Sport Skills for Youth Work

Aims & objectives

The training aimed to empower youth workers to use sport as a tool for educational and social inclusion. It addressed the need for inclusive, activity-based methodologies that overcome cultural, economic and ability-related barriers, and contributes to the broader goals of partner organisations by:

Building participants’ capacities to design and run sport-based inclusion programmes

Fostering intercultural dialogue and social cohesion through shared physical activities

Creating lasting networks of cooperation among European youth organisations

Developing and disseminating new, replicable sport-education toolkits via SALTO Youth

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

The course brought together 27 youth workers from eight partner organisations across Europe, including both long-established NGOs and grassroots initiatives. Participants came from Western, Central and Eastern European contexts (including countries with fewer economic opportunities), with nine attendees specifically from under-resourced regions. The trainers’ team itself reflected this diversity, with experts from four different countries collaborating to ensure that methodologies were culturally adaptable and accessible to all.

Training methods used & main activities

We employed a mix of non-formal, experiential learning techniques to model inclusive sport practice:

Interactive workshops on needs assessment and session planning

Role-plays & simulations to practice facilitation of mixed-ability groups

Small-group co-creation labs for designing new sport activities

Peer-learning circles and reflective debriefs to share local best practices

Field experiments, where participants tested methods in real-time and iterated
All activities emphasized hands-on practice, adaptability, and peer feedback.

Outcomes of the activity

Co-designed and piloted five innovative sport-inclusion methods, later compiled into a digital toolkit

Published the toolkit on SALTO Youth’s platform, making it freely available to over 1,200 youth workers across Europe

Participants reported a 40 % increase in confidence to design inclusive sport sessions (pre-/post-training survey)
Established an online network for ongoing exchange, with three follow-up webinars planned

Several partner organisations have already begun integrating the new methods into local youth programmes, ensuring sustainability beyond the course

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

As a full-time lead trainer I was responsible for:

Co-designing the overall curriculum and session plan

Delivering interactive workshops, simulations and reflection sessions

Facilitating small-group labs and providing one-on-one coaching

Coordinating with partner organisations to ensure logistical and pedagogical alignment

Drafting and editing the digital toolkit content, and overseeing its publication on SALTO Youth

Monitoring and evaluating participants’ learning through surveys and feedback loops

I worked on this training for 7 days as a full time trainer.