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Description
According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, Poland holds the 24th position in the EU in terms of equality, but the women’s position in sports is even worse. Eurobarometer data indicates that women account for a mere 9% of European Olympic Committees, and only 10% of Olympic team coaches. According to GUS, women account for only 2.7% or all registered football players, and only 3% of coaches in Poland.We will address the problem by running training for teachers from Gdańsk, Mrągowo and Nowa Góra (who have expressed their will to join the project), on the early-school football3 method that teaches respect and equality to boys and girls playing together. Teachers will introduce it to the curriculum and then together we will organise tournaments in these three locations, utilising the football3 method. We will organise 2 public debates on equal access to physical activity for boys and girls from early age, and we will also present educational materials developed by us. We will invite representatives of local authorities, NGOs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sport, and sports unions.Our partners will include the authorities of the Mrągowo commune and General Stefan ‘Grot’ Rowecki Primary School in Mrągowo that will help us reach local educational facilities. The third partner is the Town Hall of Gdańsk interested in introducing the football3 method to all Gdańsk schools, so it will help us reach them. The last partner is the Zbigniew Dłużniewski Primary School in Nowa Góra whose management is interested in the football3 method and will allow us to implement it at their facility.
Summary of project results
According to research by the European Institute for Gender Equality, Poland ranks 24th in the European Union in terms of gender equality. However, the position of women in sport is even worse. Eurobarometer data shows that women make up only 9% of the membership of the European Olympic Committees, and as coaches of Olympic teams they accounted for 10%. In 2021, women accounted for only 8% of all coaches and 28% of instructors in sports associations (CSO 2022).
As far as football is concerned, in the Women''s Extra-League, all 12 clubs have only men as presidents and only 2 clubs have women as coaches. According to the Central Statistical Office in Poland, in football women account for only 2.7% of all registered players, and female coaches account for only 3%.
Our aim was to respond to this inequality and empower girls and women and to promote equal access to sport by strengthening the often-overlooked potential of women.
Our project focused on female early childhood education teachers, who play a huge role in educating the younger generation. We succeeded in increasing the competences of 345 female early childhood education teachers in using the football3 method during P.E. lessons (teaches respect and equality when boys and girls play together). As part of the project, we organised 24 training sessions (including 7 educational conferences) on this method.
Trained teachers conducted more than 370 football3 lessons. We organised 10 public football3 tournaments promoting equal access for girls and boys. In addition, we organised 3 debates on equal access to sport in which women played a visible role. We managed to promote the football3 method in 113 schools from 6 provinces.
Eventually, we managed to involve the Polish Football Association, which saw great potential and sense in working with the teachers. We can now count on continued cooperation with the Polish Football Association, financial support from the UEFA Foundation and continued in-kind support from Adidas. We have also created a group of female teachers who use the skills they have acquired in their daily work.