 18 coaches supporting the roll out of the project.
Along with these 10 sports, the girls were given the opportunity to improve their general physical health and physical/motor skills using activities from the Special Olympics Motor Activity Training Programme and Young Athletes programme. The project therefore offered a wide range of activities which encouraged participants to develop new physical skills and of course, make new friends.
80% of Participants Will Continue Their Journey with Special Olympics
The feedback from the families and participants showed that the girls developed more self-confidence during the project, that they really enjoyed the experience and loved the opportunity to try out new sports. 80% of the girls intended to continue participating in Special Olympics activities after the completion of the project. This is significant as it shows that the project had a very strong effect on the parents and the participants.
Coaches who were engaged with the project felt that the I Coach Girls approach to working with the girls was very successful and were positive about the project. For example, Jana Horvathova, a Special Olympics coach who participated in the project noted, "The I Coach Girls programme fitted perfectly into the Physical Education (PE) curriculum in our special school and now, thanks to the support of a local football club, we can add an afternoon football coaching session. The girls really appreciate this and it means the project will keep going post project which is so important.”
At the completion of the project in June 2025, a full set of resources will be made available toall sports organisations who wish to engage more girls in sport.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
