Good Practice Guidance

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE

BOCCIA – Enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities and their environment through Paralympic sport Boccia

Dedicated to Erasmus + applicants and beneficiaries and for all whose purpose is to empow- er people with disabilities to enjoy the opportunity to practice sports. This publication reflects only the author’s views, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein Substantive consultant PhD Piotr Urbański, University of Physical Education, Poznań Boccia Good Practice Guidance Table of contents

PART I Introduction p. 3 1. Idea of the Project p. 4 2. Design of the Project p. 6 2.1. Main goals of the Project p. 6 2.2. Target group selection p. 7 2.3. Age and gender group selection p. 7 2.4. Partner selection p. 8 2.5. Staff selection p. 9 2.6. Project Main Activities p. 10 3. Project Participants and Results p. 11 3.1 Bulgaria p. 11 3.2 Greece p. 15 3.3 Georgia p. 18 3.4 FYR of Macedonia p. 21 3.5 Turkey p. 25 3.6 Poland p. 28 4. General results p. 32 4.1. Main activities of the Project p. 32 4.2. Outputs of the Project p. 34 5. Quality control during Project implementation p. 35 6. Dissemination and summary p. 36 7. Good Practice Recommendation p. 37 8. Links p. 40

PART II BOCCIA – description of the game p. 41 Boccia Good Practice Guidance Introduction

This guidance was prepared on base of our experience gained during implementation of Erasmus+ Sport Project: BOCCIA – Enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities and their environment through paralympic sport Boccia (2015-2017). Being aware of all lacks in different fields of the project and on the basis of gained results, we have decided to share some conclusions, which we find useful for future Erasmus+ Sport (but not only) actions. As you will see, our project was innovative due to at least a few facts: differentiation of participants, target groups and field of adapted sport disciplines (rehabilitation and sport for people with disabilities). We believe that some of our experience may help in future actions of some NGOs which are working in the field of adapted sports and social integration. It is worth emphasising, that results of our Project and our efforts have been acknowledged, among the others, by the European Commission and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). The latter one organized the Infoday on the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of sport which was held on 31 January 2017 in the Charlemagne building in Brussels, Belgium. The Infoday’s aim was to inform potential applicants about funding opportunities in 2017 and later. The START Association (as Leader of the Project) was invited to participate in the first plenary session to describe briefly our project, our way of building the partnership and application process. The round table covered lessons learnt and policy priorities of Erasmus+ Sport. Information and data from that meeting, including live stream, are available on: https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/2017-erasmus-sport-info-day-gasp

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 3 PART I 1. Idea of the project

The extension participation of people with disabilities in social life is still a challenge for many EU countries. Sport is one of the most available and effective way to increase this participation. The Member States of the EU are giving priority to sport for people with disabilities since it provides important means of rehabilitation and social integration (additionally to its traditional function). In the EU countries the role of sport in education and increasing living standards are highly appreciated. The Amsterdam Treaty in its declaration no. 29 recognizes the social role of sport especially in building one’s identity and contacts between people. On the basis of that declaration the EU has taken an active role in promoting sport. Therefore it supported projects encouraging active integration of people with disabilities through sport activities. A good example which underscores the social value of sport and its contribution to the integration of vulnerable social categories is the Paralympic Movement. Our project is based on active rehabilitation and paralympic sport Boccia (to read more about Boccia go to Part II), which is a proven tool to activate people with all types of disability. Boccia improves their functional health, quality of their life, helps in integration/ inclusion process. Boccia is suitable for everyone, but has found great popularity mostly among people with even the most severe physical disabilities (Cerebral Palsy or related neurological conditions involving a wheelchair). It challenges both body and mind and provides wide spectrum of therapies. Boccia is an effective way to integrate intellectually and physically disabled individuals with able-bodied people in sports clubs, NGO’s, schools, rehabilitation centres, or at home. Strength and good physical health are main features pointed out by value hierarchy, generally accepted by people. It builds a model of productive and functional society which considers only individuals who are producers and consumers of goods as the fully worthy people. In this model there is not always enough space and time for people with disabilities. There is a group of people with disabilities which struggles with lack of self-acceptance, low self-esteem problems, lack of possibility to spend their leisure time in an active way and furthermore find ways for stress elimination. Mentioned problems are common for most EU societies but particularly relates to inhabitants of the less developed European countries, including those which have been covered by our project: Poland, Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Greece and also Turkey or Georgia. Scientific researches, practise and our experience show incapacity of present solutions in the field of clinical and social rehabilitation for physically disabled people. State institutions are not able to manage to solve most of social difficulties. It gives fundamental reasons to change the existing but non-functional system and use modern methods to improve life of disabled. The change should be realised by self-organising society and be based on innovative means of raising standard of disabled people efficiency, pushing towards social integration. Boccia has different dimensions: it is a competitive sport, a therapy tool, as well as an integrative game – the perfect grassroots sport. Boccia is the first sport which gives opportunity to participate in any outside activities for people with highest level of disability. Due to all advantages of Boccia and the START Association experience in that field, we decided to apply for Erasmus+ Sport Project. Our project was implemented by 6 NGOs from Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, FYR of Macedonia, Turkey and Poland, and it was dedicated to people with disabilities, specialists, volunteers and persons working for people with disabilities.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 5 2. Design of the Project 2.1 Main goals of the Project

Setting aims of the project is always the easiest and the hardest task at the same time. It is very easy to set general goals in most obvious fields. The problem appears, when we need to realise goals and prove that they have been accomplished. During preparation of our Project, we focused on setting them at the end and making them: workable, real, feasible and measurable. Finally we concluded them as two following points: 1. Transfer of effective solutions that equalizes opportunities and health enhancing physical activities of people with disabilities through the paralympic sport Boccia. 2. Increase participation in, and equal access to sport for all through: a. training of specialists (instructors, referees, promoters of Boccia), b. obtaining and training volunteers for NGO and Animators of life activity of people with disabilities in Project and Partner11 Organizations. c. creating Boccia Teams in Project and Partner Organizations countries pursuing systematically Boccia trainings for NGO and local communities.

1 In the application procedure there is a distinction between Project Country and Partner Country. However, for the purposes of this text, these names will be used mutually (signifying the participants of the project). 2.2 Target group selection

Putting up a target group was one of the easiest tasks. People with disabilities need more support from other people in order to achieve the same living conditions as able-bodied ones. This support is not their privilege but one of the human rights. Offering the disabled participation in various forms of physical activities (on the basis of the European Union examples and Standard Principles of the UNO on providing equal opportunities for disabled) we wished to convince the Project’s participants that the physical activity creates various possibilities for them to increase their social life and develop their interests. Thanks to participation in the Project people with disabilities had chance to enhance their health, mental condition, decrease the feeling of being rejected and increase the sense of being needed and useful in the society. Our actions for people with disabilities included training of specialists, instructors, volunteers working for the environment of the disabled (animators of life activity for people with disabilities). What is the most characteristic for all Project’s Organizations, and chosen representatives – they all work in different fields of social activity. Some of them were connected more with sport or culture, some with rehabilitation – as you will see afterwards, this multifariousness gave us dozen opportunities.

2.3 Age and gender group selection

During the recruitment process no age or gender requirements were considered. Priority was set on disability differentiation. Because of the project nature we decided to reach the highest amount of people with disabilities, volunteers, assistants etc. Any division (age, gender etc.) of participants would have stayed in opposition to idea of grassroots sports, culture integration, social integration and social inclusion, so important in our Project.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 7 2.4. Partner selection

The project involved six NGOs from different countries, which carried out activities in different fields of social live, such as: education, culture, sport, rehabilitation etc. All of them also provide activities for people with disabilities. Each of selected organization had experience in implementation of various projects of different range (from local, to international). Therefore, all organizations had the knowledge and capabilities necessary for the proper and effective implementation of our project’s tasks. In the partner selection process, we focused on the countries from South/East Europe in which economic situation is poor and standard/quality of life (people with disabilities in particular) are low, or decreasing (Greece). Number of countries participating in the project, as well as the diversity of those countries in economic and culture terms, offered us unprecedented opportunities for achieving measurable benefits. As a good example of that, we can present participation of Georgia (Partner Country), which brought essential value to the project in two areas. First of all, it helped in transfering of knowledge and skills useful in creation of cooperation network and methods to effect society towards persons with disabilities (Organization from Georgia is uniting 28 organizations from all over the country). Secondly, staff of Georgian Organization is strongly involved in legislation process (eg. some of them are former politicians, some ran for Georgian Parliament). Georgian partnership helped us to familiarize with patterns from country with such a different culture. Selection of Partner Country was also justified by the fact that the chosen organization had achieved high results (more in next chapter) in actions for people with disabilities in the most difficult socio-economic conditions (from all project participants). Georgia is a country where the standard of living is the lowest among the other Partners. On the list of 195 countries by gross domestic product, at purchasing power parity per capita Greece is on 46 place, Poland 49, Turkey 67, Bulgaria 69, FYR of Macedonia 88 and Georgia 119 (GDP per capita is often considered as the indicator of a country’s standard of living). 2.5. Staff selection

Working with disabled people requires special care and supervision. During staff selection particular importance was put on experience of specialists in the field of people with disabilities issues, qualifica- tions and the ability of proficient communication. To complete each stage of the project, we engaged experienced and qualified specialists from Poland (5 persons). They are mostly involved in working for disabled persons environment, scientific work in the field of disability or/and sport. Most of the specialists and other staff had been engaged and verified in EU project We Start with START which had been implemented in cooperation with the Bulgarian Partner in the years 2013 – 2014. The rest of the team was selected according to the criteria necessary to achieve the set goals. The management team (Key Staff) included Coordinators, representatives from each Project and Partner Organization. The Coordinators of each country took part in the implementation of the project and they were responsible for communication, arranging accommodation, meals for participants, arranging local transport, transportation to and collection from the airport, recruitment of participants for each activity, preparation of information materials in their native language and the dissemination of project results, project information, the promotion of the country/region, especially among the local community (website, Facebook).

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 9 2.6. Project main activities

As we mentioned, all partners worked in different areas of social life and because of that, very demanding task was to choose suitable for everyone form of activities – activities which could help us to reach the established assumptions. It was one of the reasons, why we decided to consult all the Partners to choose proper way and action. On the basis of our communication, we set following activities: 1. Preparatory activity (choosing ways and channels of communication, recruitment of participants of the project, other organization procedures) 2. Opening meeting for Leaders (presenting good practices for integration, discussing relevant opportunities for improvement the quality of disabled people life in each country, distributing responsibilities and tasks among the Partner Organizations, discussing and developing the detailed work plan for the project activities implementation, discussing the most appropriate time for organizing the next project meetings, preparation for training workshops in 6 countries) 3. Training workshops (for future Boccia instructors and volunteers/animators of disable people life activity) 4. Establishing Boccia training groups in every Project’s Organizations 5. International Boccia Sports Event in Poland and Project Summary 6. Preparing “Good practice guidance” – the preparation and dissemination of a manual of practical information on the effectiveness and impact of the project on people with disabilities. 7. The Project coordination and monitoring. 8. Promotion (dissemination). 9. Evaluation. 10. Budget reporting.

Having reached the halfway point of our project, we could state that construction of our project was well-defined and we didn’t modify it. Some results of the Project are presented in the next chapter. 3. Project Participants and Results 3.1 Bulgaria

Partners Kyustendil Association is a non-government organization established in 2004. Its key activities cover different topics directed to youth development and cooperation, culture, sport, volunteering, improving life of disabled people by encouraging them to lead an independent life. It has realised many national and international projects. It collaborates with other cultural, social and educational institutions from the country and abroad. It also has favourable relations with local government bodies. Partners Kyustendil Association hosts a volunteering centre and is a member of National Alliance for Volunteer Action (NAVA) Foundation. In 2006 the Association established a folk dance school and a dance formation that has been developing very successfully. There are more than 70 dancers aging between 14 and 60, and it has already won several awards at national and international festivals. It has realised local projects in the area of culture and historical heritage with Kyustendil Municipality, Kyustendil Dramatic Theatre and Kyustendil Regional History Museum. Bulgaria – Partners Kyustendil Association

Kick off meeting, Kyustendil 2015

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 11 3.1 Bulgaria

Benefits Gained from Erasmus+Project in the field of Boccia and active rehabilitation

Prognostic Before 2015- results 2017 2015 2016 (06.2017- 2018) Staff number of trained instructors – 6 9 12 number of volunteers 6 20 28 30 Trainings number of athletes – total 5 10 16 24 number of training groups – total* 1 1 1 2 trainings per month – total: 1 8 8 12 Detailed info (number of athletes): Partners Kyustendil Association (in cooperation with Ilyo 5 10 16 24 Voyvoda Center for Adults with Physical Disabilities) Detailed info (number of trainings per month): Partners Kyustendil Association (in cooperation with Ilyo 2 8 8 8 Voyvoda Center for Adults with Physical Disabilities) Tournaments No. of tournaments that compete in – national level – – – 1 No. of tournaments that compete in – international level – 1 – 1 Cooperation institution, that you cooperate with (schools, NGOs etc.) 1. Ilyo Voyvoda Center for Adults with Physical Disabili- ties in Kyustendil, Bulgaria), 2. Municipality of Kyustendil, Bulgaria), Secondary 4 4 4 6 School no. VI in Kyustendil (Bulgaria), 3. Kyustendil Puppet and Dramatic Theatre (Bulgaria), 4. Kyustendil Regional History Museum (Bulgaria) Financing Number of funding source* 2 1 – 1 * Erasmus Project is also funding source 3.1 Bulgaria

Problems Problems Before the project, trainings were organized occasionally at the Ilyo Voyvoda Center in running Boccia for Adults with Physical Disabilities in the town of Kyustendil. The reason of that was trainings before the fact representatives of the institution and of the Partners Kyustendil Association project had insufficient information about Boccia game rules. What is more there is no Boccia federation established so far in Bulgaria. The trainings were organized mainly as leisure activities. It was also impossible to find equipment for the game. The trainings were run with balls which were donated by our partners from START Poznan during the implementation of previous projects. Problems During the project trainings in Boccia were prepared by professionally educated six anticipated instructors. Being equipped under the project it was much easier to run trainings in running Boccia regularly. But still, the problems mentioned above were faced due to the lack of Boccia trainings after Federation in Bulgaria, equipment and suitable venue for the trainings. It’s hard to project find such a hall as most of the sports venues are occupied with other sport disciplines or are not accessible for wheelchairs.

Problems Linked with Project Difficulties Difficulties faced during Project’s lifetime were related to people’s mentality towards in Project during physical disabilities. It was impossible to engage in Boccia trainings children and its lifetime youths with physical disabilities who live with their parents. Our athletes are people who are hospitalised in the special Center for Adults with Physical Disabilities. Suggestions • Establishment of Boccia Federation through wider promotion of Boccia as a paralym- to solve problems pic discipline. in future • Change people’s mentality through promotional campaigns for the benefits that Boccia can provide to people with physical disabilities. • Motivating more people to practice Boccia through organizing local, regional and national tournaments.

Boccia activities, Kyustendil 2015/2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 13

Workshop, Kyustendil 2016 3.2 Greece

Centre for Social support (located in Kilkis, Greece), was founded in 1994 by the Prefecture of Kilkis (now Regional Authority of Central Macedonia) and an Association of Parents of People with Disabilities Kilkis. It works as Day Care Center for people with disabilities in the Kilkis, and has license to serve 76 persons. It offers a variety of services (psychological support, social worker support, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nature care), alternative therapies (hippotherapy, hydrotherapy, art therapy) and activities (sports activities, activities for socialization, pre-vocational training, health education, education and training, social advisory, autonomous living etc.). Its main aim is to support families of people with disabilities in order to facilitate the retention of disabled person in the family.

Greece – “Center for Social support”

Workshop, Kilkis 2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 15 3.2 Greece

Benefits Gained from Erasmus+Project in the field of Boccia and active rehabilitation

Prognostic Before 2015 2017 results 2015 -2016 (06.2017-2018) Staff number of trained instructors – 5 6 6 number of volunteers – 10 10 10 Trainings number of athletes – total – 5 7 10 number of training groups – total* – 4 6 8 trainings per month – total: – 5 10 15 Detailed info (number of athletes): Kilkis Centre for Social Support – 5 7 10 Detailed info (number of trainings per month): Kilkis Centre for Social support – 4 4 4 Cooperation institution, that you cooperate with (schools, NGOs etc.) – 1 1 2 Financing Number of funding source* – 1 1 3 * Erasmus Project is also founding source

Workshop, Kilkis 2016 3.2 Greece

Problems Problems in running Boccia Lack of knowledge in the field of adapted sports like Boccia trainings before project (no access to rules, equipment, training methods and funding). Problems anticipated in running Difficulties in medical classification of athletes. Boccia trainings after project

Problems Linked with Project Difficulties in Project during Small problems to schedule activities, because of different people its lifetime involved. Suggestions to solve problems Only one or two people for planning activities. in future

Additional results Our association managed to include Boccia training to a three years program subsidized at national level by the EU. We also managed to have athletes in Bocce, because of Boccia Erasmus program and cooperation with Special Olympics Hellas (Bocce is similar sport to Boccia, but for people with intellectual disabilities).

Additionaly our association is running a project (2017-2020) in Greek schools based on Boccia. This project has been approved by the Greek Ministry of Education, for three-year-long project financed by EU.

Local activities 2015

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 17 3.3 Georgia

The Coalition for Independent Living (CIL) is a public organization, registered in 1999, whose mission is to create equal opportunities for any person for revealing the potential, and to ensure maximum involvement of People with Disabilities in the political, economic, sport, social and cultural life of the society. CIL consociates together 28 NGOs working in various issues of disability. At the same time the CIL itself is a member of local and international alliances and forums, such as: Georgian Eastern Partnership National Platform, European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), World Disability Union (WDU) and European Disability Forum (EDF). To reach the aim of total integration, the Coalition tries to raise the public awareness and replace their traditional approaches towards disability and people with disabilities with contemporary approaches which imply: change the attitude of the society, physical environment, legislation. Namely, the CIL tries to support the NGOs and institutional development, whose activities are focused on services and protection of the equal civil rights and opportunities of people with disabilities. Based on the international norms and conventions, the Coalition supports legislation and the state executive system on the national level and popularize the philosophy of independent living. The CIL recognizes the right of people with disabilities to the independent and dignified co-habitation within the society. CIL association is responsible for Georgia – The Coalition for organization of sport and rehabilitation camps for people with disabilities. Independent Living In 2015 CIL started cooperation with the START Association (Poland) and since then it has developed Boccia and active rehabilitation in Georgia. CIL uses sport to change the vision of Georgian Society towards people with disabilities, it makes society more inclusive.

Workshop, Tbilisi 2016 3.3 Georgia

Benefits Gained from Erasmus+Project in the field of Boccia and active rehabilitation

Prognostic Before results 2015-2016 2017 2015 (06.2017- 2018) Staff number of trained instructors – 12 14 18 number of volunteers - 12 12 12 Trainings number of athletes – total - 12 20 20 number of training groups – total* - 2 2 4 trainings per month – total: - 8 8 8 Detailed info (number of athletes): 1. PSDC Para sport developing centre Tbilisi - 8 4 12 2. Imereti Region of Georgia - 4 4 8 Detailed info (number of trainings per month): 1. PSDC Para sport developing centre Tbilisi - 8 8 8 2. Imereti Region of Georgia - 4 4 4 Cooperation institution, that you cooperate with (NGOs.) - - 2 2 Financing Number of funding source* - 1 2 2 * Erasmus Project is also founding source

Workshop, Tbilisi 2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 19 3.3 Georgia

Problems Problems in running Boccia From the beginning it was a problem to find accessible venues to run Boccia, trainings before project as well as to find instructors, athletes and provide medical classification. Problems anticipated We have nice accessible venues, proper equipment, but still have medical in running Boccia trainings classification and financial problems. Our National Paralympic Committee is after project covering only instructors salaries and sportswear which is not enough to run Boccia trainings in needed frequency and high quality.

Problems Linked with Project Difficulties in Project Our participation in the workshops was limited because, according to the during its lifetime project program, we participated only in selected tasks. Suggestions to solve Allow us to participate in similar projects in the future. problems in future

Additional results of project The most important result of the Project was the establishment of Geor- gian Boccia Federation in 2016. Additionally in 2015-2016 Boccia was introduced as a sport and rehabilitation tool in many places in Georgia. CIL has promoted Boccia in major cities – Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi and Telavi. Thanks to Boccia significant group of people with Cerebral Palsy and others disabilities were motivated to take part in recreational forms of Boccia. In August – September 2017, CIL is planning to start with Boccia as one of the sports discipline of Regional Paralympics sport event and further promote Boccia in all Georgian regions. There is huge interest in this sport in Georgia.

Boccia activities, Tbilisi 2015 3.4 FYR of Macedonia

The Humanitarian Association for Help and Support of the People with Special Needs – Bravura Cooperative from Delcevo is an independent association of citizens, formed in order to accomplish, protect and harmonize interests and beliefs of people with disabilities, as well as for doing activities to improve their quality of life. It was established in 2004 and it is registered in the Court in Delcevo and Ministry of Labour and Social Care. At the moment, the organization implements activities raising awareness of the public towards the people with special needs, and provides early intervention, direct help and support to families with children with special needs. HZ Bravura Cooperative has implemented over 16 projects over the past 7 years, including “Civil initiative for dignity in life” – (Handicap international) – 2007, ‘Club for social inclusion – (Handicap international) – 2008, and “Discrimination – I don’t think so”(OSCE)-2010-2011’. Moving forward, the organization hopes to implement more projects to improve the quality of life of people with special needs and engage them more actively in the community.

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – The Humanitarian Association for Help and Support of the People with Special Needs Workshop, Delcevo 2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 21 3.4 FYR of Macedonia

Benefits Gained from Erasmus+Project in the field of Boccia and active rehabilitation

Prognostic Before results 2015-2016 2017 2015 (06.2017- 2018) Staff number of trained instructors – 6 16 25 number of volunteers – 10 30 60 Trainings number of athletes – total – 35 62 91 number of training groups – total* – 5 15 25 trainings per month – total: – 6 10 12 Detailed info (number of athletes): 1. Daily Center of Delcevo – 10 20 30 2. Daily Center of Vinica – 8 15 20 3. Daily Center of Stip – 12 17 25 4. Skopje School of Cyril and Methodius – 3 5 8 5. Delcevo School of St. Kliment Ohridski – 2 5 8 Detailed info (number of trainings per month): 1. Daily Center of Delcevo – 6 10 12 2. Daily Center of Vinica – 6 10 12 3. Daily Center of Stip – 6 10 12 4. Skopje School of Cyril and Methodius – 6 10 12 5. Delcevo School of St. Kliment Ohridski – 6 10 12 Cooperation Institution, that you cooperate with (schools, – – 2 6 NGOs etc.) Financing Number of funding source* – 1 2 3 * Erasmus Project is also founding source 3.4 FYR of Macedonia

Problems Problems in running Boccia Before the project, Boccia was not played in FYR of Macedonia and the trainings before project organizations were not familiar with it. Without Project, we wouldnt have been able to run a Boccia program in FYR Macedonia. Anticipated problems After the project, we want to share the game of Boccia with other organiza- in running Boccia trainings tions, but we have not been able to get money or support to do this. after project Many people are interested in playing the game, but there are not enough resources to share it.

Problems Linked with Project Difficulties in Project We did not experience any problems during the project. Erasmus supported during its lifetime us with all of the information, equipment, and transportation that we needed. We only wish that we could have had more support after the project to continue playing the game in FYR Macedonia. Suggestions to solve Make the project more sustainable and offer more support to the organ- problems in future izations involved so that Boccia and other rehabilitation actions could be continued after the project.

Workshop, Delcevo 2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 23 3.4 FYR of Macedonia

Additional result of the project Bravura Cooperative intends to develop a program involving people with special needs in sports, but it is difficult because of lack of funding. In 2017 Bravura Cooperative is starting a cooperation with UNICEF. The organization strongly wants to develop a sustainable program for involving athletes in Boccia as wide as possible in all over the country. With respect to the above, a meeting with the Agency for Sports and Youth in Macedonia was also held. HZ Bravura got assurance that they would prolong Boccia project.

Boccia activities, Delcevo 2016 3.5 Turkey

Foundation of Social Health and Education in Soma (SOSEV) was established in 1984 in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, to serve public interest in social health and education fields. Goals of SOSEV are: • Gathering people who suffer from: poverty, loneliness, old age, disabilities. In case of necessity it helps them financially either in kind or in cash. SOSEV is also running a nursing house and supports construction and repair works at hospitals, dispensaries etc. • Educational Services: funding scholarships to talented youth in accordance with the educational services. • Cooperation with public and private institiusions to increase the educational, health and social services. • SOSEV is recognized in Turkey, because of supporting programs dedicated to families of the victims of Soma coal mine disaster, which took place in 2014, killing 301 people. Turkey – SOSEV – Foundation of Social Health and Education in Soma Workshop, Soma, Turkey 2015

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 25 3.5 Turkey

Benefits Gained from Erasmus+Project in the field of Boccia and active rehabilitation

Prognos- Before 2015- tic results 2017 2015 2016 (06.2017- 2018) Staff number of trained instructors – 7 7 10 number of volunteers – 6 12 12 Trainings number of athletes – total – 12 66 100 number of training groups – total* – 3 3 5 trainings per month – total: – 4 4 6 Detailed info (number of athletes): 1. SOSEV Project Group – 12 6 10 2. CBU Student Club – 20 20 30 3. Soma Nursing Home – 40 40 40 Detailed info (number of trainings per month): 1. SOSEV Project Group – 4 2 2 2. CBU Student Club – 2 2 2 3. Soma Nursing Home – 2 2 2 Cooperation Institution that you cooperate with (schools, NGOs etc.) – 3 3 3 Financing Number of funding source* – – – – * Erasmus Project is also founding source

Workshop, Soma, Turkey 2015 3.5 Turkey

Problems Problems in running Boccia Before the Project. there was no Boccia in SOSEV. Joining the project famil- trainings before project iarized us with this sport as well as some new approaches to rehabilitation. Problems in running Boccia During the project we had a training group with more than 10 participants, trainings after project but after the project sometimes it was hard to gather the group regularly as a training group at the beginning. When we set a system with a regular group another problem came up, such as bad weather conditions. We were doing our exercises outside and in cold and rainy days it wasn’t possible to do it. We tried a sport venue but it didn’t have sufficient conditions for either trainings or disabled people.

Problems Linked with Project Difficulties in Project during Difficulties in travelling because of Turkish visa policy (this was a special its lifetime problem not directly linked with the implementation process of the project). Suggestions to solve – problems in future

Additional result of the project With SOSEV help CBU Student Club has been established. It consist of students of medicine (University) who learn the Boccia. Between 2017- 2018 they will have a court in their schoolyard and they will begin to make paralympic Boccia trainings regularly.

Boccia activities in Soma 2015, 2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 27 3.6 Poland

Sports Rehabilitation Association START – Non-profit and Non- government association with status of a Public Benefit Organization, with roots in 1961. The area of its activity includes all territory of Poland, with the seat in Poznan City. The Association’s aim is to provide disabled, addicts, abused, poor and socially disadvantaged with physical, mental and social rehabilitation by means of physical education, sports and tourism, social and educational activities. The essential goal is to challenge the athletic potential and enhance life of people with disabilities through sports. START is the oldest Polish Paralympic movement organization. With 55 years of experience, START has become one of the national leading providers of sports and recreation activities for people of all kind of disabilities. Association conducts regular trainings in many sports (Boccia, swimming, paracanoeing, dancing, winter and water skiing, table tennis, bowling, track and field, archery), for professional and non-professional athletes. Professionals achieve successes on both national and international tournaments, such as Paralympic Games. The second most important field of activity is staff training. In addition to the above mentioned activities, the START Association organizes sports and rehabilitations camps for people with disabilities. Those events are very popular all over the country. START has implemented a few new adapted sports in Poland, one of them is Boccia. Recently Boccia has gained much more popularity and with our support it has spread over in more than 200 organizations. In the recent years, before the Boccia Erasmus+Sport project, START was the partner in two EU projects: Poland – Sports Rehabilitation • 2010-2012 Comenius Regio Partnerships Project “Olympism and the Association START integration of young people in the education”. • 2013-2014 European Social Fund, Human Resources Development Operational Programme, Republic of Bulgaria. Project “We Start with START” – improving quality of disabled people life and overcoming societies’ prejudices and negative attitude.

Benefits Gained from Erasmus+Project in the field of Boccia and active rehabilitation According to the project, no permanent trainings were planned in Poland (the extensive START Assoc. training system has been in operation for many years so no data are presented). 3.6 Poland

Problems Linked with Project Difficulties in Project during START as a project leader was particularly burdened by the organizational its lifetime and logistic issues of project management. Coordination of actions with the five partners caused some problems due to: • partners’ unbalanced commitment in project, • delays in actions, • unstable economic situation threatening the implementation of some activities – Rapid price fluctuations, e.g. in Greece, caused complications in planning some actions. • historical divisions, mental and cultural diversity, (FYR of Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria , Turkey) • unstable political and security situation caused by terrorism and immigra- tions crisis • greater than expected language barriers (especially among disabled) • demanding attitude of some of the project beneficients. Suggestions to solve Nothing more than building partnership on basis of trust. problems in future

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 29 Other additional results of the project The project brought Polish participants some benefits in the field of worldview (Poland is struggling with the problems of religious tolerance). The Project enabled learning to respect each other, gave a chance to meet people with different religions – Muslims, Orthodox, Catholic, Roman Catholic, different historical context, different social conditions, different languages etc. Unexpected Project’s result was a change in relationship between the project partners from four Balcan countries: Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Greece/region of Macedonia and Turkey, antagonistic to each other and prejudiced as a result of historical divisions. At the beginning all expressed pretensions and unconcealed lack of sympathy. At the end their relationship was strengthened and prejudices disappeared.

Workshop, Wagrowiec, Poland ‘ 2015 Workshop, Wagrowiec, Poland ‘ 2015 International Boccia event Poznan, Poland 2016

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 31 4. General results 4.1. Main activities

Activity/ No. of No. Date Short description of activity Results achieved place participants 1 The initial 12 represent- 10-15 1. Provide basic information about the 2 representatives from meeting atives from July project implemented, objectives and each Project Organiza- for Project 6 countries 2015 guidelines of the European Commission tion attended the initial Leader and regarding the Erasmus + sport, collabora- project meeting in Kyus- Coordinators tive Partnership. The key information from tendil. Bulgaria, the project leaders meeting: “Kick off Each delegation received: Kyustendil Meeting” in Brussels. Set of the Projects info 2. Presentation of the planned schedule on memory flesh of individual actions – setting deadlines Banner, roll up with logo for initial training sessions in participating and the name of the pro- countries. Talk about different activities ject to exploit the further and coordinators responsibilities, division implementation in each of tasks and responsibilities between country partner organizations. Photo documentation 3. Information on possible ways of was prepared. promoting the project – dissemination. Establishing channels of communication between partners, presentation of the website, discussion, ideas of other ways to communicate – (facebook). Bulgarian Coordinator was responsible for organizational tasks on the spot. 2 1st workshop 42 (30 staff + 23-30 The workshop organised in Poland, paral- Participants were trained Poland- 12 volunteers) Aug lelly with the sport rehabilitation summer to work in the field of Wagrowiec representa- 2015 camp with over 80 disabled persons from disability (methods of tives from all over Poland. It gave the project par- assisting people with 6 countries ticipants the opportunity to confront the disabilities, organizing knowledge with practice in many dimen- and leading sports and sions. Each country provided 5 persons to recreational activities, be trained in Boccia; coaching provided by sports competition). Basic the specialists from the START Assoc information about Boccia were transferred. All partners were equipped with Boccia sets and T-shirts with project logo 3 2nd 37 (25 staff + 8-15 The workshop organised in Turkey. Each Transfer of knowledge workshop 12 volunteers) Oct of 4 Countries provided 5 persons to be and skills to instructors Turkey/ Soma representa- 2015 trained in Boccia. Coaching was per- and volunteers allowed tives from 5 formed by the 5 specialists from the them to work with countries START Assoc. Turkey Coordinator was disabled people and responsible for finding the group of 12 guarantee professionally volunteers/Animators for this workshops conducted Boccia sports and for organizational tasks on the spot. training, necessary to realise project aims. Activity/ No. of No. Date Short description of activity Results achieved place participants 4 3rd 22 (10 staff + 3-10 The workshop in Georgia (organized only Because Georgia was tak- workshop 12 volunteers) May for Leader Country and Partner Country – ing part only in the work- Georgia/ representa- 2016 Georgia) shop in Poland, the whole Tbilisi tives from Georgian Coordinator was responsible workshop was devoted 2 countries for finding the group of 5 persons to be to transfer appropriate trained in Boccia. Coaching was per- knowledge. formed by the 4 specialists from the START Assoc. and 1 from Kyustendil Assoc and for finding 12 volunteers/Animators for this workshop and for organizational tasks on the spot. 5 4th 37 (25 staff + 24-01 The workshop organised in Greece. Transfer of knowledge Workshop 12 volunteers) June Each of 4 Countries provided 5 persons and skills to instructors Greece/Kilkis representa- 2016 to be trained in Boccia. Coaching was and volunteers allowed tives from performed by the 5 specialists from the them to work with 5 countries START Assoc. Greece Coordinator was disabled people and responsible for finding the group of 12 vol- guarantee professionally unteers/Animators for this workshop and conducted Boccia sports for organizational tasks on the spot. training, necessary to realize project aims. 6 5th 37 (25 staff + 27 The workshop organised in FYR of Mac- As above Workshop 12 volunteers) July edonia. Each of 4 Countries provided 5 FYR of. representa- - persons to be trained in Boccia. Coaching Macedonia/ tives from 03 was performed by the 5 specialists from Dalcevo 5 countries Au- the START Assoc. FYR of Macedonia Co- gust ordinator was responsible for finding the 2016 group of 12 volunteers/Animators for this workshop and for organizational tasks on the spot. 7 6th 37 (25 staff + 03-10 The workshop organised in Bulgaria. As above Workshop 12 volunteers) Au- Each of 4 Countries provided 5 persons Bulgaria/ representa- gust to be trained in Boccia. Coaching was Kyustendil tives from 5 2016 performed by the 5 specialists from the countries START Assoc. Bulgaria Coordinator was responsible for finding the group of 12 volunteers/Animators for this workshop and for organizational tasks on the spot. 8 Internation- 59 (30 ath- 6-12 International Boccia Sports Event in Skill test in Boccia for al Event letes + Octo- Poland instructors, volunteers/ Poland/ 29 specialists) ber Each of 6 Countries provided coaches / animators and players Poznan representa- 2016 assistants who were running a game trained during the project. tives from of 5 athletes from each country. Summary and project 6 countries Project Summary promotion.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 33

4.2. Outputs (2017):

Trained Training Country Volunteers Athletes Total instructors groups Bulgaria 9 28 16 53 1 Greece 6 10 7 23 6 Georgia 14 12 20 46 2 FYR of Macedonia 16 30 62 108 15 Turkey 7 12 66 85 3

Total 52 92 171 315 27

5. Quality control

Because of EU recommendation and high risk of unexpected problems, we needed to use actions and tools which provided high quality control of the Project. Most of them are well known, but not all: • Regular communication between Key Staff (video-conferences, email correspondence etc.) • Surveys among Partner Organizations employees and volunteers after the first year; the survey analysis and the conclusions drawn for future activity • Analysis of the documents created for the project (attendance list, evaluation survey, expenditure list, invoices list, photo documentation, timetable/schedule, experts worksheet) • The final and partial reports • Feedback from participants after visit of every participating country • Feedback from the project Key Staff • Verification of the level of interest and participation of people with disabilities and volunteers in all Partner and Project Organizations countries • Gathering of all project materials such as: presentations, photo and video, etc. • Verification of participants knowledge about Boccia (in group of future instructors, and animators) – evaluation test. • Review of media coverage devoted to the project.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 35 6. Dissemination and summary

One of the greatest achievements of all Project Participants was dissemination of the Project idea and results. Over 55 years’ experience of the START Association in the adapted sports assume a high indication of beginning snowball effect – a process that begins with small significance, which then becomes itself a much larger. We believe that intensity and frequency of our actions will yield (as in snowball effect ) positive results in dissemination and continuing our Project. As we have started with dissemination in local dimension, it have started to overspread to national network. This was achieved thanks to a few actions: • Partner Organizations prepared events open to public. Events have promoted Boccia as tool of integration, physical activity and sport promotion. • Permanent information about outcomes of the project were available on each of the Partner Organizations’ websites. Partners were also sharing information with cooperating institutions and similar organizations using websites. • Through cooperation with local authorities, schools, social service institutions outcomes of the project have been spread to groups not directly involved in the project (during Project lifetime we cooperated with municipalities and representatives of government in all countries as well as familiar schools, theatres, media, actors, athletes etc.). Furthermore: All Participants were obliged to arrange media campaign on a scale dependent on their capabilities: press, regional/national – TV, radio stations. Because of that we have created the base for Boccia use as a rehabilitation method, grassroot sport and integration game. The extremely wide potential scale of interest in Boccia is now observed eg. in Georgia, which has promoted it in almost all major cities. It’s obvious that popularization of adapted sport such as Boccia to wider range needs time, but the START experience has proved that it is possible – the total population in Poland is 38.5 million, over 50 thousand of them, mostly youth, suffer from Celebral Palsy. Their families and their closest social environment are another quarter million people. During the last three years, the Polish Boccia Association made huge progress: established and associated over 30 sports clubs, foundations, NGOs and schools with over 100 professional athletes and more than 500 grassroot level Boccia players. We hope that all of the Project Participants will follow our way. Till now, all of Project participants have organised a few Boccia training groups or new Boccia sports clubs which give a chance to continue the sport spreading on national level in much larger scale. Our actions gave also new possibilities to them in economical dimension, eg. they may apply for local and national funds for developing new sport and rehabilitation. After the project completion, the Organizations are going to continue the promotion of the adapted sports as Boccia. Till now, we have started cooperation with BISFed (Boccia International Sports Federation), National Paralympic Committees and a few others to support effects of our engagement. We hope that our project will continue and give a chance to: change stereotypes and beliefs about disability in the society in all age groups, eliminate xenophobia, aggression, unhealthy competition; teach respect towards the past and traditions.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 37 7. Good Practice Recommendation

• The use of simple and effective tools enabling integration, rehabilitation sport and fun. Example: As it has been comprehensively described in our Project – Boccia is the tool which allows us to achieve all mentioned goals.

• Involve excluded entities (people with disabilities) Example: Most countries have communicated the problem of finding and engaging Boccia instructors and volunteers. After some time it turned out that the involvement of people with disabilities brought unexpected results – they showed a great deal of commitment as they found their sense of usefulness.

• Quick reaction and problems solving Example: During the project realization there were problems with getting visa for Turkish participants. We learnt about that a few days, before their arrival, and we knew that it would be very hard to solve the problem we decided contact the Polish embassy the very same day. Our quick reaction allowed to solve the problem in a few days.

• Close connections of coordinators and later of all staff Example: Effective management of the project involving 6 countries was a hard task. Except for language barriers we had to cope with problems linked to quick responding. Not all participants were able to communicate all the time. Because of that we found our idea of making initial meeting and choosing a coordinator from every country as one of the most effective in our project.

• Choose at least two partners which have experience in EU Project Example: As it has been underlined, differentiation of all participants, as well as engaging partners with no experience in EU project policy, brought lots of advantages. It allowed to familiarize with new way of thinking and acting, and to exchange “know how” ideas, but it also made some problems e.g. in the field of fulfilling commitments of EU policy. With at least two organization experienced in EU project we disposed responsibility, and simplified such important documentation.

• Arrange activities in every country by 1 person (Project Coordinator) Example: „too many cooks spoil the broth…” Unfortunately it became part of our reality in almost every country. The fact there were representatives of all participants influencing decision making process caused a lot of misunderstandings. Due to that we suggested to pass the responsibility for all action in other than our country to the representative of that country (in our situation – Project Coordinator).

• Arrange payments by 1 organization (Project Leader) Example: Ordering and purchasing of flight tickets for all participants by Project leader turned to be very effective in terms of efficient organization and cost reduction.

• Use cultural and historical differentiation Example: Despite of a few problems occurred because of political, and cultural disagreements between the Project Participants – eg. Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Greece (prejudiced as a result of historical divisions). We found participation of such diverse countries as a great chance. We think that during project lifetime all of participants had opportunity to exchange huge amount of knowledge and skills, and at the same time experience a little of humbleness. Furthermore, we assume, that because of high amount of people involved in Project (not only participants) we could percived that the biggest advantage of EU is not economical aspect, but a chance to unite and exchange (in every dimension).

• Use local and national authorities to spread results of the project Example: As we have mentioned, close relation with regional and national authorities helps in promotion of the project and enable straight approach to groups of people not directly involved in the Project.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 39 8. Links

Sports policy and programme Unit European Commission – DG EAC: http://ec.europa.eu/sport/

About EACEA: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea_en

Eramsus+ Project results platform: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects/

Boccia- Eramsus+Sport Programme: http://polskaboccia.pl/boccia-eu/ https://www.facebook.com/erasmusBoccia/?fref=ts

Paralympic Sports A-Z: Boccia A-Z (film): https://www.paralympic.org/video/paralympic-sports-z-boccia

Boccia International Sports Federation: http://www.bisfed.com/ PART II

BOCCIA – description of the game*

History of Boccia game Have you ever thought about the name origin? It is pretty interesting, derived from the Latin word bottia, meaning ‘ball’, and is pronounced ‚bot-cha’. This game has a rich history. It had been originated long ago in Roman Empire. Boccia was developed in the early 1980’s when European countries found that a large number of athletes with disabilities were unable to take advantage of sports like track and field, swimming, weight-lifting, and/or cycling because they had poor balance, poor muscle tone, and/or spastic movements which limited their success. Fortunately, Boccia was found to eliminate many of these setbacks. It was introduced to the Paralympic Games in 1984. Now it is practiced in over 50 countries worldwide.

What exactly it is... Boccia is the proven tool which activates disabled people, improves quality of their life and integrates them with community. Boccia is suitable for everyone, but it has found great popularity among people with even the most severe physical disabilities (cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions involving a wheelchair). It challenges both body and mind and provides spectrum of therapies. Boccia is an effective way to integrate physically disabled individuals with able-bodied individuals in sports clubs, NGOs, schools, rehabilitation centers, or at home.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 41 BOCCIA – description of the game*

Boccia is a paralympic sport that tests muscle control and hand-to-eye coordination. Players propel balls to land close to a target ball. The balls can be rolled, thrown, kicked or released down. If a player is unable to throw or kick the ball, he / she can use a ramp. If players are unable to release the ball with their hands, they can use an assistive device – a head/hand pointer. Two sides compete as individuals, pairs or as a team of three over a set number of ends. Each match consists of 4 or 6 rounds ( ends). Each side has six balls (red or blue) end try to get points. Points from each round (end) are summarized at the end of the match. The winner of the game is that side which scored more points. The court dimensions: 12,5 meters by 6 meters.

Classification Players are classified into four classes depending on their disability and functional ability. All players have impaired functional ability in all four limbs.

BC1 BC2 Players in this class throw the ball with the hand or foot. Players in this class throw the ball with the hand. They They may compete with an assistant who stays outside are not eligible for assistance. of the competitor’s playing box, to stabilize or adjust their playing chair and give the ball to the player when requested. Types of competitions Players are classified into four classes depending on their disability and functional ability. All players have impaired functional ability in all four limbs.

• Individual (All) – Player competes versus an opponent of the same classification over six ‘ends’ • Team (BC1 and BC2 combined) – Three players per team of which at least one must be a BC1. Contested over six ‘ends’ with each player having two balls per end • Pair (BC3) – Two players per side over four ends with each player having three balls per end • Pair (BC4) – Two players per side over four ends with each player having three balls per end

BC3 BC4 Players in this class have very severe locomotor dys- Players in this class have severe locomotor dysfunction function in all four extremities. Players in this class have of all four extremities as well as poor trunk control. They no sustained grasp or release action and although they can demonstrate sufficient dexterity to throw the ball may have arm movement, they have insufficient range onto the court. Players are not eligible for assistance. of movement to propel a Boccia ball onto the court. They may use an assistive device such as a ramp to deliver the ball. They may compete with an assistant; assistants must keep their back to the court and their eyes averted from play.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 43 BOCCIA – description of the game*

Court and equipment Court A court surface should be flat and smooth (e.g. polished concrete, wooden, natural or synthetic rubber). The surface should be clean. The court dimensions are 12.5m x 6m with the throwing area divided into six throwing boxes. All measurements of the boundary lines are measured to the inside of the relevant line. Equipment

A set of Boccia balls consists of six Assistive Devices such as ramps and pointers are used by athletes in the BC3. red, six blue, and one white Jack. Boccia balls used in sanctioned competitions must meet the criteria laid down by the BISFed.

Competition wheelchairs should be as standard as possible.

Basic principles The aim of the sport is to propel blue or red ball as near as possible to a white target ball, called ,, the jack”. Each player, pair or team gets 6 balls in each end. The most important rules: • All players must be seated during a game • A game consists of a series of ends • Singles & Pairs = 4 ends • Teams = 6 ends • An end consists of all 13 balls being propelled onto court (the jack, 6 red and 6 blue) • Decided using a coin toss, the winning player/captain chooses to be red or blue • Both sides must occupy a designated box on the court from where balls are propelled • The red side always begins the first end by propelling the jack into court • In a pairs or team match each player propels the jack onto court in turn • In a singles match both players will alternate twice • The player who propels the jack ball also propels their first colored ball

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 45 BOCCIA – description of the game*

• A player from the opposite side then propels his / her first colored ball • The side not closest to the jack plays until they get closer, or run out of balls • The end is complete when all balls from both sides have been propelled • One point is awarded for every ball of the same color, which is closest to the jack • Points scored each end are accumulated to give a final score. • The correct course of the match is guarded by the referee.

PARALYMPIC BOCCIA Believed to have Ancient Greek origins, this is a tactical target sport played by individuals in wheelchairs. The games are played in pairs or as individuals. The sport is similar to boules or petanque. THE AIM To get the ball closest to the jack over a series of ends.

FIELD OF PLAY The court consist of six throwing boxes behind a throwing line to the court

SPECIAL RULES Balls propelled by rolling, throwing of kicking. If a player is unable to throw or kick it, they can use a ramp and where necessery assistance is allowed for passing balls or positioning the ramp prior to a play. Scoring

International rules: http://www.bisfed.com/about-boccia/rules/

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE 47 Erasmus + Sport Programme Erasmus Collaborative Partnerships Project 556971-EPP-1-2014-1-PL-SPO-SCP

BOCCIA – Enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities and their environment through Paralympic sport Boccia

This publication reflects only the author’s views, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.