Author: Ines Jakopanec

What happens when the voices of local clubs and the reach of a European network come together for a common goal?

That’s exactly what we explored in this conversation with Martjin from EMCA – the European Multisport Clubs Association. As one of the key partners in the STAY project, EMCA brought its experience, connections and vision to help amplify the message that young people should have more than one way to stay involved in sport.

We spoke with Martjin about EMCA’s role in the project, the impact it has had across the EMCA network, and what comes next.

What was EMCA’s role in the STAY project?

EMCA was primarily responsible for coordinating Work Package 4, which focused on communication and dissemination. Our job was to make sure the project’s results were not just documented but shared meaningfully—with clubs, coaches, and stakeholders across Europe. That included promoting good practices, connecting project partners with new audiences, and facilitating the exchange of ideas.

We also worked closely with partners like HAŠK Mladost, UNICAS, Lazio, Levski, and TSV Bayer 04, helping them present their work to the wider EMCA community. One of our highlights was organising the dedicated STAY Conference during our annual EMCA CONNECT Days, where all members could learn from the pilot activities and contribute their own insights.

Why did EMCA decide to support a project focused on preventing youth drop-out from sport?

Because the numbers speak for themselves. Youth drop-out, especially between the ages of 13 and 20, is one of the biggest threats to grassroots sport. EMCA’s mission is to strengthen multisport clubs across Europe, and we knew we had to be part of a project that addressed that challenge head-on.

The STAY project gave us an opportunity to promote solutions: improving coach education, creating more inclusive and flexible club structures, and showing young people that there’s a place for them in sport—on or off the field.

How did EMCA contribute to connecting and supporting the pilot clubs?

Besides being involved in all project meetings and dissemination efforts, our biggest contribution was providing a platform for visibility and knowledge exchange. We hosted dedicated sessions during EMCA conferences, where clubs could present their work, get feedback, and inspire one another. This encouraged a sense of ownership and momentum that continued even beyond the immediate project partners.

How did EMCA facilitate knowledge sharing during the STAY pilot actions?

The most direct example was the STAY Conference held during the EMCA CONNECT event. We presented the project outcomes to all our member clubs and followed that with a roundtable discussion. That session sparked a lot of interest—so much that several non-partner clubs asked if they could translate the STAY e-learning platform into their own languages and use it in their local contexts.

This wasn’t just dissemination—it was the beginning of a ripple effect.

What impact has the STAY project had across the EMCA network?

The impact has been meaningful and multi-layered. We’ve seen:

• Enhanced coach education: More clubs now understand how to approach youth engagement with long-term thinking.
• Policy development: The project encouraged clubs to formalise their efforts to retain young people.
• Stakeholder engagement: From volunteers to administrators, more people are involved in shaping club life.

From a personal point of view, I’d say the most valuable outcome is the cultural shift. Clubs are no longer thinking only about competition—they’re thinking about how to support young people holistically. That’s what will sustain sport for the next generation.

How will EMCA support the continuation of STAY’s practices beyond the project?

The key is EMCA Studia, our digital knowledge library. We’re including the STAY e-learning platform and all related resources there, so they’ll remain accessible to all EMCA members—and even beyond. Any organisation interested in preventing youth dropout in sport will be able to benefit from what we’ve learned.

We see this not as a project that ends, but as a foundation that we’ll keep building on.

Stay tuned as we continue highlighting the people, clubs and ideas behind STAY! Together, we’re shaping a more inclusive, flexible, and future-ready sport landscape across Europe.

As part of our STAY! project spotlight series, we sat down with Dunja from HAŠK Mladost, the club that coordinated one of the most comprehensive pilot actions in the entire project. Working across four sections: water polo, swimming, rowing, and hockey, HAŠK Mladost tested how volunteering, communication, recreational training, and even club governance could help young people stay connected to sport, even after stepping away from competition.

We asked Dunja about the goals behind their activities, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Why was it important to offer so many different roles beyond sport training?

From the beginning, we understood that retention in sport doesn’t always mean keeping someone in training five days a week. Young people leave competitive sport for lots of reasons—academic pressure, injury, burnout—but that doesn’t mean they want to leave their club or community. So we looked at sport as more than performance. What if you could stay involved as a referee? A social media manager? A volunteer at events? That’s what we tried to make possible.

How did young people react to being part of event organisation and club media?

Honestly, they exceeded our expectations. A lot of them didn’t see themselves as someone who would run a medal ceremony or take charge of live updates on Instagram. But once they tried it, they really stepped up. You could see how proud they were to contribute. And others noticed too—staff, parents, and even visiting teams commented on how capable and professional they were.

What was the most complex part of the pilot to manage?

Logistics! We had several sports involved, different calendars, school obligations—it was like building a puzzle every week. Making sure the right people were at the right place, at the right time, and still felt confident in their roles was probably the hardest part. But it was worth it.

How did you recruit youth for these roles—like social media or refereeing?

Most of the time, we worked through the coaches. They know the athletes and could tell who might be interested in doing something different. In water polo and rowing, we reached out directly to girls who had recently stopped competing and invited them to try volunteering or join a recreational group. We kept it open and voluntary—no pressure.

And how did you support girls who had already left competitive sport?

We created recreational training sessions specifically for them—especially in swimming and water polo. No pressure, no scores, just activity and connection. Beyond that, we offered them meaningful roles in events and communications, and in rowing we even invited young women to join the administrative side of the club. It’s about recognising that their experience and voice still matter, even if they’re not wearing a cap or a racing suit.

What was the idea behind the Poolcast video series?

Poolcast was something special. We partnered with the Croatian Water Polo Federation to create a short-form interview series that showed different career paths after sport. We talked to people who stayed in the world of sport—as referees, coaches, physiotherapists, media coordinators. The message was simple: there are many ways to be part of sport, and they’re all valuable. We wanted our young athletes to see that.

What changes did you see in the young people involved?

So many. Confidence, first and foremost. Whether it was someone speaking at an event or leading a warm-up, you could tell they felt proud of their role. We also saw better communication and stronger bonds within and between sections. It helped break down the old “athletes vs. volunteers” mindset—everyone started seeing themselves as one club.

Balancing sport and school is tough—how did you manage that?

We designed most roles to be flexible. If someone couldn’t attend every week, they could help out on a weekend or contribute content remotely. We also launched a tutoring initiative in water polo and rowing, with support from older athletes and parents. It helped relieve some of that stress and showed that the club cares about them as whole people, not just as athletes.

Which roles or activities do you see continuing after the project?

 Several are already continuing. Refereeing and jury table support are integrated into our matchday system. Our social media team still includes young people from the pilot, and in rowing, youth are actively involved in planning and admin. The recreational sessions are still running too. These weren’t “project” roles—they’ve become part of how we work.

What was the biggest challenge overall?

Helping youth see themselves as capable. Many didn’t believe they could be good at something like refereeing or managing a social media account. Some had stepped away from training and weren’t sure if they still belonged. Building that self-belief took time and mentorship, but it was the most rewarding part.

This interview shows just how powerful it can be when a club opens its doors to new forms of engagement. At HAŠK Mladost, STAY! wasn’t just a project — it became a catalyst for rethinking what it means to belong in sport. By creating space for young people to stay connected through meaningful roles, the club is not only keeping athletes involved, but shaping the next generation of volunteers, leaders, and changemakers in sport.

At EMCA, we believe in turning knowledge into action and the recent expansion of the STAY e-learning platform into eight European languages is a perfect example of how our network makes that possible.

This development was driven by the interest and enthusiasm shown at the STAY Conference held during EMCA CONNECT, where we presented project outcomes to our full membership. The session sparked wide engagement, leading to several non-partner clubs volunteering to translate the course for use in their own communities.

Thanks to the collaboration of our members, the STAY e-learning is now available in:

• Catalan & Spanish – Sant Cugat Creix
• Dutch – EMCA Secretariat
• French – French Federation of Omnisport Clubs
• Greek – Panionios G.S.S.
• Hungarian – BEAC – University Athletics Club
• Portuguese – Sporting Clube de Portugal
• Turkish – TAC Sport Club

These translations are more than just language—they reflect local context, terminology, and cultural relevance, making the course truly usable across Europe.

All content is hosted on EMCA Studia, our digital knowledge library. It ensures that the resources developed through the STAY project remain freely accessible to all EMCA members—and beyond. Any organisation working to prevent youth dropout in sport can benefit from what we’ve built together.

This effort is a true showcase of what EMCA stands for: collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and real support for grassroots sport development.

On 8 March 2025, during the EMCA Connect event held in Piraeus, Athens, EMCA was proud to host the STAY! – Decreasing teenage dropout in sport project conference. The event brought together project partners and representatives from around 30 multisport clubs across Europe, all united by a shared goal: strengthening the role of sport in local communities and developing inclusive ways to keep young people engaged.

The STAY! project exemplifies the kind of forward-thinking, collaborative initiatives that EMCA is proud to be part of. The conference served as an opportunity to showcase project results, exchange best practices, and discuss practical strategies to address teenage dropout from sports clubs across Europe.

STAY! was launched with a clear mission: to understand why teenagers are leaving sport and develop tangible solutions to help them stay involved. Throughout the project, partners focused on empowering coaches, offering young people new roles—such as volunteers, assistants, and peer mentors—and promoting supportive local policies to ensure long-term participation in sport.

In its initial phase, the project conducted thorough research, beginning with a desk research report that reviewed existing strategies and successful retention practices across Europe. These insights were deepened through focus groups with coaches, athletes, parents, and club staff, which explored the everyday barriers and needs of young people in sport. Based on this foundation, the project team developed an e-learning platform—a digital resource providing coaches and clubs with concrete tools to identify and respond to dropout risks.

The platform was presented during the conference and drew significant interest—with several clubs expressing their willingness to translate and adopt the material to their respective languages. This enthusiasm reflects both the platform’s practical value and the shared interest among members in creating lasting change.

Project partners shared how they had implemented these ideas locally:

Levski Sport for All (Bulgaria) organised focus groups and piloted a range of activities, including recreational karate camps, youth involvement in coaching and refereeing, volunteering at international tournaments, and youth-led media teams.

Fondazione S.S. Lazio 1900 (Italy) removed financial barriers to sport through a “One Year of Free Sport” initiative, collaborating with schools to provide free training and equipment across four sports disciplines.

Športna unija Slovenije (Slovenia) focused on non-competitive involvement through recreational training for girls and skill-development workshops on topics such as sports psychology, time management, nutrition, and injury prevention – building personal growth and long-term sport engagement.

HAŠK Mladost (Croatia) implemented a comprehensive programme where youth volunteered at events, created media content, participated in recreational sessions, joined a coaching development programme, and received academic support through workshops and tutoring.

TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Germany) activities included recruiting and training young referees, assisting with event organization for initiatives such as Kids karneval and Come together, and leading recreational training sessions involving both children and their parents. Youth were also involved in social media management, helping to create engaging content for the club’s channels.

These local activities clearly illustrated the flexibility of the STAY! model and how it can be adapted to meet the needs of young people in different cultural and sporting environments.

The conference sparked engaging discussions, with many clubs expressing a desire to apply similar approaches in their own organizations. In response, the project team announced the upcoming publication of a best practicals handbook, which will compile the most effective activities and lessons learned from across the project.

Supporting a shared vision for sport
As a network committed to promoting the social value of sport, EMCA is proud to be in the projects like STAY! that bring real, sustainable impact to the lives of young people. The success of this conference shows what can be achieved when clubs, partners, and communities come together to share knowledge and invest in inclusive sport models.