EUYOUSPORT project
We are bringing youth policy to sports with the goal of improving youth participation in sport governance.
January 2025 – December 2026
About EUYOUSPORT project
Building on the work ENGSO Youth has been developing in the area of youth participation, the European Youth and Sport Together (EUYOUSPORT) project aims to develop youth participation mechanisms within the decision-making processes of sports organisations. This initiative seeks to provide young people with meaningful opportunities to have their voices heard within the sport sector.
Sport, as a social activity, connects, engages, and empowers youth in ways that few other platforms can. However, young people are frequently excluded from decision-making processes, underrepresented in governing bodies, and their voices are often overlooked by policymakers when developing sport policies.
EUYOUSPORT Final Conference
“Evidence-based youth participation in sport governance: from policy to practice”
Location and date
- 15-16 October
- Split, Croatia
Programme
Nadica Sechkov
ENGSO Youth Partnerships and Projects Manager
Nadica Sechkov has been working with ENGSO Youth for the past five years and currently serves as Project and Partnership Manager. In her role, she coordinates European projects and partnerships and leads ENGSO Youth’s work on health and social inclusion, with a strong focus on youth participation and inclusive sport. She also works as a Sport for Development consultant, supporting young people and organisations in using sport as a tool for social inclusion, personal development and positive change.
Chloe Jordan
ENGSO Youth Policy and Projects Manager
Chloe Jordan has been working with ENGSO Youth since March 2025 and currently serves as Policy and Projects Manager. In her role, she coordinates European projects, leads policy development and supports youth participation in sport governance. Drawing on her own experience as a young leader and member of youth boards, she is passionate about empowering other young people to have a meaningful voice in decision-making and using sport as a tool for positive social change.
Tiago Guilherme
ENGSO Youth Managing Director
Tiago Guilherme is the Managing Director of ENGSO Youth. He is the EUYOUSPORT project coordinator and develops and leads initiatives and advocacy aimed at increasing youth participation in sport governance.
Luca Wernert
German Sports Youth Board Member – ENGSO Youth Acting Chair
Luca Wernert has been a board member of German Sports Youth, the youth organization of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, since 2018 and became a member of the ENGSO Youth Committee in 2023. In both organizations, he is committed to the children and youth sports of tomorrow and focuses in particular on youth involvement. He studied political science and works as an agency manager in a communications and consulting agency. As a local councillor, he is also politically active in his home town.
Dr. Anna-Maria Strittmatter
Associate Professor in Sport Management
Örebro University, Sweden
Dr. Anna-Maria Strittmatter is Associate Professor in Sport Management at Örebro University, Sweden. She has extensive experience in both sport research and practice, as Secretary General of the World Snowboard Federation, Vice-President of the Norwegian
Board Sports Federation, and founding board member of Tverga, the Norwegian resource centre for self-organized sport and physical activity.
Her research focuses on sport governance and sport event management. In recent years, Anna-Maria has focused on youth participation and organizational change, with particular attention to how young people can gain meaningful influence in the governance of sport organizations. Her work has examined youth committees, young leaders, and young people’s involvement in sport governance, including in the context of the Youth Olympic Games.
More broadly, her research addresses sport policy making and implementation, stakeholder inclusion in decision making, sustainable development, and the governance of sport and
sport events.
Siiri Turunen
Finnish Olympic Committee – ENGSO Youth Committee member
Siiri works as a professional coach and as a Youth Participation Coordinator at the Finnish Olympic Committee, where she promotes youth participation in sport and works to strengthen young people’s voice in sport decision-making. Turunen also holds decision-making positions in several sport organisations.
André Urban
International Officer, OPES aps, Italy
André Urban is an International Officer at OPES aps, Italy, where he supports the implementation of its international projects, volunteers management, and fosters the collaboration between the organization’s extensive national and international network.
He holds a Master’s degree in Project Cycle Management from UNINT, a Master’s degree in International Cooperation on Human Rights and Intercultural Heritage from the University of Bologna, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences, specializing in Advertising and Filmmaking, from the Universidad de Lima (Perú).
With experience in the third sector and cultural industries, he’s developed a particular interest in the role of sport as a driver of social change, civic participation, sustainability, and inclusion. His work with OPES and its network of over 10,000 member clubs has strengthened their commitment to moving beyond project boundaries and ensuring that initiatives reach and meaningfully impact the communities they are designed to serve.
Tiago Guilherme
ENGSO Youth Managing Director
Tiago Guilherme is the Managing Director of ENGSO Youth. He is the EUYOUSPORT project coordinator and develops and leads initiatives and advocacy aimed at increasing youth participation in sport governance.
Did you know?
of young people participated in a sport club over the last 12 months.
of young people have at some point in their life participated in cultural or sports activities in another EU country.
In 24 out of 27 Member States, a sport club is the type of youth organisation young people are most likely to have participated in.
of youth aged 15-24 exercise or play sport with some regularity.
choose sport clubs as preferred space for young people’s participation.
Source: Eurobarometer Youth and Democracy (2024)
Source: Eurobarometer Sport and Physical Activity (2022)
Youth Participation in Sport Governance
Strengthening Youth Voice and Influence in Decision-Making
The paper first presents the current state of youth participation in sport governance, drawing on the findings from the EUYOUSPORT survey and qualitative evidence from project workshops.
It then considers what meaningful youth participation can look like in practice, using the EUYOUSPORT Youth Participation Mapping as a framework for examining different forms and levels of participation.
Finally, it puts forward recommendations for sport clubs, sport federations and organisations, and European institutions, with the aim of strengthening the integration of a youth perspective into sport governance and decision-making across Europe.
Youth participation in Sport organisations
State of Play and Way forward
Survey results
As part of the EUYOUSPORT project, a European survey was conducted to gain a better understanding of how young people currently participate in the governance and decision-making processes of sport organisations across Europe.
The findings provide an evidence base for the EUYOUSPORT project and its subsequent activities, particularly by identifying gaps in existing participation mechanisms and highlighting examples of good practice, support needs and potential approaches for creating more meaningful and sustainable opportunities for young people to contribute to sport governance.
Objectives of the project
To support the establishment of youth participation mechanisms in sport.
To create a network of European youth and sport organisations.
To deliver the European Youth and Sport Platform 2025 (EYSP25) as a flagship event bridging the youth and sport sectors.
To engage, empower, and connect European youth sport leaders.
To mainstream sustainability, social inclusion, and mental health issues in European and national youth and sport policies.
To raise awareness among young people about EU institutions, youth and sport policies, and relevant opportunities.
To provide learning mobility opportunities for young people with fewer opportunities.
To promote the EU’s common values and fundamental principles through sport and physical activity.
News
European Youth & Sport Platform
Mapping of youth participation
The current mapping of youth participation follows Roger Hart’s Ladder for Youth Participation which is applied to youth engagement in projects, policymaking, or community initiatives. The ladder illustrates different levels of youth involvement, from tokenism to shared decision-making between young people and adults.
Educational course
The EUYOUSPORT educational course offers young people the opportunity to engage in online training designed to deepen their understanding of the European Union’s institutional framework. Through this course, participants learn how the EU positively influences the youth and sport sectors at the national level.
Additionally, the program highlights various opportunities available to young people that emerge from the EU’s cooperation in youth and sport-related initiatives.
Youth voices
Saskia Effert
Chloe Jordan
Daniel Lazar
Denise Robrade
Jan Fiala
Reka Molnar
Paul Bayet
Project partners
