Include Me and I Will Understand

Marja Medved
Coordinator of projects and volunteers
Centre Janez Levec Ljubljana

Play, joy and happiness

Imagine a volleyball tournament in which a high school team plays against a team of students with intellectual disabilities. They already tried to play against each other however, it did not work. The high school students adjusted the way they played, tweaking and changing, but to no success. Then, the high school students mix with students with special needs, they play in diversified teams against each other and the game starts. The result does not matter anyway because it is all about cooperation, respect, and fair play. The boundaries between “normal” and “special” are erased; play, joy, happiness, and the inclusion of everyone are the things that matter. The game, even sports in general, is shown repeatedly as an important tool of inclusion, integration, and connection of people with different needs.

The idea

18 years ago the idea arose to bring people with intellectual disabilities from behind the walls of segregated educational institutions into the world, into city centers, among people, and into society. And this is how the international festival year Play with Me was born, followed shortly by the first international inclusive sports and social event Be a Sportsman – Play with Me . From the very beginning, many stakeholders – schools, kindergartens, associations, clubs and volunteers – have been playing an important role in its realization. Over the years, the event gained significant media attention, increased participation, and at the same time contributed to the opening of Slovenian society, which progressively accepted people with special needs. The festival year had an impact not only on Slovenian society, but also on a wider scale, as similar events took place in other countries, and in the case of Slovenia also in other cities, not just Ljubljana. Thus, every year at the end of May, the Congress Square is transformed into one big, heart-warming, connecting, collaborative venue, and on Slovenian Sports Day, the grassy surface of the Triglav Sports Center is transformed into one big, moving, sporting joy.

Sports and inclusion

Sports and inclusion are the central elements of our long-term efforts, with which we provide time and space for people to connect, cooperate, get to know each other, overcome their own obstacles, prejudices and fears. The international inclusive sport and social event Be a Sportsman – Play with Me is an event of this kind that strives to include people with special needs in regular sports clubs, associations or exercise activities in general. Through the participation of schools, societies and individuals in the event, we want to overcome possible obstacles and challenges on the way to realizing this idea of inclusion. And over the years, this is how many beautiful stories were written by associations and clubs such as Woop!, Sport association Sokol, Tatami Judo club and many others who have experience of inclusive practice in the field of sports. Over the years, the event gained significant media attention, increased participation, and at the same time contributed to the opening of Slovenian society, which progressively accepted people with special needs. The festival year had an impact not only on Slovenian society, but also on a wider scale, as similar events took place in other countries, and in the case of Slovenia also in other cities, not just Ljubljana. Thus, every year at the end of May, the Congress Square is transformed into one big, heart-warming, connecting, collaborative venue, and on Slovenian Sports Day, the grassy surface of the Triglav Sports Center is transformed into one big, moving, sporting joy.

Idea behind international events

The essential idea behind such international events is that, on the one hand, they give people with special needs the opportunity to shine, to show that they too can do many things, contribute in the preparation and implementation of such an event, or to actively participate in it. On the other hand, this kind of event sensitizes the majority population to accept people with fewer opportunities, overcome their own fears, prejudices, obstacles and, in the final stage, cooperate with them, play, bounce the ball. The most beautiful part of inclusion is precisely that the boundaries vanish; so that it is no longer even obvious that for example, the leader of the workshop has special needs or that the team of volunteers also consists of individuals with fewer opportunities.

"Sport play, for winning the way" - European project within Erasmus+ sports

The international dimension of such events is important to us, as we have been aiming for years to ensure that our good practices travel across borders. This year, our event is part of the European project within Erasmus+ sports program titled “Sport play, for winning the way” or SportWay. The project brings together partners and individuals from Slovenia, Austria and Italy with the aim of organizing inclusive sport events that encourage the participation and inclusion of everyone, regardless of special needs or social background. The project emphasizes the importance of fair play and strives to create a more inclusive sports culture by organizing workshops and tournaments.

We are all convinced that such events also serve as a training ground for participants and presenters who want to gain knowledge and experience on how to include inclusive practices in regular sports activities, thereby contributing to a long-term change in the approach to sports at the level of the European Union. The goal is also the long-term inclusion of these events in the European Week of Sport throughout the European Union.

The organization of this kind of international inclusive event requires careful and thorough preparations, which begin months before its implementation. With the aim of encouraging and supporting many other organizations across Europe that are willing to start organizing such inclusive international events, we set ourselves the task of carefully recording all the steps, writing them down and making a practical, useful manual. This will include the vision of the organization as well as the involvement of volunteers and everyone who co-creates its realization. The manual will be available next year, and until then, similar events such as Be a Sportsman – Play with Me will also take place in Italy and Austria.

The old Chinese saying is right: “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I’ll remember, involve me and I’ll understand.” Those who will be involved in international inclusive events such as Be a Sportsman – Play with Me will understand the most. Everyone is invited to try and experience it for himself. In Slovenia, there is an opportunity every year in September on Slovenian Sports Day.