BeInclusiveWaterPolo

On March 25th in Sofia, during a training session of the Adapted Basketball NSA, Bulgarian sports development association celebrated the World Down Syndrome Day in a special way. Over 40 athletes with intellectual disabilities, their partners and coaches celebrated this special day together with colorful socks that show diversity, rights and opportunities for all.

On March 20, 2024, Sofia hosted an exciting event - the first meeting of the #BeInclusiveWaterPolo project, which presented its innovative mission to overcome stereotypes towards people with intellectual disabilities through adapted sports. This pioneering project aims to unite people through team sports and showed that water polo can be fun and suitable for everyone, regardless of their abilities. The event in Sofia brought together partner organizations, which shared ideas and practices for developing adapted water polo in Bulgaria and Croatia. The main products of #BeInclusiveWaterPolo include an international sports event, an inclusion manual, and an online platform, all aimed at strengthening adapted sports and creating a more inclusive society. The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and demonstrates the commitment of the participating organizations to social inclusion and the development of sports.

On January 30, 2024, in the building of the European Commission in Brussels, the annual edition of the Sport Info Day was held, during which detailed information about the opportunities offered by the sports sector of the Erasmus+ programme to promote sports and physical activity at local, regional and national level was provided. The event brought together over 700 sports experts and was opened by Iliana Ivanova – European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth: “I am convinced that our community can have a greater impact than ever at this critical time for Europe – and for the European sport. Harnessing the power of sport to continue the positive transformation of our societies, in 2024 we renew the EU Work Plan for Sport and support positive change with €51 million and over 300 projects across Europe".

On December 14, 2023, an online meeting was held between the coordinators of projects starting in 2024, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Sport program, and representatives of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), responsible for managing funding for Education, Culture, Audiovisual, Sport, Citizenship, and Volunteering within the Union. During the meeting, the current focuses in the administration, implementation, and reporting of projects in the sports field were presented, along with the realization of the outlined activities. The team of the Bulgarian Sports Development Association participated in the meeting regarding the newly launched initiative #BeInclusiveWaterPolo, set to commence on January 1, 2024, co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union.

Team sports bring people together and the development of inclusive water polo aims to achieve that, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way. In Inclusive Sports, teams are made up of people of similar age and ability. That makes practices more fun and games more challenging and exciting for all. Having sport in common is just one more way that preconceptions and false ideas are swept away. Achieving inclusion through sport in a practical way.