The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) through its Save the Dream initiative has joined forces with academic institutes and sports organisations in nine European countries to help deliver an EU-funded learning mobility scheme aimed at educating athletes from the Mediterranean Basin in the lead up to the 2017 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain.
The Training Programme in Sports Events Management (TASEM) project will develop innovative pathways for athletes and open up new ways to combine their sport career with educational opportunities in order to increase their future employability.
Save the Dream will develop educational content and material for use by the scheme on values and ethics in sport and will promote the participation of athletes from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia in the seminars and activities of the project.
Funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme and coordinated by the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC) in Spain, the initiative will see the design and implementation of a tailor-made academic curriculum targeting athletes and coaches from the Mediterranean basin using the opportunities offered by learning mobility. Starting with the 2017 Mediterranean Games this new educational programme will provide them with sustainable educational and training opportunities in the field of sport management.
Mohammed Hanzab, ICSS President said: “The TASEM programme will fulfil an important role within Europe and the wider Mediterranean region by allowing athletes and coaches, who might not otherwise have the opportunity, to further their education and create a meaningful pathway from the playing field to a future career in sports event management.”
Massimiliano Montanari, Save the Dream Executive Director said: “We are delighted to be involved in this worthy initiative that takes athlete welfare seriously by developing for the first time learning mobility tools in the region and position the Mediterranean Basin as a laboratory to promote the social legacy of sports events. We look forward to working with the European Commission and our partners in the project to make it a success in the lead up to Tarragona 2017 and to become a model for future events to follow.”
Athletes and coaches from countries of the Mediterranean Basin, including Northern Africa and the Middle East, will have the opportunity to follow the programme providing them with state of the art training and a valuable experience abroad that will allow them to acquire new skills and competences (e.g. language, social and civic skills, intercultural understanding) relevant to the labour market but also for social inclusion and active citizenship.
The other partners of the TASEM project are: Municipality of Tarragona (Organiser of 2017 Mediterranean Games – Spain), National Olympic Committee of Portugal (Portugal), Italian National Olympic Committee (Italy), University of Poitiers (France), Spanish Badminton Federation (Spain), Badminton Association of Serbia (Serbia), Malta Triathlon Association (Malta), Cyprus Badminton Federation (Cyprus), University of Foggia (Italy), Spanish Triathlon Federation (Spain), University of Lleida (Spain), Hellenic Triathlon Federation (Greece), Mediterranean Triathlon Federation (Greece). The programme will run from January 2016 until December 2017.