The European Leadership Development Programme, which was funded by the European Commission, under the Lifelong Learning Programme, has come to a close. This two-year programme, also known as the ENTER! Project, was awarded to the MOC’s Women in Sport Commission, after joining forces with five other countries and bidding for funds.
The project was co-ordinated by the United Kingdom and partnered by France, Malta, Denmark, Finland and Hungary. The entities involved included the Sport & Recreation Alliance (UK), the French Olympic Committee, the Finnish Sports Federation, the Danish Olympic Committee and the Hungarian Sports Confederation. The co-ordinators for the Maltese partnership were Julian Pace Bonello and Dr Lucienne Attard.
The partnership aimed to develop a template and manual for the running of women’s sports leadership development programmes across Europe.
To do this, each country hosted a two-day seminar, joined by representatives from each country, focusing on specific skills or knowledge that female leaders will need, such as leadership, communication, marketing, event organisation and knowledge of sports structures.
The project took place between September 2009 and July 2011. The elements discussed included: Leadership and strategic planning, European Sports Structures, Overcoming conflict and influencing people, International Sports structures and trends, Marketing and Sponsorship.
The session in Malta was held last 6-7 March and focused on “Communication: European customs and styles”.
The response from the participants was very good. The level of the presentations was very high, with several high ranking officials from European sports organisations sharing their experiences and strategies. The participants enjoyed particularly working in groups, which enhanced cross-cultural exchange of ideas and provided a rich networking experience.
‘The Manual’, which is the end product of this project, can be used to organize seminars or courses aimed at providing women involved in local sports organizations with leadership skills, enabling them to have more responsible roles within their organizations on a local and international level.
Copies of this manual will be made available for organisations interested in developing their own leadership programmes. Interested parties may request more information by emailing MOC on [email protected]
More information on the project may be found on www.nocmalta.org and www.engso.eu/engso-enter.php
This project has been funded with the support of the European Commission, under the Lifelong Learning Programme. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.