Our Story
Spaces for Youth is a common initiative of ISA and SPIN Sport Innovation. We combine 10+ years of operational implementation experience with 10+ years of strategic concept development in sport for development. But most importantly, we share one passion: To make a positive change to the life of youngsters through sport and play.
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ISA
Under the motto We Got Game, we use sports to help strengthening youth so that they can continue to build thriving communities.
SPIN Sport Innovation
Under the motto Together We can Make a Change, we develop concepts that foster positive impact through sport and that are relevant, applicable and sustainable.
Our Team
Our Approach
We believe in the potential of young people, and that sport and play can make them thrive.
For it, we offer a sport for empowerment programme for coaches and youth workers to support them developing life skills, improving social inclusion and creating opportunities for social participation of young people through sport and play.
Youth empowerment is at the core of our Spaces approach. Our pathway starts with sport participation and sports literacy interventions, follows up with personal growth initiatives through S4D interventions, and leads to young leadership. It includes capacity building activities for coaches and youth workers, building local S4D Ecosystems, and running accompanying S4D awareness-raising campaigns.
Our Sport for Development (S4D) approach is grounded in the belief that sport and play have the potential to do good. With it, we exploit sport and play as an intentional tool to reach out to youngsters and to address social issues, such as health and well-being, inclusion, employability, peacebuilding, leadership, or community development. To reach our goals, our approach is grounded in the concept of Positive Youth Development - PYD. With it, we emphasize not only the targeted development of specific life skills, but we also foster five key qualities crucial for holistic youth empowerment and growth: Competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring.
To exploit the full potential of our Spaces Sport for Development approach certain skills and knowledge are required. Therefore, we offer capacity building trainings to qualify as a Spaces S4D Coach. This includes trainings about S4D basics, designing S4D offerings, working with different target groups, plus planning and implementing youth development measures.
Next to ensuring to work with qualified trainers, the proper onboarding and engagement of the variety of local S4D stakeholder groups is an important element of our Spaces approach. It includes awareness-raising to different youth, potential S4D trainers, parents, organisations, and decision-makers. It extends from local S4D events to international social media campaigns.
Last but not least, we believe in nurturing local S4D ecosystems to boost impact alongside our trainings and capacity building. Our S4D ecosytems approach includes setting up local S4D Implementation Hubs that coordinate the variety of local stakeholders. This includes youth organizations, youth centres, sports clubs, community-based organizations, or schools.
Us in Numbers
4.000+
Youngsters engaged through S4D activities this years
50+
S4D Trainers & S4D Mentors trained
10+
Years of Experience in Sport for Development
50+
S4D and Youth Empowerment Partners in over 20 Countries
1
Vision regarding a world where every young person thrives and leads through the transformative power of sport and play.
