Upskilling Coaches

On May 9, 2025, at the National Sports Academy "Vasil Levski," Europe Day was marked with a discussion forum on the topic "Gender equality in sports science and practice". The event took place as part of the 28th scientific conference for PhD students and students, titled "Personality, motivation, sport", and brought together lecturers, students, and external experts with an interest in equality and social justice in the sports sector. The conference was organized with the support of the SUPPORTER project / Horizon Europe, in which the NSA is a partner.

Representatives of Bulgarian sports development assocation, Joanna Dochevska and Ivelina Kirilova, participated in the "United 4 Equality" event, held on March 8, 2025. The event was organized by the German Embassy in Bulgaria in partnership with the Sofia Municipality – Izgrev District. Dedicated to promoting gender equality in sports, the event brought together experts, athletes, coaches, students, and representatives of institutions and organizations to discuss ways to improve access to sports and physical activity for people of all ages and backgrounds.

The UPSkilling Coaches: A New Methodology to Empower Female Coaches in Minority Sports project was launched with the first transnational project meeting held in the period 19-20 December 2024 in Palermo, Italy, hosted by CEIPES ETS. The meeting brought together partner organisations from Italy, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Hungary to lay the foundations of the project dedicated to empowering female coaches through innovative training tools. On behalf of Bulgarian sports development association, partner from Bulgaria, the meeting was attended by Joanna, Dochevska, Ivelina Kirilova and Martina Dimitrova.

The project "UPSkilling Coaches: A New Methodology to Empower Female Coaches in Minority Sports" is the result of a synergistic partnership between organizations from four European countries – Italy, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Hungary. With a primary focus on empowering female coaches in minority sports, the project introduces groundbreaking training tools to enhance skills, coaching quality, and employability.