
Volleyball4All
Nevobo has the ambition to contribute to increasing physical health among youth and including people with intellectual disabilities in sports, all through Europe and specifically in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Czech and Slovenia. Therefore, we organize and contribute to the development and implementation of volleybal activities which match the needs of these groups. To reach these goals, we started the Volleyball4All project, which is co-funded by the European Union.
Objectives
Through Volleyball4All, the parties involved want to work on a stronger connection between the countries in Europe. We want to develop the volleyball sport in such a way it can be used to make a bigger social impact as well. With Volleyball4All we aim to:
- Inspire and motivate youth (15.000 girls and boys) in the age of 4-12 years with innovative sport programs at different levels and stimulate a healthy lifestyle by sport participation (Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and well-being).
- Bring social change with special focus on inclusion of people, male and female, with intellectual disabilities (SDG 10, reduced inequalities)
- Build stronger sport systems by developing and strengthening staff, male and females, of federations and clubs through education (e-learning and offline) and high-quality programmes, with special focus on technical and governance topics (SDG 3, good health and well-being)
- Build a strong network with great potential for further collaboration between EU partners (SDG 17, partnerships for the goals)
Activities
Inspiration: inspire European youth in schools about the importance of physical activity and healthy life style.
Heroes on Tour: Youth becomes more and more physically inactive. Not only is it important for youth to become more active, but also to be educated and get involved in broad motorical skills. Their motorical ability will increase when they participate in different or more sports. But for them to become involved in sports, they will need to get inspired. Elite volleyball athletes will visit schools to inspire youth about their multiple sports background, their volleyball career, the road to success, how playing sports and live a healthier lifestyle by learning about the importance of food and sleep. The athletes will play (volleyball) sports with the schoolkids. The athletes themselves will benefit from this due to increasing their presentation skills, time management and other skills to improve their dual career possibilities.
Targets: implemented at 35 schools, reaching 5.250 children. Each school will receive the SchoolVolley+ curriculum. 70 athletes will be trained. At every school a local volleyball club will be present to help, support and stimulate the kids to come join the club.
Youth participation: involving youth in ages 4-12 in school in physical activity through broad motorical programs and get them acquainted with a club.
Volleyball Playground: Well-developed fundamental movement skills contribute to a lifetime of physical activity. At early age (4-6) many children choose to join a sports club. There is the risk of coaches focusing on early specialization and teaching the children only sport-specific techniques. For children it is important to develop their fundamental movement skills, so they will be able to join or switch between different sports. Volleyball Playground provides a scientifically-based program that focuses on development of fundamental movement skills for children in age of 4-6 years. The program encourages deliberate play to stimulate the children to develop their motorical skills. The children follow a divers program of physical activities complemented with volleyball games. After two years they will be able to continue volleyball participation or choose any other sport they prefer.
Targets: Developed curriculum. 10 Volleyball Playgrounds and implemented at 30 clubs. 600 kids are encouraged to play. 100 coaches are educated via e-learning and 10 workshops.
Action Volley: an innovative way to experience volleyball for 6-12 years old with a focus on fundamental movement skills development, dynamic activities and connecting with the interests of youth in this age stage. Children in this age category tend to try multiple sports to find out which sport has their interest. Action Volley applies to the imagination of these children and their interest in multisport. The program offers deliberate play to ensure skills development by personal motivation of the children. They learn basic volleyball techniques in a varied way and with usage of different materials. Action Volley different from regular volleyball programs because of this variety, the focus on broad motorical skills and deliberate play. After fulfilling the program, children will be able to choose any sport they like because of well-developed fundamental movement skills.
Targets: Developed curriculum and implemented at 50 clubs, reaching 2.600 children. 1500 coaches are educated via e-learning and 14 workshops. 10 tournaments are organized with 500 kids.
SchoolVolley+: innovative school volleyball activities, based on the perspectives of children, will be organized on the playground during the break or right after the classes end to promote sport participation. Teachers, clubs and coaches facilitate the activities to encourage physical effort during and after schooltime, so not during PE lessons. They receive materials for the pilot and implementation. SchoolVolley+ aims to encourage children in the age of 6-12 years to participate in physical activities at school. The program differs from regular PE classes because if focuses on activities during (lunch) breaks and after school. The children will be stimulated to be active by deliberate play. A regular school playground offers just limited space or facilities to be physical active. SchoolVolley+ expands the possibilities by using materials and easy organisable activities.
Targets: Developed curriculum for school teachers, implemented at 50 schools, reaching 5.000 children. Clubs are stimulated to connect to the schools and offer support with the activities. Children are invited to participate in club activities.
Inclusion: involving people with intellectual disability in physical activity at the club.
G-Volley: volleyball is a social, non-contact sport. It is suitable for many different target groups to participate. People with intellectual disabilities are often not stimulated to play sports. Clubs find it difficult to apply to the needs of this target group because of lack of knowledge and programs. G-Volley aims to stimulated clubs to organise volleyball activities for people with intellectual disabilities. Involving this target group at club-level will not only bring benefits for the participants, but also stimulate discussion about social inclusion. The program offers volleyball activities for the participants. They learn how to play together in a team, to interact and they will build up experience with winning and losing.
Targets: Developed curriculum, implemented at 5 clubs, with 50 participants. 1 G-Volley tournament with 5 teams. Social inclusions is discussed during Transnational Project Meetings to create awareness and stimulation to include this target group more.
Education: (digitally) educating voluntary coaches to inspire and involve youth and people with intellectual disability in physical activity.
E-learning: Research by NOC*NSF shows that 90% of the voluntary coaches at grassroots level do not have a license and would like to receive more support and increase their knowledge. At grassroots level most coaches work voluntary based. The coaches are foremost parents who are motivate to train youth, but in most cases, they have not received any education about being a coach. To assure the quality of youth programs it is crucial to educate these coaches. They create the fundament for youth when it comes to a lifetime of physical activity. These E-learning modules aim to educate these coaches through innovative digital learning which they can put in practice at their training and by providing them with well-developed programmes and support during the implementation.
Targets: Developed E-learning modules on Volleyball Playground and Action Volley, with special attention to fundamental movement and basic volleyball skills. 1.500 coaches educated.
Multiplier Sport Events: these events, such as national and transnational conferences and seminars, provide a platform to share knowledge and disseminate outcomes and outputs which are established and implemented by the project. Thereby stimulating and motivating more and more organisations to educate their partners and become involved in Volleyball4All.
Targets: 5 MPSE in 5 countries will be used to share and disseminate outcomes and outputs
Network: exchanging knowledge in Europe to facilitate inspiration, participation, inclusion and education.
Transnational Project Meetings: throughout the project life cycle, the TNPM will facilitate knowledge exchange between the participating organisations with the aim to transfer knowledge and increase lessons learned about the activities. But also exchange knowledge on specific governance themes such as grassroots development, social inclusion, diversity, healthy lifestyle, strengthening organisations and good governance.
Targets: 6 TNPM will provide lessons learned and documentation on discussed topics.
In the beginning of 2021 there was a digital kick-off with the members of the consortium, see the picture below.
The activities will take place in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Czech and Slovenia.
Dissemination and legacy
The dissemination of this project is not restricted to the final phase of the project, but will be implemented throughout the project by involving all target group to promote and share the outcomes of the project and the importance of the EU and the SDG’s in their national context. Target groups being: organisations, staff, clubs/board members, workshop participants, youth, people with intellectual disability, to keep sharing and exchange knowledge, also after the final phase.
Partners of Volleyball4All
Dutch Volleyball Federation (Nevobo)
Dutch Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) is responsible for the organisation of the national teams, competitions, events and development of indoor, beach and sitting volleyball. Nevobo takes care of the interest of 115.000 members from grassroots to elite level. the National teams participate at European and World Championships. Nevobo supports 1.000 clubs in their development by providing knowledge, expertise, education and inspiration to board members, coaches, referees, professionals and volunteers. Nevobo is member of the CEV.
Belgium Volleyball Federation (Volley Vlaanderen)
Belgium Volleyball Federation (Volley Vlaanderen) is responsible for the organisation of competitions, events and development of volleyball in Vlaanderen. It supports clubs in their development by providing knowledge, expertise, educations and inspiration to board members, coaches, referees, professionals and volunteers. VolleyVlaanderen is member of the Royal Belgium Volleyball Federation.
Norwegian Volleyball Federation (Norges VolleyballForbund)
Norwegian Volleyball Federation (Norges VolleyballForbund) is responsible for the organisation of the national teams, competitions, events and development of indoor, beach, snow and sitting volleyball. NVBF takes care of the interest of 20.000 members from grassroots to elite level. the beach volleyball National team is currently ranked number 1 in the world and the indoor national teams have the goal to qualify for the European Championships. NVBF supports 350 clubs in their development by providing knowledge, expertise, education and inspiration to board members, coaches, referees, professionals and volunteers. NVBF is member of the CEV and FIVB.
Slovenian Volleyball Federation (Odbojkarska Zveza)
Slovenian Volleyball Federation (Odbojkarska Zveza) is the governing body for volleyball in Slovenia. OZS is a member of the Slovenian Olympic Committee, FIVB, CEV and MEVZA. OZS, with 114 clubs, is established with the purpose of accelerating growth of volleyball and its popularization in Slovenia, among other by organizing promotional and mass events for kids and youngsters and education and training for coaches and other personnel.
Czech Volleyball Federation
Czech Volleyball Federation (Český volejbalový svaz) is responsible for the organisation of the national teams, competitions, events and development of indoor, beach, snow and sitting volleyball and coaches education. CVF is a member of CEV, FIVB, MEVZA and cooperates with Czech Olympic Committee. There are more than 45 thousand members of CVF.