AS ONE MAIN OBJECTIVE

The PLAY TENNIS AS ONE project (further on called AS ONE) has set the overall objective to use the beautiful tennis sport as a tool for successful integration of disadvantaged children and young people at risk of social exclusion, living in remote or rural communities, and girls in general.

The partners believe that for an actual inclusion of disadvantaged groups to happen, it is first needed to

address the barriers that are causing exclusion of these groups. Hence via the AS ONE project we

envision tackling the following barriers:

GEOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS BY:

• Set-up mini-tennis courts in remote areas in the countryside and run FREE Open
• Demonstrations which would otherwise not be available for children living in those places;
• Transport children to the tennis club`s courts by school busses or arranged transportation in partnership with the local municipality.

SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS BY:

•  Training national and international teachers, coaches and sport mentors to empathize with the actual hardships of the beneficiaries, to become their allies and guide children to mobilize their inner resources and last, but not least - to assist the Mentors in addressing their very own bias and prejudices towards the target group;
•  Using potent MENTORSHIP program to fortify the emotional resilience, psychological safety and wellbeing, integration, and gradual social inclusion of underprivileged children into the larger Sport community and society.

APPROACHING SOCIAL STAKEHOLDERS FOR SELECTING CHILDREN PARTICIPANTS:

•   Rural areas kindergartens and schools;
•   Regional Psychological associations for children from disadvantaged groups or in risk.