SPORT UP!

Duration: 10 months (October 2024-July 2025)

Territory of intervention: The project has national value and takes place in 12 Regions and 18 cities

Applicant / Coordinator: UISP Aps

Funding body: Sport e Salute S.p.A.

SUMMARY:

Sport UP! provides free sports opportunities to approximately 540 children, pre-adolescents and adolescents (age range 6-18) in 18 Italian cities.

The intervention strategy aims to break down barriers to bring sport and physical activity closer, especially to those young people who have greater access difficulties. The project, therefore, is set in peripheral and marginal contexts, creating synergies with the ASDs present in the territory, implementing specific strategies that aim to involve the most disadvantaged subjects.

To encourage the widest participation, the sports offer includes a very wide range of sports activities. The sports offer is defined and scheduled based on the specific needs of the target groups, territories and social contexts in which the project takes shape: each beneficiary will be guaranteed at least one weekly sports activity appointment in 3 months of activity.

To make the approach of the young beneficiaries to sport lasting and prevent future abandonment, the intervention includes forms of dialogue and sports activities with the reference family unit.

OBJECTIVES:

General Objective:

To bring the youth target closer to physical activity to reduce the incidence of sedentary lifestyle, obesity and sports drop-out on the youth population, while promoting virtuous and healthy lifestyles, and encouraging the widest participation by breaking down barriers that hinder participation in sport and physical activity, offering equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups (disabled, migrants, socio-economically fragile groups) and adopting measures to reduce the gender gap.

Specific Objectives:

• Introduce children and adolescents to sports and physical activity with a playful approach to help them find a motivation to continue practicing sports even during the years of growth and sports drop-out
• Promote healthy and correct lifestyles through sports practice to improve well-being and reduce the incidence of sedentary lifestyle, childhood obesity and sports drop-out
• Help improve the living conditions of vulnerable individuals and groups in the 6-18 age group, through the provision of physical and sports activities
• Motivate families to create daily movement spaces and adopt a healthy lifestyle
• Start a cultural awareness process on the topic of the social, economic and environmental co-benefits of physical activity
• Train and update sports operators and animators so that they acquire new transversal and specific skills

PROJECT ACTIONS:

To achieve its objectives, the projectis develops around 7 implementation phases over a 10-month period (October 2024-July 2025):

Phase 1 – Project start-up, Coordination and Management

Phase 2 – Communication and promotion of project activities

Phase 3 – Updating and training

Phase 4 – Awareness campaign and promotion of healthy and virtuous lifestyles

Implementation of awareness campaigns at national, local and community levels to improve awareness, understanding and appreciation of the social, economic and environmental co-benefits of physical activity and therefore make a significant contribution to achieving the sustainable development goals of the 2030 agenda and the WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030, aligned with it. The campaigns will be aimed at inactive subjects (in particular young people and their families), to promote a virtuous process by stimulating them to approach physical activity and undertake healthy and virtuous lifestyles.

Phase 5 – Sports activities

Sports activities (at least once a week for 3 months) for children, pre-adolescents and adolescents (from 6 to 18 years old) in 18 Italian cities.

All activities involve the participation of UISP affiliated sports associations and clubs.

Phase 6 – Monitoring and Evaluation

Phase 7 – Reporting and Closing Activities

EXPECTED RESULTS:

• Increased awareness of the project target on the topic of active and healthy lifestyles and sports practice oriented towards well-being
• Approximately 540 children, pre-adolescents and adolescents approached sports practice
• Reduction in the number of physically inactive children, pre-adolescents and adolescents
• Increase in the number of people who do physical activity on a regular basis
• Increase in the number of people who do physical activity on an occasional basis
• Increase in the number of people who lead healthy lifestyles
• Increase in the number of people registered and who record the performance of the activity on the Sport In platform (minimum 40% of participants)
• Promoted an intervention model capable of preventing less than virtuous family habits and lifestyles
• Transmitted the basic technical knowledge of the proposed disciplines to children, pre-adolescents and adolescents
• Improved the ability to socialize and the propensity for cooperation and teamwork
• Improved the physical, intellectual, emotional and social potential of children and young people as active and responsible individuals within the community