Participants during the debate series.
Doha: Doha-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) and its partners convened a series of debates under the title “Sport as a vehicle to develop soft skills for the labour market — a Mediterranean perspective from and for the MENA Region” and “Sport as a vehicle to develop cross-cutting skills for the labour market,” which had a focus on Euro-Mediterranean countries and Southern Europe.
Representatives from the Olympic Movement, international organisations, academia, and civil society respectively from the two shores of the Mediterranean Basin, met in Milan, in the context of the “Sport4Impact International Conference”, organised by the International Institute of Sports Society Studies (IIISSS) and attended by more than 80 participants across nations, including but not limited to Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia, as well as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Slovenia Albania and Serbia.
The event of Milan represented the completion of three years of work conducted by the ICSS jointly with Instituto Universitario de Lisboa – leader of the project, the International Olympic Truce Centre, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Coaching Portugal, HASK Mladost, Universitat de les Illes Balears, and Cyprus Sports Organisation within the framework of the EU-funded project “Sport4Med” project, an initiative which has contributed to the promotion of employability through sport in a critical region like the Mediterranean Basin by enhancing understanding of the relevance of skills developed in and through sport, particularly in terms of team work, resilience, ethics and orientation to results.
The project has been particularly effective in terms of exploring what skills can be promoted through sport and are required for the labour market, developing a training programme to enhance the capacity of sport coaches to develop employability skills in their athletes, and implementing pilot actions to raise youth’s awareness on such matters. “Sport4Med” directly impacted 330 participants from sport and other fields, in addition to more than 90 coaches who participated in the training courses.
“Sport helped me discover my potential and live a colourful life within the grey-coloured setting of war,” said Bushra Shhadah, an archery practitioner and sport professional from Syria, offers the working setting while highlighting the challenges and opportunities that can arise through the practice of sport.
Paolo Casilli, the ICSS official in charge for the project, said:” When sport becomes “science” and is professionalised by, for instance, instilling in the practice communication, negotiation, conflict management and other soft skills, it can be instrumental for creating concrete opportunities for youth employment”.
“Sport is not only about playing the game, but how to play the game” affirmed Dr. Iyad AlDajani, Research Director for Peace and Reconciliation Studies in the MENA region Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies of the Friedrich Shiller University. The Milan-debates offered a unique opportunity to search for a shared programmatic approach that offers tangible job opportunities and attract youth to embrace sport studies.
It has also promoted the integration of academic content within the practice of sport, the development of more advanced policies by sport federations and provide a new perspective to potential employers of youth who went through the sport experience.
