EHF host kick-off meeting for EU sport officials' project

The European Handball Federation has been at the cradle of the international ONSIDE project, funded through the Erasmus+ Sport programme of the European Union.

The EHF proudly hosted the first two-day gathering in Vienna on 11 and 12 April, which officially got the project underway.

New education courses

ONSIDE will, for the first time, explore the generic skills and competences of sport officials and develop new education courses relevant across all nations and sports in Europe.

Led by the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE) and Sports Officials UK, the project partnership has brought together European and national sport federations, a sports council, national Olympic committee and a university.

Sport organisations across the EU, including the 11 partners, recognise the need to improve the image and recognition of sport officials. They will provide them the opportunity to enhance their skills through innovative education, including new e-learning courses.

Through the project the partners will implement the EOSE 7-Step-Model for workforce development and apply the model to the area of sport officiating.

The project is aligned with EU policies in sport, education and employment, in particular promoting education in and through sport with a focus on skills development.

The meeting hosted by the EHF ensured the partners are familiar with the methodology and work plan for the project, which will conclude in 2020 with a European conference on sport officiating.

Generate significant interest across Europe

Given the central role of officials in sport, the project is expected to benefit the whole sport sector and generate significant interest across European sport.

The ONSIDE project is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Collaborative Partnerships in Sport programme. A website for the project is under development and will be launched soon.

Full list of partners:
European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE), Sports Officials UK (SOUK), Association Française du Corps Arbitral Multisports (AFCAM), European Handball Federation (EHF), European Table Tennis Union (ETTU), European Athletics, SportMalta, Dutch Olympic Committee * Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF), Romanian Football Federation (FRF), British Wheelchair Basketball, Bulgarian National Sports Academy ‘Vassil Levski’