Aspire Academy and the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) have signed an agreement to empower young athletes through the values of sport and to improve access to sport for young people.
The new partnership, which was signed at the ASPIRE4SPORT Congress & Exhibition 2015 in Berlin yesterday by Mohamed Hanzab, ICSS President, and Ivan Bravo, Director General of Aspire Academy, enhances the existing collaboration between Aspire Academy and the ICSS in the area of sport and youth empowerment and will see the two organisations work more closely together to promote and protect the core values of sport for young people at a global level.
To achieve this aim, the ICSS—through its Save the Dream initiative—will work with Aspire Academy and Spanish football club Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa across a range of programmes including:
1. Developing joint platforms to provide counselling and advice to young athletes in their careers or sporting activities.
2. Conducting joint activities at major sporting events, conferences, seminars and workshops focussed on promoting values such as sportsmanship and respect amongst athletes and young people.
3. Assisting Aspire Academy to promote the inspirational values of sport for young people through ongoing educational programmes.
4. The involvement of Aspire Academy coaches and experts in supporting Save the Dream global projects which exist to improve access to sport for young people, including those affected by crisis situations and living in refugee camps.
Commenting on the agreement between Aspire Academy and the ICSS, ICSS President Hanzab said: “No young athlete can aspire to become a true champion without a solid education on the true values of sport.
“This partnership with Aspire Academy is an important step forward in teaching young athletes about these values and inspiring a new generation of role models.“
This collaboration between Aspire Academy, Save the Dream, the ICSS and Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa aims to make a real difference to the lives of young people around the world, especially those affected by crisis, conflict or natural disaster, by delivering tangible programmes that give young people affected by crisis improved access to sport.
“I thank Aspire Academy for their dedication to helping young people to be involved in sport and would encourage other organisations to promote sport and the important life values that it teaches,” the ICSS chief said.
Aspire Academy Director General Bravo added: “Raising awareness of the need to educate young people about ethics and the values of sport is crucially important, and I’m glad that we could partner up with the ICSS and the Save the Dream initiative to work together in addressing it.
“Sport is a source of inspiration for many, and especially for young people. It is a huge privilege for us all to play a part in helping them make the most that sport has to offer for their own personal development as well as promoting its positive values more broadly in society.”
As a first step, Aspire Academy and Save the Dream made a keynote presentation during ASPIRE4SPORT about the new partnership with representatives from Spanish football club Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa.
During the presentation, Felipe Llamazares, Director of Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa and Massimiliano Montanari, Executive Director of Save the Dream, signed the ‘Save the Dream Manifesto’, which summarises the key principles and commitments made between the two organisations.
As part of the agreement, the club will also wear the ‘Save the Dream’ logo on their jerseys during the 2015/16 season as a symbol for the club’s commitment to the purity of sport.