Starting from 2023, the Life Champions concept will be developed with the support of the ERASMUS+ program in the field of sports and the UEFA Foundation for Children, all with the aim of strengthening positive social values and principles by using a specific environment for their dissemination – sports fields; specific target groups for their promotion – football coaches, and specific work methods – non-formal education in and through sports. The concept gathers 16 partners from 4 sectors (sport, youth, research and education), from 7 European countries to jointly contribute to the promotion of the concept of education in/through sport, perceiving it as the most powerful channel for spreading different messages, starting from the fact that it is necessary to revitalize the role of coaches as educators and pedagogues, not only for the sake of sport but also for society as a whole.
Leaning on existing statistical data and data that we plan to obtain during the project; using the various expertise and experience available to us; exploring examples of good practice that should be promoted and multiplied as such, our goal is to develop and test an educational module that would contribute to building the capacity of 40 involved coaches for a holistic approach to the training process, using it for sporting and educational purposes. Coaches will test the module among 2,000 participants during the usual training activities, at 2 camps of the famous soccer aces Dejan Stanković and Goran Pandev, and during a joint international camp with more than 120 children/youths. After the collection of findings from the field during the consultative meeting with the coaches, a joint set of findings and recommendations for development of the final version of the module will follow. Everything will be presented at the Final Conference for 50 different stakeholders, from local to international, which will result in a joint Action Plan. The consortium seeks to develop a new educational concept that would be applicable to coaches from all disciplines.
In the long term, our goal is to systemically regulate this area, introducing a multidisciplinary subject to sports and physical education faculties, bringing added value to existing learning tools.