WhoZnext is a nationwide project to stimulate active ‘youth participation in sport’. The project was initiated 10 years ago in the Netherlands to limit the number of young people dropping out of sports activities. Young people dropped out because the range of sports activities offered locally wasn’t attractive enough for them anymore. Everything was arranged and organised by adults and they were only given limited input. WhoZnext calls on children and young adults to speak out for themselves in the field of sports and guarantees that they will have a greater say in the matter. If more young people are involved in setting up sports activities and organising them, these sports will be better geared towards their wishes and needs, thereby keeping the number of participants who decide to give up on sports and turn to alternative activities (e.g. anti-social behaviour in low-income neighbourhoods) down to a minimum.
WhoZnext is carried out by a local team of children and young adults (13-20 years old), 6-8 persons in total. A youth worker helps them work out their plans and ideas in the field of sports at local level. The team organises sports activities for their own age group within their own sports club, school or neighbourhood. Currently WhoZnext is still popular, with over 500 WhoZnext teams actively participating in the Netherlands.
The KEY PLAYERS! network is very interested in learning more about this intervention. The KEY PLAYERS! network is a European network of sports and health organisations, which was established in 2004. The network promotes an active lifestyle and active youth participation in sports.
Youth, Sport and Alcohol (YSA) (ASKÖ, Austria)
The ASKO developed this method in response to the problem of excessive alcohol use among young adults at Austrian sports clubs. It has become normal for young adults to celebrate their victories with a lot of alcohol. Parents and coaches also tend to drink too much alcohol after training and games and/or tournaments, setting a bad example to their own pupils and children.
The method used by YSA is to engender awareness of alcohol abuse at sports clubs among young adults. Video clips, a handbook, workshops and seminars are all available to train coaches and youth workers to use this method. This method does not intend to prohibit young adults from drinking alcoholic beverages, but to engender awareness of the negative effects of alcohol use. The partners of the KEY PLAYERS! network (especially in Eastern European countries) recognize this problem and are very interested to learn more about this intervention.
Another goal of this meeting is to extend our European network and encourage a greater exchange of knowledge and experience between the partners. In this training course we will be setting up Youth in Action exchange meetings between the organisations present in different countries, such as an exchange between two WhoZnext teams from two different countries. The KEY PLAYERS!! network would like to set up the first exchange meeting between WhoZnext teams from all different countries in which the intervention will be initiated after this meeting.
Besides, the action Youth initiatives (1.2) from YiA is a great opportunity for the new whoZnext-teams that will arise in the different countries after this training. This action can provide for financial support which makes it possible to organise new sport initiatives in their neighbourhoods. The participants of the training will learn about the chances of this action as well.
