about the project
Why values?
Because sport is a powerful tool for personal development, social integration, and the cultivation of values that extend beyond the playing field.
Participation in sports provides young athletes with opportunities to develop resilience, discipline, teamwork, and leadership qualities that shape not only their athletic careers but also their broader personal and professional lives.
However, despite its transformative potential, sport is often underutilized as a structured means of values education, particularly for adolescent female athletes, who face unique challenges in their sporting journeys.
Quality mark
Sport is a powerful catalyst for character development, social inclusion, and leadership growth.
Project VALUES leverages the transformative potential of sport to cultivate essential virtues—respect, integrity, teamwork, and leadership—among adolescent female athletes. By collaborating with sports organizations, we will establish a Quality Mark to recognize and promote clubs that seamlessly integrate inclusive sports programs with values-based education in their training frameworks.
Aligned with the Erasmus+ priorities of inclusion, gender equality, and education through sport, Project VALUES will create a replicable model that can be adapted across various sports disciplines and cultural contexts.
By developing a framework for recognition and best practice exchange, this project will enhance the role of sport as a force for social good, ensuring that young female athletes are not only trained to excel in their sport but also equipped with the values and leadership skills to thrive in life.
Addressing gender inequality in sport
Despite progress in gender equality, female athletes in Europe continue to face barriers in access to sports participation, leadership opportunities, and recognition.
Studies show that adolescent girls are more likely to drop out of sports compared to their male counterparts, often due to a lack of female role models, gender stereotypes, and unsupportive sports environments.
Developing values through sport is particularly crucial for empowering young female athletes by fostering self-confidence, leadership skills, and ethical decision-making.
By integrating virtue-based education into sports programs, the EU can help break down gender barriers, encourage young women to remain in sport, and support their transition into leadership roles—whether as athletes, coaches, or mentors.
Strengthening inclusion and social cohesion
Europe is increasingly diverse, and sport serves as a unique platform for fostering intercultural understanding and social inclusion. However, marginalized groups—including young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, ethnic minorities, and individuals with disabilities—often face barriers to participation.
Without inclusive values embedded in sports structures, there is a risk that inequalities will persist and that sport will remain an exclusive rather than an empowering space.
partners
