First meeting of the Pad4Youth project, which saw the involvement of the president of the UISP Committee Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Ferruccio Valzano, the Director and Head of European Projects Roberto Rinaldi, the Assistant Project Manager Ilaria De Vecchis and the aspiring padel instructor Stefano Galaverna, fly to Valencia on December 16.
A meeting that took place in two parts: the multiplayer sport event and the actual project meeting, organized by the project’s lead body, the Federación Pádel de la Comunidad Valenciana. In addition to the representatives of the Territorial Committee, the Ginásio Clube Português of Lisbon -Portugal- the non-profit organization l’España Se Mueve of Madrid -Spain- and the European Institute for the Development of Sport, Kinesiology and Health of Umago were present , in Croatia.
The first part, or the multiplayer sport event, the FPCV took care of showing the partners the methodology they designed in order to teach padel to both children and young people with disabilities. In fact, the activity involves the use of low-pressure balls and lighter rackets than traditional ones, as well as adjustable-height nets specially developed by the Federation, which allow padel to be played even in fields that are not perfectly formulated for this discipline. Various preparatory exercises for the game were also shown, very well codified with the use of the ball and the racket, aimed above all at improving coordination. Practical demonstrations were then carried out involving about 80 children and young people: some able-bodied, others with physical and/or intellectual disabilities.
“The aim of the project – explained Director Rinaldi – is to bring children and young people with intellectual disabilities and/or at risk of social exclusion closer to this sport, leveraging the socialization factor of padel and the sport in general. A vision that is certainly not new to the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee, since for years we have been promoting social projects that have sport as a means of integration. In Pad4Youth, for example, each partner will take care of a group of children and teenagers: we will interact with those who are able-bodied, but in difficulty from a socio-economic point of view”.
The second part of the project instead dealt with more technical topics, such as the objectives related to Pad4Youth and its implementation phases. Among these, equipping the partners with the kits with the right instrumentation; provide educational and employment opportunities for coaches; promote an exchange of good practices; include essential approaches to training, based on inclusion, psychophysical well-being and socialisation.