The Road to the Olympics has begun. On the 15th and the 16th of February a new Erasmus+ project, Road to Olympics (RtO), was kicked off with a meeting hosted by Kinetic Analysis in Breda, Netherlands. Partners, including the project leader The International Centre Sports Mental Coaching (Spain), the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Olympiacos SPF (Greece), EPSI (Belgium) and the Technological University of Shannon (Ireland), discussed the importance of this project co-funded by the EU that will be implemented for the next 2 years.
The project will target Ukranian pre-olympian athletes, using Cognitive Training techniques to strengthen their mental skills. Considering the challenging situation their country is experiencing, the project hopes to implement mind coaching techniques, to prevent athletes’ performance levels from dropping.
During the first day of the kick-off meeting, participants had the opportunity of networking, creating the basis for a positive working relationship. The leaders introduced the project and the technology they developed at the International Centre, to strengthen cognitive skills. The second day saw a practical demonstration of the different variants of NeuroTracker, a cognitive training tool that will be instrumental in the implementation of the project. As well as NeuroTracker, other technologies that will be fundamental parts of the project were presented to participants, including IDRO and SportsLapp, by Kinetic Analysis. These tools will be used to collect and analyse data on athletes’ performance levels.
The cognitive training sessions
The involvement of Ukrainian athletes and coaches will be ensured by the presence within the project Consortium of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. In a spirit of inclusion and aggregation, the project’s scope will also be open to non-Ukrainian athletes and coaches. Around 30 athletes from Ukraine and 10 from Greece will be selected to take part in the project, as well as some coaches. They will have access to training sessions held in Madrid (Spain) and Athens (Greece), which will be hosted by project partners in the next two years. The Cognitive Training methodology, developed by the International Centre, will be adapted to the needs of the participants and implemented throughout the project’s lifetime. The project outcomes will be scientifically evaluated. Lastly, a collection of guidelines on cognitive and mental training will be elaborated to give a Europe-wide resonance to the importance of cognitive and mental training.
EPSI leads the communication
Thanks to its expertise in the field, EPSI will guide the Communication and Dissemination of the project. EPSI aims to promote the objectives and results of the project, so as to involve and engage Sport organizations and other relevant stakeholders and raise their awareness on the importance of cognitive and mental training. By coordinating with other partners, EPSI will implement a common Communication Strategy, to disseminate the impact of RtO.
Being part of such an important project pushes the accelerator further on the sports innovation front, one that can have such a positive impact on the lives of people impacted by war, to hopefully keep them on the path to becoming Olympians.
To keep up with project updates, please visit: https://epsi.eu/project/road-to-olympics or contact Mr. Pedro Gormaz – CEO Founder of the International Center Sports Mental Coaching.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them