Toolbox — For Training and Youth Work
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Manual
BOOKLET: USING SPORT AS A TOOL FOR THE SPECIAL NEEDS GROUPS
This booklet is an outcome of the youth mobility project “Let’s Discover Sportive Way of Integration,” which was organised between 21–29 September 2025 with the participation of 35 participants from Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Türkiye.
Aims of the tool
The tool aims to support youth workers, practitioners, and civil society organizations in understanding and applying inclusive sport practices as an effective method for social inclusion, particularly for individuals with disabilities.
More specifically, the tool aims to:
Promote social inclusion through sport by presenting sport not only as a physical activity but as a multidimensional tool that supports physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being.
Increase awareness and understanding of diversity and inclusion, with a focus on people with special needs, by explaining key concepts, types of disabilities, and the barriers individuals face in daily life and in sports environments.
Strengthen the capacity of practitioners and youth workers by providing practical guidance on how to adapt sports activities, environments, rules, equipment, and roles to ensure meaningful participation for everyone.
Challenge stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes by highlighting the abilities, potential, and rights of individuals with disabilities and promoting a rights-based and people-first approach.
Encourage inclusive and accessible sports practices aligned with Erasmus+, the European Week of Sport, and the EU Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, supporting equal opportunities, participation, and respect for diversity.
Provide transferable and practical examples, such as inclusive rowing and adapted popular sports, that can be applied in different local, cultural, and organizational contexts.
Foster social cohesion, teamwork, and a sense of belonging by demonstrating how inclusive sport activities strengthen community ties and mutual understanding among participants.
Description of the tool
This learning tool is designed to support youth workers, educators, coaches, and civil society practitioners in using sport as an inclusive, educational, and social development tool, with a particular focus on the inclusion of individuals with disabilities and diverse support needs.
The tool provides a structured yet practical learning pathway that combines conceptual understanding with real-life examples and adaptable methods. It introduces key concepts such as diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and participation, and explains how social, physical, and attitudinal barriers—rather than individual limitations—often restrict participation in sport and youth activities.
Through a combination of theoretical explanations, practical guidance, and illustrative examples, the tool demonstrates how sport can be transformed from a traditionally competitive and standardized activity into a flexible, empowering, and inclusive learning environment. It highlights sport’s multidimensional value by addressing its physical, psychological, social, emotional, and educational dimensions, encouraging practitioners to look beyond performance and competition.
A strong emphasis is placed on adaptation and inclusivity in practice. The tool guides users on how to adjust rules, equipment, spaces, communication styles, and participant roles to ensure meaningful participation for everyone. Specific attention is given to inclusive rowing and adapted popular sports, showing how even highly structured sports can be redesigned to foster cooperation, confidence, and social connection.
Aligned with Erasmus+ priorities, the European Week of Sport, and the EU Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, the tool promotes a rights-based, people-first approach and supports practitioners in creating safe, respectful, and accessible learning environments. Its content is transferable and can be applied in various contexts such as youth centres, schools, sports clubs, NGOs, and community-based projects
Available downloads:
Disclaimer
SALTO cannot be held responsible for the inappropriate use of these training tools. Always adapt training tools to your aims, context, target group and to your own skills! These tools have been used in a variety of formats and situations. Please notify SALTO should you know about the origin of or copyright on this tool.
Tool overview
http://toolbox.salto-youth.net/5381
This tool addresses
Social Inclusion, Disability
It is recommended for use in:
Youth Exchanges
Behind the tool
The tool was created by
Beykoz Sports Volunteers
The tool has been experimented in
youth mobility project
The tool was published to the Toolbox by
Hasan Güler (on 4 January 2026)
and last modified
4 January 2026
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