REACH Project Takes Off! Building the Future of Youth Engagement in Sport for All

On 27 & 28 March, the REACH project, led by TAFISA, held its first in-person meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, celebrating the TAFISA European Sport for All Forum 2025. Project partners from Europe and outside Europe were present at the meeting. The project partners includes; ANESTAPS, European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE), University of Limerick, Estonia Sport for All Association (USK), Sport Union of Slovenia, FIGeST, UkraineActive, TIBU Africa (Maroc), the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity, Sasakawa Sports Foundation, and Sport for Life Canada.

The first day of the meeting focused on the overall timeline and structure of the REACH project for the following two years and considered the guidelines and approaches to communication, dissemination, and impact measurement. Partners agreed on the final logo of the project and oversaw the first draft of the REACH website. The Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity from the Netherlands also introduced their gamified project ‘Keeping Youngsters Engaged’ to project partners in order to assess the learning from this project and the content applicable to REACH.

The second day of the REACH project’s meeting delved into the research methods to collect data related to successful policies and strategies of Sport for All organizations on youth engagement. In addition, significant debate revolved around the creation and criteria of the Youth Task Force, the main target group of the REACH project that will be designing and implementing Community Actions in the field of Sport for All. It is expected that the recruitment process for this Task Force will be publicly launched this April.

Following the motto of Bridging the Gap, Building the Future, REACH is designed to empower young people (18-30) across Europe and beyond by increasing their participation in volunteer, leadership, and decision-making roles within the Sport for All movement.