About

The “Not just a game” project aims at equipping Youth Trainers and Sports Coaches, the European “front line” in supporting youth, with skills, competences, resources to prevent and combat radicalisation, being religious extremism, far right or far left movements, nationalism or single issue. The overall aim is to protect youth and the general population of Europe of future violence and to support inclusion and European safety and democratic values, through the use of Sports. The “Not Just a Game” project will create the tools, collect the resources and interconnect Youth Workers, Sports Coaches and Youth in vulnerable situations and susceptible to radicalisation attempts, supporting Inclusion and Diversity and reinforcing European society’s fibre to withstand radical attempts, using Sports as a unique and innovative vehicle.
Our main objectives are to:
  • Support Youth Workers and Sport Coaches to increase their competency, expertise and awareness as regards to the prevention of violent radicalisation and extremism (including other challenges to democracy, such as racism, islamophobia, antisemitism and hate speech).
  • Support Youth Workers and Sports Coaches to coordinate prevention, to disseminate best practices, increase competency and act flexibly by taking into account changes in the operating environment.
  • Support young people who are susceptible to radicalisation, populism and extremism by strengthening their ability to identify and guard against, violence-inducing messages and propaganda.
  • Make European societies safer, more democratic and more resilient towards possible current and future adversities.
  • Contribute input from target groups to policy formation that is based in real, documented needs.
The concrete results of this project will be:
  • A contemporary online open-source training programme addressed to Youth Workers, Sports Coaches and trainers, on how to prevent and combat radicalisation through Sports.
  • A Community of Practice & Online Symposium which will bring together all target groups at a European level in order to collaborate, to assess needs, to brainstorm for ideas, to create the basis for Youth Policy recommendations regarding radicalisation.
  • Two LTTA Mobilities & A Policy Recommendations Paper, - (addressed to Youth Workers, Sports Coaches, Young people in vulnerable situations) - which will serve as a test field for implementing the online training’s content in action, exercise of critical thinking, building arena of a sense of belonging and identity.