iCoachKids aimed to improve the experiences of children and young people in sport by facilitating the development of a specialist youth sport workforce. It did so by:-Gathering a solid evidence foundation to inform best practice in youth sport coaching-Providing guidance for coach education providers in how to create suitable learning opportunities for youth coaches-Developing a suite of FREE educational resources for youth sport coaches.iCoachKids was led by Leeds Beckett University and comprised a consortium of leading organisations in coach education such as the International Council for Coaching Excellence, the Hungarian Coaching Association, Sport Ireland-Coaching Ireland, Universidad Europea de Madrid, NOC-NSF, Lithuanian Sport University and the Royal Belgian Football Association. The strength of the consortium laid in the breadth of organisations which included international coaching bodies, national coaching leads, national Olympic committess, universities, coaches associations and sport federations. The project aimed to impact on the following target populations: 1) National coordinating bodies for coach education; 2) VET providers and National Federations 3) Coach Employers 4) Coaches Associations 5) Coach Developers. Along the lifespan of the project a large number of sporting organisations signed memoranda of understanding to become iCoachKids supporters and promote the use of its outputs amongst their members. This include amongst many others: UEFA, FIBA, World Rugby, International Skating Union, Real Madrid Foundation, Special Olympics, Sport England and the German Olympic Committee. Beyond the European Union, other international organisations who have become iCoachKids supporters include the United States Council for Coaching Excellence, Save the Dream Qatar and the Singapore National Youth Sport Institute.To achieve its goals, iCoachKids delivered the following intellectual outputs: 1. Audit report of the children’s coaching workforce in the seven European countries represented in the partnership to better understand its demography and needs.2. Case Study Compilation to capture examples of best practice in the education of children's coaches in VET.3. A European Coaching Children Curriculum to guide organisations wishing to develop coaching qualifications in this area.4. Three Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) for coaches of children covering the curriculum which can be used by VET institutions to facilitate the mass training of children's coaches.5. Study guides to support the three MOOC candidates pre, during and post course.6. Creation of iCoachKids Online Platform to host the MOOCs and serve as a hub and repository of information for the European community of children's coaches. iCoachKids has delivered all the promised intellectual outputs and multiplier events on time and on budget and to an extremely high level of quality. This is proven by the fact that iCoachKids became one of the Erasmus+ flagship projects for the European Commission who regularly highlighted the project’s achievements on their social medial channels and invited iCoachKids to be one of only two projects to be presented at the recent Finnish Presidency Sport Conference in Espoo on 24th September 2019. The strength and impact of the project has also been shown in the awarding of a new Erasmus+ Sport three-year grant to develop iCoachKids Plus, an extension of the original iCoachKids project.By completing and successfully disseminating the project’s intellectual outputs and activities, iCoachKids has also had a significant impact in the education and employability of youth coaches and in the quality of the sporting experiences of children and young people. To date, over 10,000 coaches a month from all over the world have visited our platform and 3,000 coaches have taken the free online training. As the following paragraph shows, these numbers are due to grow exponentially shortly into the hundreds of thousands. In relation to its long-term benefits, the most significant impact of the project has been the birth of a the iCoachKids Global Movement. Dozens of organisations from all over the world have expressed an interest in introducing the project’s philosophy, exemplified in the iCoachKids Pledge (10 Golden Rules for Positive Sport Experiences), and using the FREE resources. Over the last three years, iCoachKids’ participation has been requested at conferences and events across five continents, in countries including the USA, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, China, Singapore, Japan and all over Europe. Requests from organisations and institutions to affiliate to the iCoachKids movement and to run national iCoachKids conferences have poured in. Translations into additional languages such as Portuguese and Chinese are under development as are customisations of the MOOCs for football and ice skating. Without question, iCoachKids is here to stay.

<< Objectives >>The partners and the outdoor sports sector are better equipped and have confidence to engage disadvantaged young people with sustained, long term participation in outdoor sports. That the partners and sector would have greater awareness of other EU funds for learning mobility and how to use this for inter cultural connectivity in the outdoor sports sector.That young people and outdoor sports are empowered to participate sustainably and how to measure and mitigate carbon impact<< Implementation >>We will implement:Research activities to understand and compile evidence of issues and barriers as well as good practice in engaging, connecting and empowering disadvantaged young people6 knowledge sharing exchanges for partners but that involve local experts10 knowledge building and social developing micro exchanges for young people20 presentations at a national and international level on the projectOnline activities to widely promote the project<< Results >>A greater number of outdoor sports clubs and organisations are involved in offering opportunities for disadvantaged young peopleThat more young people are inspired and empowered to participate in learning mobility through the medium of outdoor sportsThat the toolkit would be widely shared and used by the outdoor sports sectorThat more young people feel connected to and engaged with nature and the sustainability agenda

<< Background >>Non-formal and informal Physical Education (PE) have holistic benefits for all in the physical, social and cognitive domains. Therefore, adequate educational programs for educators active in non-formal settings and coaches active in informal settings in sport clubs (initial education; CPD/in-service education) preparing for the delivery of quality PE (QPE) are of highest importance. The project partners recognise that one issue for respective curriculum formulation on a bachelor and/or master level is what constitutes a PE educator and a coach, the relationship between these roles within different European education systems, and potential points of connection. Therefore, an inclusive approach needs to be taken, and current diverse European-wide practices need to be taken into account. In consequence, the project partners are seeking for a general approach focusing on the education and training of PE educators and coaches, allowing an adaptation to national/regional contexts and/or different phases of education and training (initial education; CPD/in-service education). Because of the diverse accreditation practices of well-established and legally constituted national frameworks across Europe, the need for flexibility in the provision of educational programs has to be recognized.<< Objectives >>The project partners have the common aim- to bring together European HEI and other stakeholders active in the education and training of PE educators and coaches and to foster their cooperation and mobility exchange; - to provide an overview of respective educational programmes on bachelor and/or master level in Europe;- to inform and facilitate the formulation of a profile of a non-formal PE educator and a coach as well as a modular curriculum for educational programmes on bachelor and/or master level in HEI based on this profile and core principles; - to make this modular curriculum available for any interested stakeholders;- to foster the delivery of non-formal and informal QPE by strengthening the non-formal PE educator and the coach profession.<< Implementation >>In the following, the project activities are summarized (M: month; TPM: transnational project meeting; R: project result; LTT: learning, teaching training activity; E: multiplier event): Work package I – Phase I, lead by CEREPS (M1-M6): TPM1: Kick-off meeting in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg), hosted by the University of Luxembourg (M1) R1: Overview on Educator and Coach Education and Training in Europe (M1-M6) R2: Recommendations on Educator and Coach Education and Training (M1-M6)LTT1: Joint staff training event “Preparation of the pilot implementation and evaluation study” in Sevilla (Spain), hosted by the University of Sevilla (M5)Work package II – Phase II, lead by the University of Sevilla (M6-M10): R3: Educator and Coach Profile (M6-M10) R4: Theoretical and methodological framework for Educator and Coach Education and Training (M6-M10 ) TPM2: First interim meeting in Madrid (Spain), hosted by Valgo (M9) Work package III – Phase III, lead by the Université du Luxembourg and WGI (M9-M30) R5: Modular programme for Educator and Coach Education and Training consisting of course modules and micro-modules (M9-M30) R6: Method and tool to evaluate the Educator and Coach Education and Training course modules and micro-modules (M9-M13) TPM3: Second interim meeting in Münster (Germany), hosted by WGI (M13) R7: Evaluation study and report (M13-M25) LTT2+3: Combined intensive study programmes for teaching staff higher education learners “First Piloting of Educator and Coach Education and Training course modules and micro-modules (teachers and trainers + learners: future educators and coaches)” in Limerick (Ireland), hosted by Sport Ireland (M17) LTT4+5: Combined intensive study programmes for teaching staff higher education learners “Second Piloting of Educator and Coach Education and Training course modules and micro-modules (teachers and trainers + learners: future educators and coaches)” in Luxembourg (Luxembourg), hosted by ENEPS (M21) TPM4: Third interim meeting in Limerick (Ireland), hosted by WGI (M25) R8: Handbook and guidance material for the implementation of the modular Educator and Coach Education and Training programme (M25-M30) E1-E4: 3 national multiplier events hosted in each of the participating project countries by the respective national partners (M29) TPM5+E5: Final meeting connected to the international multiplier event in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg), hosted by CEREPS (M30)<< Results >>An open resource platform will be developed, including as a main a modular educational programme on bachelor and/or master level in HEI consisting of course modules and micro-modules, developed based on recommendations on non-formal PE educators and coach education, a non-formal PE educator profile and a coach profile and a respective theoretical and methodological framework. In addition, several intangible results are expected for the different group of project participants, e.g. knowledge and experience in non-formal and informal PE and increased teaching skills for educators and trainers in HE active in that field.