Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
SUMMARY
1. Introduction
2. Recruitment Action Plan purpose
2.1. Meetings with the city council
2.2. Meetings with the schools
2.3. Volleyball sessions during school hours
3. Introduction phases to the club
3.1. Gradual introduction to the competition
3.2. The families
3.3. Club organization and information to the families
3.4. Creation of the role of Inclusion Delegate
4. Financing of the project
5. Club services to stimulate players, coaches and families
5.1. Health program
5.2. Dual career program
5.3. Grant program
5.4. Training program for trainers
5.5. Training for the families of the players
5.6. Extra activities to do with the players
6. Annex
6.1 Inscription of the players
6.2 Letter of introduction to schools
6.3 Agreement with schools
6.4 Agreement with municipality
6.5 Informative letter to distribute to girls in schools
1. Introduction
The target of this action plan is to develop a project that can be sustainable over time. We want the clubs to be able to maintain programmes for the inclusion and integration of vulnerable girls who, due to their status or profile, are unable to take part or participate in the competitive women’s sport of volleyball. The SCOUT project was born thanks to the European institution Erasmus + Programme. The acronym of the name refers to the objective of the project: Sport clubs opening to all girls participation. This project aims to be a tool to open the doors in the field of sport to those girls with any kind of vulnerability, whether social, economic, religious, etc.
The club “Associació esportiva Carles Vallbona” is an entity in Granollers, Barcelona, which is dedicated solely to women’s sports, especially in the field of volleyball. We have more than thirty women’s teams, that is to say, about 350 players, made up of girls from four years old to veterans. In addition, this year we have a total of 27 coaches, many of whom are players from our club who are in training.
The Carles Vallbona club is the leader of this project, but we collaborate with two other volleyball clubs, Istres Province Volley from France and Scuola di Pallavolo Anderlini from Italy. The University of Vic and the German NGO “Athletes Inspire Children” are also involved.
The objective of the SCOUT project is to increase the level of inclusion of girls at risk of social exclusion or vulnerability and to promote the positive development of these girls through organized sport. In this document, we will outline the steps we believe it is advisable to follow if you want to carry out a recruitment process that can be kept alive in the future.
2. Recruitment Action Plan purpose
From the beginning, we had to be clear about the profile of these players. Among the collaborators we decided to set the age of these girls at 8 and 9 years old, and the most important thing to take into account was that they should be girls with some kind of vulnerability. This is the profile that interests us because our objective is to offer them the sporting possibility that most girls of this age enjoy without any economic or social problem being a barrier to entering this world, with the added difficulty that women’s sport is even more complicated to access.
We knew that the most complicated thing was to be able to detect any vulnerability in these girls, so we devised different ways to obtain players of this type who benefit from training volleyball with professional coaches and free of charge.
2.1 Meetings with the city council
First of all, we thought that the schools in the municipality could help us to detect these profiles of girls because it is the schools themselves that should have greater control in these cases. In order to reach the schools, firstly we have to contact and coordinate a meeting with the education and sports department of the town council. At this meeting, it would be appropriate to ask the council to disseminate information about the SCOUT project to the schools in the municipality so that interested schools can contact us if they are interested.
Another meeting that we consider to be essential is the social services area of the town council. They work with numerous families in the city who suffer from very complicated and extreme situations, in some cases. That is why it is important that they know about our project, as it would be very helpful if a girl from this type of family could enjoy what it means to practice sport, and also benefit from it free of charge.
2.1 Meetings with the schools
After all the schools in the municipality, and some in the surrounding area, had received information about the project from the town hall, the headmasters and headmistresses interested in participating contacted us. It is then where the figure of the social services technician comes in, who will have to set up these meetings with both the headmasters and the parents of the girls who are proposed by the schools to be able to enjoy and benefit from our volleyball training sessions.
In addition, in these meetings with the directors, contact should also be established with the physical education teacher of each school, as one of our initiatives is to carry out volleyball training sessions during school hours and in this way bring the girls closer to our sport.
2.3 Volleyball sessions during school hours
Once we have established contact with the schools interested in participating in the project, we should contact the physical education teachers to find out if they are interested in volleyball training. Once they have accepted, we will plan the sessions. It would be appropriate to do at least two with each class. In this way the pupils, and especially the girls, will learn the basics of volleyball and perhaps practice a sport that is not very common or well known to them.
It is important to ask each school about the material they have because if, for example, they
don’t have balls for volleyball, we can bring that to them.
In these sessions, the coaches could give the interested girls information about the club: training schedules, location, e-mail or contact telephone number…
3. Introduction phases to the club
Before introducing these players completely into one of the existing teams of the club, we will create a group exclusively for these new recruits, as volleyball is a complex sport and it takes a certain period of time to acquire the necessary skills.
First introductory phase: This phase runs from September to December. In this phase, new players coming from interested schools or social services will have a training time and space just for them. In this way, they can all learn volleyball at the same level and at the same pace.
Second introductory phase: This phase goes from January to March. At this stage, all new players must be training one or two days a week. In addition to training one of the days with the initial team, the other training of the week can be performed with one of the teams already existing in the club.
Third phase of introduction: This phase begins in April and ends until the end of the season. In these months the players will be integrated, training twice a week in the teams of the club and start competing with them.
3.1 Gradual introduction to the competition
During the first months, there will be monthly meetings of Benjamín players, mixing new players with those who are already part of the club. These encounters will help them get to know each other, get into the games and learn the rules of the game.
Before these players enter the official league competition, some friendly matches will be held during the weekends.
The second year all these players must already be included in the teams of the club, in this way they will start the competition in the league from the first month as well as the rest of their companions.
3.2 The families
From the moment the girls are part of the club, and we start to have a consolidated group, we must start thinking about convening the first parent information meeting. At this meeting, we will discuss several points:
• Explanation and presentation of the SCOUT project detailing that the duration of the scholarship was two seasons.
• Presentation of the project partners in different parts of Europe (Italy, France and Germany).
• Possible trips to play tournaments in these countries.
• Participation in future tournaments together with other teams of the club.
• Gift of a piece of fruit as a snack at the end of each training session.
• Fundamental participation in training sessions, matches and tournaments as well as compulsory participation in all informative meetings.
3.3 Club organization and information to the families
It is important that the families that make up the club know the operation of the SCOUT inclusion project, so at the beginning of the season we will present it to them.
We must hold a meeting with delegates from all club teams to discuss the importance and value of developing a project like this in our club.
3.4 Creation of the role of Inclusion Delegate
It would be beneficial for each club to have an inclusion delegate to manage the new additions from the SCOUT project in the club. The tasks of the Inclusion Delegate would be to:
• Monitor the grants and help provided by the municipality.
• Keep track of attendance at trainings, matches and tournaments of these players
• Ensure that full inclusion and integration is being established across teams.
• Establish contact with the parents and the schools.
4. Financing of the project
Once the funding time of the European Union project has passed, the girls must remain part of the club, and some help that we could go to keep the girls in the teams are:
• Sponsors interested in collaborating with solidarity and social programs.
• Municipal and institutional subsidies.
• Family initiatives such as setting up bar service on the pavilion or selling t-shirts (among others).
lies
5.1 Health program
• Give the girls a fruit for snack once a week in the first introductory phase.
• Snack fruit once a week before training. Proposed for all club teams throughout the season.
• Schedule talks with nutritionists where players, coaches and families can attend.
• Organize trainings for coaches on the importance and benefits of proper nutrition for an athlete.
5. Club services to stimulate players, coaches and fami-
5.2 Dual career program
• Open a space for refresher classes before training, so players can learn to organize themselves while they are part of a team.
• Offer English classes for the players.
• Hold talks where parents, players and coaches can attend to talk about the importance of combining the sports career with the student stage and explain the benefits of practicing sports while studying for organizational habits.
• Mentoring with first team players so that girls are aware that they can play volleyball and study one career at a time.
• Hand out personalized tickets to the players to go see first team matches.
5.3 Grant program
• When the scout players have to travel to other countries to play tournaments with the other girls of the club, they should all bring the same equipment, so it is important that from the club we offer them a special discount to purchase it.
• The day we no longer have the financial help of the project to be able to keep these girls in the club, they will not be able to continue doing sport totally free, but next to the municipal scholarship we will offer from the club, another type of discount that will facilitate the registration to these families.
5.4 Training program for trainers
Since there has never been an integration project for vulnerable players of the same style, it is advisable that all coaches are informed
of the project and know the situation. Therefore, it would be beneficial to conduct a training where different topics are explained:
• What are inclusion and integration?
• How to deal with families in difficult situations and at risk of vulnerability.
• Motor learning methods for players who start playing volleyball from scratch.
5.5 Training for the families of the players
The caregivers for these girls are obviously their parents. That is why we believe it is essential to train them and invite them to participate in the different talks and training we do. It is important for them to know what are the good eating habits, how to manage and organize the time of a student athlete, raise awareness about the importance of commitment and participation in a team, etc.
5.6 Extra activities to do with the players
• Arrange a day trip to an amusement park.
• Take the players to participate in the country tournaments along with the club girls they have been training with.
• Invite them to participate in the summer technification campus offering them some special discount.
