One Goal For Education

One Goal For Education

The One Goal for Education was an 18- month long programme that aimed to use the motivation of football to empower and engage young people in Europe from 8 to 12 and 12 to 15-year-old, that have a low self-esteem and/or self-confidence and that are struggling within formal education.

The Aims of One Goal for Education

The UEFA Foundation for Children supported the ‘One Goal for Education’ project, which aimed to use football to empower and engage with young people between the ages of 8 and 15 who have low self-esteem and/or self-confidence and are struggling within formal education. All project partners have a long record of providing learning opportunities to young people in their cities and regions. By establishing links with football clubs across Europe, the project has created an e-learning platform allowing organisers to engage with and influence young people at European level. Almost all partners have or are developing a study support centre at their stadium. The centres use the environment and medium of football to help motivate specific groups of young people and support them fully to engage. The targeted groups are a mix of young people involved, in relation to gender, ethnicity, language competency, etc. to avoid the risk of further isolation or disengagement.

Participating Clubs

• Tottenham Hotspur Foundation
• Manchester United Foundation
• Fulham FC Foundation
• Rangers Charity Foundation
• Greenock Morton Community Trust
• Links Park Community Trust / Montrose FC
• Feyenoord Foundation
• N.E.C Doelbewust
• Mifalot
• KAA Gent

Football is a powerful force to engage with young people across Europe. Almost all the project partners have a long record of providing learning opportunities to young people in their cities and region. By linking up with other European football clubs, the project creates a platform to engage with and influence football clubs on an European level. This had an impact on the lives of the 1000 participants in 5 European countries and provided an example of how football clubs across Europe can engage young learners in a meaningful way. The project provided a blueprint for all football clubs in Europe to engage with other local, national and international partners. In particular, strong partnerships between football clubs and local schools and education authorities have been exemplified by the project.

 Project Content

Some partner clubs have a study support centres or learning rooms at their stadium, which they use to facilitate their programmes. For example, N.E.C. Nijmegen and Rangers Charity Foundation both utilise learning centres within their stadiums to facilitate engaging football related educational sessions. Other clubs find ways to bring their programmes directly into the schools and deliver them there. For example, Manchester United Foundation runs their Mentoring Programme in a number of different partnership schools, and they are able to adapt the programmes to suit the needs of each school they attend and each of the students involved. Both the centres and schools utilise the social attractiveness of football to motivate specific groups of young people to participate in educational activities.

Different types of learning programmes included:

• Literacy and numeracy activities using sport as a theme (a session might include one activity to support literacy, one to support numeracy and one to support ICT)
• Training IT skills and computer navigation
• Sessions to improve study skills
• Using concepts in sport to develop related knowledge, skills and understanding (for example, statistics, geography, history and science)
• Opportunities for support with homework
• Fun activities included in the learning such as games, puzzles and quizzes for individuals or groups

 Outcomes

The project had a major impact on the way in which football clubs work with young people in their local areas and enhanced the learning opportunities offered to young people – particularly vulnerable young people. The working relationships established as part of the project did not end with the project end, instead continues after the project had ceased to be funded.

The project had the following impact on participants:

• Greater self-confidence and self-esteem (i.e. personal development)
• Increased participation in sport, physical activity and voluntary activities
• Greater awareness of how to live a healthier life and improve well-being (tackling obesity, etc.)
• More international social contacts and relationships
• Greater awareness of other European nations
• Awareness of how to deal with feelings of achievement and frustration (i.e. both winning and losing).

The One Goal for Education Practitioner’s Guide is now available for download.

Funding Partner

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS)