Slovenia spreading the word of inclusive sitting volleyball around Europe

Being a teenager is often hard, especially for kids with any kind of special needs. Inclusion is in this term one of the best tools to help kids and adolescents to feel better in their skin since the main purpose of the inclusive work is to make people feel equivalent. Sit2play is, therefore, an amazing project and we wanted to spread the word of it also in some other European countries, which are not directly involved in this project. With this in mind, we helped to organize the inclusive sitting volleyball tournament for primary school kids in Greece.
 
The tournament was held in Trikala, a small city in the Greek mainland, where the department of sports education and sports psychology is. Adapted physical activity is one of the main subjects at the faculty and this year Slovenian captain of sitting volleyball team and the coordinator for Si2play project in Slovenia, Lena Gabršček, is also studying there. That is how students and professors form T.E.F.A.A. came up with the idea of organizing an inclusive sitting volleyball tournament for kids (with special needs). The event took place on 9th of May and there were six teams of kids, form the age of 10 to 14, form two different primary schools and one school for kids with special needs. Teams were mixed – girls and boys, kids with and without special needs together. Every team played against all other teams and in meanwhile when they did not have any matches, there were some other inclusive activities for kids, organized by students. Since the children were quite young and not very familiar with volleyball, the rules were not so strict and they were aloud also to catch the ball and throw it over the net with one or both hands. At the end every kid got a medal and a diploma, confirming that they were part of this tournament.
 
The excitement of kids was incredible. They supported each other and cheered for their favorite teams when not playing. It was, for sure, amazing day, full of joy and laughter. Hopefully, this is not the last inclusive sitting volleyball tournament in Trikala.

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