Sports Clubs for Health 2015-17 project recognised as an Erasmus+ Success Story

The Sports Club for Health approach facilitates the involvement of people of all ages in health-enhancing sports activity. As part of the SCforH 2015-17 project we, for example, developed the latest version of the Sports Club for Health Guidelines, identified health effects of specific sports disciplines, and created a comprehensive online guide for sports associations on how to operate in accordance with the Sports Club for Health approach. The project involved 19 partner institutions from eight countries.

The Erasmus+ programme has recognised the Sports Club for Health 2015-17 project as one of its “Success Stories”. Many Erasmus+ projects receive “Good Practice” recognition, but only 10% are recognised as “Success Stories”. The assessment is made by the European Commission.

“We were really pleasantly surprised to receive such a valuable recognition of our work. Thanks goes to all our project partners,” says SCforH 2015-17 project manager Ulla Nykänen of the Finnish Olympic Committee.

“The Sports Club for Health approach has been implemented in a variety of ways and in many countries. For example, in Finland, the national sports club quality programme─Star Club─follows the Sports Club for Health principles. So, our 500 Star Clubs work on promoting our approach every day,” Nykänen says.

“This project involved a wide range of stakeholders, and of course we did face challenges along the way. For example, the differences in physical activity policies and contexts between countries affected how the project progressed, but we have learnt from each other, and got the things done,” says the Sports Club for Health 2015-17 project coordinator Timo Hämäläinen of the Finnish Regional Sports Federation.

“We have gotten off to a good start in disseminating the Sports Club for Health principles, and we are going to keep this up in future projects,” Hämäläinen says.