Committed to empowering the youth with life skills through sports, Hoops has launched a 12 month (1 Jan 2019 to 31 Dec 2019) multifaceted Sports for Development program with the support of UNICEF and with the funding of the governments of Netherlands and Germany. This ambitious program encompasses several impactful initiatives to effectively reach a total of 3840 adolescents, 60 adolescents peer educators, 360 public school PE teachers, and 1440 caregivers.
To give back to the community in all its current diversity, 50% of these individuals are Lebanese and 50% are refugees. By collaborating with UNICEF, municipalities across Lebanon, NGOs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Hoops aims to enrich the lives of adolescents by helping them to adapt to challenging situations, overcome problems, harness their leadership potential, and gain a wealth of skills that will positively transform them.
The Sports of Development program entails key initiatives:
- Diverse sports and training activities for adolescents from underserved areas and low-income families aged 14 to 18.
- Life skills and counseling sessions with a highly qualified psychologist.
- Engaging workshops led by social workers and trainers to prevent risky behaviors.
- Professional Training of Trainers for PE teacher at public schools.
- Professional Training of Trainers for youths at four municipalities: Beirut, Bekaa, South, Tripoli/North. 12 promising youths aged 16 to 19 will receive Peer Level 1 training and then Peer Level 2 training so they can unleash the potential and power of the Sports for Development program in areas which are usually underserved, prompting a positive shift in mindset, life skills, health, and well-being.
- The development of a manual that encapsulates years of experience in Sports for Development and provides an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to replicating and implementing a program that merges sports with vital life skills. This manual will help PE teachers at public schools throughout Lebanon transform their classes into beneficial opportunities for the youths by imparting life skills over the years and will also aid NGOs and charities that work with youths.
- Municipalities outreach and empowerment.
All these initiatives come together to create this 2019 program which gives youths across the country crucial life skills rooted in active citizenship, learning, personal empowerment, and employability, such as creativity, critical thinking, participation, empathy, problem solving, respect for diversity, communication, resilience, self-management, decision making, negotiation, and cooperation, in conjunction with fostering work readiness to reinforce economic development.
Adhering to a four-dimensional and systems approach to 21st century skills that’s in line with the UNICEF MENA Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) Initiative, this program spearheaded by Hoops is set to score a win for the future of many.