YETS – Youth Empowerment Through Sport (Erasmus) Duration: 2024.01.01 – 2025.06.30 Within the framework of a newly established cooperation with Heron Scsd, coaches and staff from the Italian organization visited our association to learn about sport‑based methods successfully applied in the social integration of disadvantaged groups, with particular attention to refugees. The project was implemented under the Erasmus+ program.
Beyond the Pitch – BtP (Erasmus Sport) Duration: 2023.11.01 – 2025.06.30 Since 2015, the number of communities forced to leave their homes and seek protection has significantly increased. Upon arriving in Europe, these communities faced new challenges such as lack of integration opportunities, isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For those in such situations, sport can greatly contribute to successful integration into host communities and foster a sense of belonging, which has been shown to reduce stress and increase satisfaction and well‑being.
Our latest Erasmus+ project, “Beyond the Pitch,” aims to develop a transnational toolkit offering sustainable solutions to the challenges faced by displaced communities. The project is carried out in partnership with Lighthouse Relief AMKE (Greece) and Sport for All Suceava (Romania).
Progression Pathways in Social Sports – PPSS (Erasmus Sport) Duration: 2024.01.01 – 2025.05.30 We strongly believe in the value of sport and physical activity for everyone, including socially excluded groups. We aim to inspire marginalized communities – such as homeless people, refugees, teenage mothers, and those struggling with addiction – by offering them a positive, forward‑looking future.
The PPSS project takes the next step toward making Europe more inclusive: a better place for living, exercising, and working. Over two and a half years, sports professionals are trained to become tutors. As educators, they will be able to create new “progression pathways” for socially excluded people, sharing responsibility with participants and training them to become social sports coaches. Through voluntary work, they can develop themselves and take a more active role in society – a classic trainer model applied to an unexplored field.
GAIA Project Environmental issues are a global concern, affecting everyone’s daily lives – and sport is no exception. Whether recreational physical activity or high‑level competition, sport is a central element of society.
The GAIA project aims to raise awareness and promote the use of sustainability measures. Sport offers wide opportunities to foster environmental awareness, capacity building, and far‑reaching measures for environmental, social, and economic development across society.
The research results will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum on sustainability and good governance, designed to assess the competencies needed by sports organization leaders, coaches, athletes, and volunteers.
NEMECSEK Sport Program In 2021, the Hintalovon Foundation, together with the Equality Committee of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, launched a child protection program in sport under the name NEMECSEK Sport. We were honored to be invited to join the NEMECSEK Sport Advisory Board.
The board meets every two months with the goal of creating a new child protection guideline that incorporates the perspectives of all participants in sport, making the sporting world safer for children. More information: Hintalovon Foundation – NEMECSEK Sport
MARIO – Football3 for Democratic Participation (Minority Rights Group International) Duration: 2024.02.01 – 2024.11.30 Minority Rights Group (MRG) campaigns worldwide with more than 150 partners in over 50 countries to ensure that disadvantaged minorities – often the poorest of the poor – can make their voices heard. MRG supports grassroots civil organizations representing vulnerable minority groups, such as Oltalom Sports Association, to protect and promote minority rights and raise awareness of the EU’s fundamental rights and values.
DIALECT 2 Duration: 2022.06.01 – 2024.10.31 DIALECT 2 (Combating youth raDIcalizAtion: Building communities of toLEranCe combining fooTball with media and digital literacy) builds on a group of adolescents who were taught the importance of acceptance and solidarity through football.
The project goes further, setting a dual goal: combining the power of sport – especially football – with media literacy. In today’s world, where the proliferation of mass and social media makes critical thinking and self‑definition more necessary than ever, adolescents’ identity formation overlaps with both offline and online interactions. This need was highlighted during the pandemic as well.
The project aims to train adolescents, football3 mediators, and coaches in related fields so that young people can make informed decisions, break existing stereotypes (e.g., female and disabled athletes), and respond to social challenges by confronting intolerant beliefs and attitudes both on and off the pitch.
In the long term, these informed adolescents will act as agents of change against community‑level manifestations of racism and xenophobia, strengthening their resilience.
Objectives of DIALECT 2:
- Improve adolescents’ critical thinking and resilience against extremist ideas.
- Strengthen the capacity of mediators and coaches (sports professionals, trainers, NGOs) to develop adolescents’ media and digital literacy through football3.
Team up for Ukraine III Duration: 2023.07.01 – 2024.06.30 Our association received support for the third time from the Common Goal initiative, funded by professional footballers donating 1% of their salaries. The project assists Ukrainian refugees who fled to Hungary after the outbreak of the war on February 24, 2022, as well as young people from third countries forced to leave Ukraine. In addition to social integration and skills development, our sports and social work programs aim to respond to the medium‑ and long‑term needs of refugees. Thanks to the support, we also delivered humanitarian aid several times in cooperation with our Ukrainian partner organizations.
Sustainable Future for All Duration: 2024.01.01 – 2024.12.31 Supported by the UEFA Foundation for Children, this project enables us to continue our regular skill‑development activities both on and off the football pitch. In addition to football training, domestic and international championships, and Fair Play Football Roadshows, the support provides scholarships for three of our players, continues English and Hungarian language classes, and trains social coaches. It also funds thematic workshops focusing on school and labor market challenges, as well as issues affecting both male and female footballers.
Supporting Sports for Disadvantaged Students Duration: 2023.10.01 – 2024.03.31 Funded by the Municipality of Budapest’s 9th District (Ferencváros), this project aimed to support disadvantaged students’ participation in sports events. Our association committed to holding weekly football training sessions between October 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, at the Goldball pitch on Wednesdays. In addition, we organized extra sessions on Tuesdays at the Ferencváros Cultural Center and Theatre on Haller Street, offering two weekly opportunities for local residents. The program concluded with a district‑level Fair Play Football Roadshow on March 23, 2024.
Team up for Ukraine Duration: 2022.07.01 – 2023.06.30 Our association received support from the Common Goal initiative to assist Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hungary after the outbreak of the war. Refugees and young people from third countries forced to leave Ukraine were supported not only through regular football training but also with social integration services, including administrative, healthcare, housing, educational, and mental health assistance.
NEETs NEED SPORT Duration: 2021.03.01 – 2023.03.01 The project aimed to develop a training toolkit enabling youth workers, coaches, and other professionals to improve the labor market situation of marginalized young people (NEETs: aged 14–29, not in education, training, or employment) through sport. The program produced training materials, researched best practices, and built an international youth worker network. Our Romanian partner organization was responsible for monitoring and evaluation. Partners: Complexul Cultural Sportiv Studentesc Tei (Romania), Unio de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya (Spain), Restorative Justice for All International Institute (UK).
Score for Respect Project The project’s goal was to ensure the physical and mental well‑being of refugees and support their integration. In addition to football training and championships, we organized language classes and labor market courses. Through football, our staff engaged refugees in the social support system, where they could access housing and healthcare services. Refugees also had opportunities to join scholarship programs to continue their studies or receive tools needed for employment. Using non‑formal education methods, OSE aimed to improve social connections and communication between refugees and host communities.
Leadership in Sport Youth Camp 2023 Supported by the Visegrad Fund, this program brought together the V4 partnership along with football organizations from Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia. A five‑day summer camp was organized in 2023 for young people aged 16–30, aiming to strengthen leadership skills through sport‑based non‑formal education.
Street Child World Cup For the first time in the history of the Street Child World Cup (organized since 2010), a Hungarian team participated, represented by Oltalom Sports Association. The tournament, held in Qatar from October 7–16, 2022, combined a 10‑day football championship with an arts festival and a congress focusing on the situation of children living on the streets or in child protection institutions.
The event gave 14–17‑year‑olds the chance to showcase their football skills and, through workshops and discussions, raise their voices and collectively reflect on how to improve their circumstances. Preparation began in 2021, including regular football training, child rights workshops, and advocacy activities on reducing domestic violence. Our association also took part in meetings and seminars on child protection, communication, and logistics leading up to the tournament.
UEFA Safeguarding In July 2021, eight members of the streetfootballworld network formed a consortium to develop training materials for amateur and “sport for development” organizations, based on UEFA and Terre des Hommes’ online course Child Safeguarding in Football.
As a consortium member, Oltalom Sports Association focused on sexual abuse and neglect in the six‑module course. The training material addressed five types of child abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, online abuse, and neglect), providing expert information and advice. It emphasized the importance of organizations in recognizing and preventing abuse and offered guidance on what to do if a player is found to be a victim.
The course highlighted the role and responsibility of not only coaches but all staff in prevention and recognition, stressing that child protection is everyone’s responsibility.
Here to Stay Project The aim of the Here to Stay project is to create a civic space where youth development and awareness are strengthened, and youth work is carried out through sport. This is achieved in three ways within the European youth and youth work sector:
- Promoting youth participation and civic engagement.
- Giving young people a voice to speak about their dreams, passions, and goals.
- Encouraging young people and youth workers to actively use civic spaces and organizations in their own communities, leading to the growth of youth‑led initiatives. The path to achieving this goal is through sport – especially football.
Dialect Project With the participation of OSE, a two‑year international cooperation project was launched under the EU Justice program, titled DIALECT.
At a time when hate speech is widespread and the interaction between football and politics often pushes teenagers toward extremist parties and racism, using football as a tool for solidarity is more urgent than ever.
DIALECT (Disrupting polarIsAtion: buiLding communitiEs of toleranCe through fooTball) seeks to bring young people together in four European countries – Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Serbia – using football as a powerful instrument to promote human rights and combat intolerance and xenophobia.
The project fosters community building through football and creates a strong network of change, connecting teenagers, their parents, local sports professionals, and pioneering footballers. In this way, it brings about change in local communities and promotes acceptance and solidarity.
The ultimate goal is to play football differently, spreading the message “Football is for everyone: let’s make extremist discourse irrelevant!” and promoting equality and active citizenship. By encouraging conflict resolution skills and strengthening social cohesion, DIALECT empowers adolescents and enhances the capacity of civil society organizations and local actors.
Football for Unity Duration: 2020.01.01 – 2021.08.31 Supported by the European Commission and the UEFA Foundation for Children, and coordinated by streetfootballworld, this project organized a large‑scale street football festival in Budapest alongside the 2020 (later postponed to 2021) European Football Championship. The event emphasized fair play and highlighted the situation and social inclusion of third‑country nationals living in Hungary, as well as the role of young people in integration.
Onside This 24‑month project, involving Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Hungarian partners, aimed to reduce racism in amateur football by developing and disseminating practices. At the same time, it highlighted the opportunities inherent in diversity and multiculturalism on football pitches and emphasized the importance of integration. The project was implemented under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership framework.
New Challenges – New Opportunities 2018–2019 Supported by the UEFA Foundation for Children (also in 2021), this project focused on the integration of disadvantaged children. The funding enabled regular football training, English lessons, Fair Play Football championships, and mediator training. Additionally, we organized a Girls’ Club for female players, labor market training for those preparing for employment, and positive reinforcement workshops.
Chance for All! Let Them Score Since 2017, we have received support three times from the UEFA Foundation for Children to implement the Chance for All! Let Them Score project. Its aim is not only to strengthen our players’ social integration, school performance, and mental health, but also to deepen and expand the knowledge and toolkit of our coaches, social workers, and colleagues in educational institutions through thematic workshops.
SKY4S (Skills for You(th) through Sport) Thanks to Erasmus+ support, this international cooperation project aimed to collect European best practices, resulting in a handbook for grassroots sports and youth organizations. The project sought to expand the capacity of organizations active in sport while developing young people’s skills through recommendations spanning education, sport, and youth. Partners included: ENGSO Youth, EUSA, EOSE, Cyprus Youth Council, Budapest Association for International Sports, and Oltalom Sports Association. Duration: 2019.01.01 – 2020.12.31
MONITOR (Monitoring and Evaluation Manual for Sport‑for‑Employability Programmes) This Erasmus+ supported international cooperation project focused on monitoring and evaluating the impact of sport on employability. It produced a handbook on measuring the effect of sport in developing “soft skills,” which was disseminated at professional conferences. Partners: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Street League (UK), Sport 4 Life (UK), Rotterdam Sportsupport (NL), Rheinflanke (DE), ENGSO (SE), Oltalom Sports Association (HU), International Labour Organization (CH), Magic Bus (IN). Duration: 2019.01.01 – 2020.12.31
Fair Play for Life Supported by Erasmus+, this project enabled two male and two female players, along with their coach, to participate in a youth exchange in Antalya, Turkey, in 2019. Through workshops and friendly matches, participants explored the theme of fair play.
Football3 for All A flagship project of the Streetfootballworld network. Building on the Football3 for Respect handbook, international partner organizations are working together to create an online course that allows participants worldwide to learn the football3 methodology and certify their knowledge with an officially recognized diploma. Partner organizations: RheinFlanke (Germany), European Network of Sport Education, FARE network (Football Against Racism Europe), Albion in the Community (UK), Balon Mundial (Italy), MSIS (Poland), INEX – Sdružení dobrovolných aktivit / Fotbal pro rozvoj (Czech Republic), Associação CAIS (Portugal). Project duration: 3 years.
Welcome to Europe! Diversity is a Value Duration: 2019.01.01 – 2019.12.31 Supported by the Erasmus+ Sport program (Sport as a tool for integration and social inclusion of refugees), this project aimed to promote the social integration of refugees through sport programs.
Football for Employability Duration: 2019.02.15 – 2020.05.31 Supported by FedEx and the UEFA Foundation for Children, this project used the previously developed TeamUp! toolkit to support young people’s integration into the labor market.
Football for a Common Future Duration: 2019.01.01 – 2019.12.30 Supported by the FIFA Foundation Community Program, this project focused on football as a tool for building a shared future.
Erasmus+ V4: Football for Good Visegrad Network This project aimed to bring together partner organizations from the Visegrad region to discuss how sport can be used more effectively to support young people at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Partners: MSIS (Poland), INDEX‑SDA Fotbal pro Rozvoj (Czech Republic), VIAC (Slovakia), and Oltalom Sports Association (Hungary).
FedEx Football for Employability Duration: 2019.02.15 – 2020.05.31 Implemented in cooperation with FedEx Express, the UEFA Foundation for Children, streetfootballworld, and European football‑for‑good organizations. The project aimed to use football to develop young people’s skills for successful employment.
Our association developed football‑based educational programs to help young people integrate into society. In addition to English language classes, we organized labor market trainings to improve communication skills, CV and cover letter writing, and interview techniques. We also supported players already in the labor market but considering career changes, helping them find jobs better suited to their skills and interests. Participating countries: Birmingham (UK), Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Dublin (Ireland).
Football for Respect! Duration: 2018.01.01 – 2018.12.31 This project supported the integration of disadvantaged and refugee youth through the unique power of football. We offered free, regular training sessions at six locations and organized championships where young people from Oltalom Sports Association could meet peers from other social groups.
Alongside socially sensitive coaches, social workers participated in training sessions to help players with housing, education, health, and administrative issues. We organized a Girls’ Club to provide special support for female players. Personalized assistance was offered in job searching, career orientation, interview techniques, and CV writing.
In 2018, we selected and trained 10 youth leaders, who received scholarships to continue their studies and actively contributed to organizing events and training sessions.
Fair Play Football Roadshow events gave our members opportunities to meet teams from diverse backgrounds, playing under football3 rules to foster respect, openness, and dialogue. Summer camps provided relaxation and new friendships, while refugee players improved their Hungarian language skills.
We also participated in international tournaments and football events, which offered not only lifelong experiences and motivation but also excellent opportunities for language practice.
Welcome to the Pitch! 01.01.2017 – 31.12.2017 Supported by the European Commission, this project provided multiple weekly football opportunities for adult refugees living in Hungary. Most of our players lived in Budapest and its surroundings. Our main goal was to help refugee participants build as many personal connections in Hungary as possible, supported by open training sessions and the Fair Play Football Roadshow championships we organized. In addition, we supported integration through individual social work and job‑seeking services.
Football3 for Respect!01.01.2017 – 31.12.2018 The aim of this project was to further develop the football3 methodology created by streetfootballworld, apply it in football training sessions, and compile training materials for “train‑the‑trainer” programs.
The project began with a spring meeting in Budapest. Following a two‑day workshop, we organized a Fair Play Football Roadshow championship in Gödöllő, where – as always – matches were played exclusively under football3 rules. The second meeting took place in Dublin, combined with a large football tournament held on World Refugee Day. In autumn 2017, our team also traveled to the football3 festival in Cologne.
The project was supported by Erasmus+.
Partners:
- streetfootballworld, Germany
- Rheinflanke, Germany
- INEX‑SDA – Football for Development, Czech Republic
- MSIS, Poland
- FARE network
- Sport dans la Ville, France
- Red Deporte y Cooperación, Spain
- Balon Mundial, Italy
- CAIS, Portugal
- Albion in the Community, UK
- Sport4Life, UK
- Konstantin Preslavsky University, Bulgaria
- Sport Against Racism Ireland, Ireland
iPass – International Partners Sharing Skills
01.01.2016 – 31.12.2018 Coordinated by the Homeless World Cup with the participation of 21 partner organizations. Through professional workshops and an annual European street football festival, partners shared experiences and developed the skills of homeless players. Supported by Erasmus+.
Team Up for NEETs! – Innovation in Youth Employability
10.01.2015 – 30.09.2017 In this project, we and our partners explored how sport can be combined with job‑seeking techniques to support the labor market integration of disadvantaged young people. We participated in six meetings, including hosting one ourselves, where partners learned more about our football training sessions, job‑seeking services, and staff.
The exchange of experiences and joint reflection resulted in a handbook for youth workers, presented in autumn 2017. Supported by Erasmus+.
Partners:
- streetfootballworld, Germany
- Sport dans la Ville, France
- Rheinflanke, Germany
- Albion in the Community, UK
- Sport4Life, UK
- Sport Against Racism Ireland, Ireland
- CAIS, Portugal
- Red Deporte y Cooperación, Spain
UEFA Foundation for Children – Refugee Support Programme
15.06.2016 – 14.06.2017 With support from the UEFA Foundation for Children, we launched a 12‑month football program in June 2016 for unaccompanied refugee children living in residential homes. In addition to weekly closed and open training sessions, refugee players participated in our Fair Play Football Roadshow championships and other domestic and international events.
Social workers supported participants with education, housing, job‑seeking, immigration, and other issues.
IRIS – Innovative Learning Resources to Foster Equal Participation in Grassroots Sports, Dealing with Discrimination, Racism and Violence Incidents
01.04 – 31.12.2016 The IRIS project developed innovative learning tools to prevent violence and discrimination in grassroots and school sports, primarily through the training of physical education teachers and coaches.
The main outcome was a six‑language online training platform, accessible at iris-sport.eu/hu/. The materials help coaches and teachers prevent, recognize, and address discrimination, racism, and violence.
Additional outputs included best practices for use in PE classes and training sessions, a sensitizing comic book and game for children, and a cartoon spot produced by our association.
We organized the project’s closing conference and final partner meeting at the Wesley János Theological College in Budapest. Supported by Erasmus+.
Partners:
- Regional Center of Vocational Training and Lifelong Learning, Greece
- Hellenic Open University, Greece
- Konstantin Preslavsky University, Bulgaria
- University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
European Street Soccer Coach
08.2013 – 08.2015
This project produced a unique methodological handbook to help professionals effectively develop marginalized groups (homeless people, refugees, ethnic minorities, children in state care, people with addictions, and those with mental health challenges) through street football.
The handbook is available for download. Supported by the Grundtvig program.