Seeking Anti-Doping Junior Ambassadors
European University Sports Association, EUSA, in cooperation with ENGSO Youth and other partner organisations, is seeking Junior Ambassadors for the European Anti-Doping Initiative (EADIn), representing EUSA in the youth field of the project.
Six (6) young people between ages 18 and 23 at the time of application will be chosen for training and education. Apart from the age limit, they should be students in a European institution of higher education, should be involved in a university, federation, sports club or similar institution, have to be fluent in (at least) English, preferably also in French, should be active or formerly active in elite sports and driven to act as a peer educator and be available for the European Anti-Doping Camp in Burghausen (22.-26.6.11). All costs will be covered from the project, so no participation fee by the participants is foreseen.
The aims of the EADIn Anti-Doping Junior Ambassador Camp are to implement methods, exercises and experiences that the participants can (at least partially) reproduce during the national/ organisational implementation of EADIn, to communicate the importance of experiential educational methods to the participants, which will convey both cognitive knowledge and trigger affective (emotional) responses, to motivate the participants to implement national/local anti-doping measures (in their federation, sportclub, school etc.) and to address the participants as future leaders/ spokespersons.
The content of the camp can be summarised in 5 points: Conveyance of positive messages: healthy lifestyle, mental strength, sensible career planning; Development of knowledge: nutritional supplements/ painkillers, effect of advertisements, pitfalls, responsibilities and rights of sportswomen/ sportsmen; Reflection and argumentation concerning the various topics of doping; Developing skills to react in certain situations; and getting to know Strategies and methods of intervention.
At the end of the ADJA Camp, the participants will take a final test, and participation certificates will be given, also appointing participants as “Anti-Doping Junior Ambassadors.”
The main action plan of the project, which is now only starting, is to develop a peer-to-peer network of Anti Doping Junior Ambassador (ADJA) through Youth Camps, to develop a best practice catalogue and an EU Model for preventive Anti-Doping Education, to implement this model in several levels (Local, National, European) to produce educational training tools to support the work of the ADJA and to spread the information and to organise seminars and conferences on National and European levels in order to encourage networking, communication and future long-term cooperation between the partners.
Registrations can be submitted until March 25, 2011 at www.eusa.eu. Participants will be confirmed by April 4 about their selection.
The European Anti-Doping Initiative is funded by the EU Preparatory Actions in the field of Sport 2011-2012.