Within the project “Inclusion Through Sports for Children with Developmental Disabilities”, for children aged 6-12 years, Special Olympics Montenegro was held a two-day Coach Training Workshop for 20 participants from 5 municipalities.
Coach Training Workshop covered the following:
- the main aim of the project and expected outcomes
- activity plan
- importance of Unified Sports for social inclusion of children with developmental disabilities
- importance of transition sports activities for children 6-12.
Transition and developmental sports activities can be integrated into inclusive sport offerings already being provided, or can be used to create new opportunities in the school or community and encourage social inclusion.
As a part of the Consortium consisting of 8 European countries, involved in the project, Special Olympics Montenegro planning to organized training and competitions for children with and without ID 6-12 years old in team sports, such football and basketball.
Coaches are the backbone of the Special Olympics movement. Coaches take on the leadership of developmental sports activities by planning and organizing each session.
Developmental sport model recognizes that not all athletes will move through the stages at the same pace, and provides coaches the guidance to support athletes so that they may participate at the stage most appropriate for them.
This ensures coaches can provide athletes with fun, safe, and developmentally appropriate instruction in a progressive sports program.
Coaching should include supporting athletes through social and emotional learning (SEL). SEL refers to the process through which individuals learn and apply a set of social, emotional, behavioral and character skills required to succeed in schooling, the workplace, relationships, and citizenship.
Coaching children is different than coaching adults. Coaching a child is just as much about adapting, responding and nurturing the individual needs of each child as it is about supporting their sports skill development.
The project “Inclusion Through Sports for Children with Developmental Disabilities” is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.
Working together for an inclusive Europe!
