Context

INEX – Association for Voluntary Activities – is an NGO founded in 1991 whose primary activities are centred around the areas of international voluntary work and intercultural education.

INEX believes that volunteering and cooperation on a local and global level help to promote mutual understanding and non-violence. It creates opportunities for people to actively participate in society in order to gain knowledge and experience, and to develop their personal, civic and professional lives.

Its flagship project Football for Development engages young people through football-based informal educational activities. The project is run in various urban environments in the Czech Republic (in the regions of Prague, Usti nad Labem, Pilsen, Ostrava and Karlovy Vary), where INEX teams up with low-threshold clubs, social services, youth clubs, leisure centres, orphanages and youth detention centres.

The target group comprises children and teenagers who are at risk of social exclusion or discrimination due to their ethnic or disadvantaged social background. The beneficiaries also include disabled children and orphans. Thanks to the work of these organisations, the children and teenagers enjoy a safe space for social interaction and personal development.

The project aims to help these youngsters re-engage with society and develop the skills they need to be active. Experience shows that regular planned sports activities are effective in this regard. Football is a learning and preventive tool that uses rules and other methods to resolve conflicts without violence.

Football for Development in the Czech Republic has been running for almost 15 years, over which time it has developed a network of partners at national and international levels and represented the Czech Republic at many international events.

UEFA Foundation is supporting this project for the second year in a row.

Project content

Football for Development uses the Football3 concept*, which was devised by streetfootballworld and is based on the principle that fair play, inclusion and mutual respect are at least as important as the sports competition itself. Fair play includes the development of social values such as teamwork, discussion and mutual understanding. Another important aim of the concept is to develop participants’ ability to create rules and then adhere to them.

Football for Development also uses the Football for Good methodology, which is based on so-called ‘integration football drills’. These drills are linked to football training sessions and cover different social topics (e.g. drug abuse, violence, vandalism, racism) and life skills (e.g. communication, teamwork, respect, leadership skills, rules, non-violent conflict resolution) that can be used on a day-to-day basis.

[*Football3 is a methodology used by the streetfootballworld network to harness the educational potential of street football by ensuring that dialogue and fair play are integral to the game. Its overall objective is to promote life skills and empower young people to become leaders. The emphasis is on resolving conflict through dialogue.]

Objectives

• To further develop the association’s activities in the Czech Republic and beyond, using football as a tool for education and development
• To organise football leagues, tournaments and cultural events where people from different backgrounds can meet
• To recruit and train youth workers and social workers to ensure the long-term stability of project
• To deliver proper methodology and ensure a multiplier effect
• To use training sessions and educational programmes for young people who are hard to reach with conventional training opportunities
• To teach skills such as self-confidence, teamwork, leadership, resilience, conflict management and respect for gender equality
• To raise the project’s public profile by organising ‘fair play days’ and increase social cohesion at different levels of society

Expected results

• Equip grassroots organisations and projects in target communities
• Increase self-confidence and reduce the risk of gender-based violence
• Provide easy access for members of the target group, who usually come from difficult backgrounds
• Provide a safe space and low-threshold access that ensures stability and continuity of participation
• Increase the number of coaches and social workers in order to broaden the scale of the programme
• Organise events such as fair-play league matchdays, fair-play football days, national youth gatherings, fair-play football league finals, training workshops for social workers and educational football training for children
• Raise public awareness of social cohesion

Partner