Context
The project ‘Coaches in school‘ was created in response to the growing problem of insufficient physical activity of children and youth in the first grade of elementary schools in Slovakia. The problem is the significantly increasing incidence of obesity, the lack of exercise in children and the negative impact of modern digital technologies, which limit children’s spontaneous movement. For children in the first grade of elementary school to play sports with enthusiasm, professional trainers are brought to schools, who, alongside schoolteachers, bring the principles of fun, creativity and movement versatility. Social support for the project is enshrined in the Government’s Programme Statement for the period 2020–2024, which emphasises the need to improve the content and form of physical and sports education, as well as improve children’s health. The result of physical education classes is increased engagement and interest of children in movement.
Objectives
The goal of the project ‘Coaches in school’ is to solve specific problems associated with the physical activity of children in the first grade of elementary school:
- increase children’s interest in physical activities and sports;
- strengthen children’s movement literacy through basic movement habits;
- improve the content of physical and sports education lessons at the first level of elementary school;
- improve communication and cooperation between teachers, coaches, parents and sports clubs.
The long-term goal of the project is to build children’s positive attitude towards health, prevent problems with obesity, and improve their overall benefit and participation in physical activities.
Implementation
The Coaches at School project requires the allocation of resources, including financial and personnel resources. The project budget is intended for financing training for coaches, purchasing sports equipment for schools and managing the project, including coordination in individual regions across Slovakia. Project employees include trainers at primary schools, educators, coordinators in individual regions who coordinate trainers in a given regional area and experts in the fields of pedagogy, psychology and sports. The project processes include the selection of schools, the organisation of training sessions for coaches, conducting physical and sports education classes in cooperation with teachers and monitoring the results and effectiveness of the project. Communication is a key element of the project, not only between management structures and project participants, but also with schools, municipalities and sports clubs.