TRAINING SPORT COACHES FOR ATHLETES WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES: THE TEAMUP PROJECT

This paper presents the Erasmus + TeamUp project which aimed to provide basic skills and knowledge to sport coaches in order to enable them to work with individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and act as facilitators in their own country and local community transmitting this knowledge and values. The rationale for conducting the program is analyzed and its aims and objectives are described, with emphasis given on all relative educational material developed for application in sport and physical education settings. In particular, one of the main activities of the program was the development of the educational package by the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, aiming to increase knowledge and skills of sport coaches in three different chapters concerning ID, Special Olympics and Paralympic Games, individualized education programming and physical activity adaptations and inclusion strategies for athletes with ID, respectively. Dissemination of this educational package and results of sport coaches’ responses from Greece, Croatia, Romania and Spain to three online questionnaires relative to the three topics created, are also presented and analyzed. Finally, practical implications and suggestions for further development are discussed. Article visualizations: