This document summarizes the "Palla in Rete" sports event held in May 2013 in Pontedera, Italy. The event brought together able-bodied and disabled students to participate in inclusive sports like football, basketball, and volleyball. Two groups of students from Istituto Tecnico Commerciale e per Geometri "Enrico Fermi" school participated. The goal of the event was to encourage relationships between students and disabled people and engage them in sports to provide physical, psychological and social benefits. Volunteering at this event helped students gain confidence and awareness of what disabled people can accomplish.

1. HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
TURKEY - Izmir
Third Comenius Meeting
21st -25th October 2013
Learning Active European
Citizenship
“Palla in rete”

2. Associazione Bellaria Solidarietà – Pontedera
Bellaria Solidarity Association - Pontedera
‘’Palla in Rete’’ - SPORT FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

4. Bellaria Solidarity Association
It is a non-profit voluntary association which puts emphasis
on the importance of sport and team games to promote
democracy, equality, inclusion, a sense of belonging,
observance of rules, respect for your playmates and
adversaries.
It promotes and seeks to increase sport and physical
recreational opportunities for disabled people, expecially
those with physical disabilities and mental disorders. The
programs, the centre provides, empower the participants in
their daily lives and have a positive enduring effect on self-efficacy,
health, independences and overall well-being.

5. ‘’Palla in Rete’’
‘’Palla in Rete’’ sports event was held in
Bellaria Sports Centre in Pontedera on 3rd
and 4th May 2013. This inclusive initiative
involved able and disabled people who
competed together in several sports
activities.
Two groups of students from two classes
III ASI and IV CG of our school took part in
this event.

6. The First Day

7. • GGGGGGGGGG
THESE TWO BOYS ARE PONTEDERA
FOOTBALL TEAM PLAYERS. THEY
ARE ABOUT TO GIVE THE KICK-OFF.

8. The main focus of this project “Palla in
Rete” is to encourage the relation
between young healthy people/students
and disabled people and to engage them
and train them in different sports activities
such as football, basket, volleyball,
fencing, archery.

10. The Football Match

12. The beginning of the football match

17. The Second Day

18. The Basketball Match

23. The physical and psychological benefits
of exercise can be very powerful. In
addition to feeling good, increasing self-confidence,
promoting better health and
possible improvement in ability, sport and
exercise can also bring added benefits
such as social interaction and friendship.

24. The Volleyball Match

27. “Palla in Rete” event had the power to
transform volunteers (in this case two
groups of students from ITCG E. FERMI –
Pontedera), in the process, leading to
increased confidence, a strong sense of
personal accomplishment, a new
awareness about what disabled people
can and cannot do.

28. The unique ability of sports to overcome
linguistic, cultural, social barriers makes it
an excellent platform for strategies of
inclusion, integration and adaptation. Sport
can help reduce the stigma and
discrimination associated with disability
because it can transform community
attitudes about people with disabilities by
highlighting their skills and reducing the
tendency to see the disability instead of
the person.

29. What does volunteering mean to you?
Volunteering means:
Challenge, opportunities, a learning experience
Fun, rewarding, vital
Enriching, evolving, inspiring
Fun, fulfillment, sharing
Enpowering, exciting, exhausting
Selfless, joy, others
It activates confidence building.
Just do it!

30. Istituto Tecnico Commerciale e per
Geometri “Enrico Fermi” – Pontedera
(Pisa)
Classes IV ASI and V CG
Pontedera, September 2013