The UK branch of EYES has 3 ‘key objectives’:
1. Promote EYES in the UK and on a pan-European basis.
2. Give as many people as possible access to the work being undertaken during the EYES 2004 programme.
3. Engage more young people in physical activity and sport, enhancing other developments in the field in the UK.
These objectives run parallel with those of the EU as a whole (see annexe 1).
In terms of promotion, the initiative is being spearheaded by an ‘All-Star team’ of popular former and current stars of European sport; the most familiar of these perhaps being Jurgen Klinsmann, Clarence Seedorf, Amelie Mauresmo and Sir Steven Redgrave. Alongside these 5 are another 37 individuals (as well as the Latvian National Football Team), ranging from internationally famed to somewhat obscure, all of whom are committed to “actively supporting the campaign”. ()
There seems to be a solid base from which to build a real Europe-wide success. In addition to the All-Star Team, EYES can boast partners from all over Europe, from a variety of different sports as well as many Governmental ministries and Educational Associations, 4 TV Channels and, perhaps most significantly, Sponsorship from VISA and the German travel company Vietentours.
There will certainly be a significant amount of publicity surrounding EYES as the year goes on. The logo, accompanied by its slogan (“move your body, stretch your mind”) will be on display at nearly 200 events during 2004, including the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games and Euro 2004. It appears that from a promotional point of view, as well as the infrastructure, the EU has got it right. There will be plenty of opportunities for people to find out about and participate in EYES.
But then what? Even if we were to blanket the entire continent with an awareness of EYES; even if every school in every nation participated; what next? 2005 will not be the ‘European Year of Education through Sport, II’. Surely the priority must be to lay down the foundations for future and continuing education through sport throughout the continent? Any ‘continuing legacy’ or suchlike goes unmentioned in the aims and objectives sections of EYES on both the official website and InfoBase. The focus seems to be on getting as many people interested in sport as possible, then assuming their enthusiasm will remain at a constant level without further promotion. It implies a level of naivety in terms of the EU’s awareness of the seemingly obvious expendable novelty value that can be associated with most short-term governmental and pan-European events of this ilk. There is no function in place to prevent the project from slipping into history without having made any real long-term difference to the education of the public through continuing participation in sport.
The official UK website () contains information for schools on how to get involved, news updates on EYES projects and media releases, and online challenges for schools to take part in by inputting results from different activities into a database to create ‘live, ‘on-line' competition between schools’
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This attempts to address the ‘access’ aim of the website; whether or not it does this remains to be seen.
In my personal experience, the efforts of the British arm of the project so far appear to have been poor, especially on the promotional side. Public awareness seems to be non-existent; I have mentioned EYES to many people, young and old, at every level of the education system; from my neighbours’ primary school children to my 16 year old brother, to my Mother, (a project manager at the local 6th form college). Neither any of them, nor any of the others I spoke to were previously aware of the EYES. Whilst I am aware that this casual sampling cannot be considered in any way to be indicative of the entire British population, they don’t exactly imply a resounding success of the project in my local area. However, it is important to note that in this, as in all cases, only 4 months of the year have passed and there is still time for awareness to be created.
There are 5 projects currently running here in the UK:
The first project on the list highlights the poor promotional aspect perfectly. Whilst it is being run here at Loughborough University; the level of awareness of the project itself and of EYES as a whole has been minimal.
Continental Europe, however, may prove to be a different story. Whilst the British Physical Education system is comparatively relaxed in its decentralisation, possibly leading to the aforementioned ineffectiveness in the dissemination of the EYES message, the French political infrastructure, for example, may prove a far more effective and efficient vehicle for the promotion of EYES due to its highly centralised nature.
Another aspect is to promote the value of voluntary work for the young and the benefits it can provide for informal education. An example of this is in Portugal where by The Portuguese Youth Institute supported by the European Voluntary Service are giving children under the age of 16 the opportunity to help out in European Football Championships 2004 as ball boys and holding flags and banners before games. The aim of the scheme is to bring young people from different communities and racial backgrounds together through voluntary participation in sport.
It may also be argued that, whilst 2004 may have initially appeared to be the ideal year for EYES, with 2 internationally prestigious sporting events being hosted in Europe; the reality may be somewhat different in that EYES could well be overshadowed to the point of insignificance by both Euro 2004 and the Athens Olympics.
To make a conclusive statement about the success of EYES at this early stage in the year would I feel be somewhat naïve. It can be said however, that the right building blocks have been put into place in order to make it a success. The infrastructure and the organisational aspect is far-reaching enough to be of use to the whole continent; whilst remaining centralised enough in key areas to focus on the same goals. The promotional side is again set up right, with representatives from many sports and many countries being involved from the high-profile to the less glamorous.
Whilst the signs of implementation of EYES in schools are encouraging; LEAPS (Learning and education through activity and participation in sports) in Dublin; Basic skills and Education through Sport (Hull); Together in Sport for growing up (Italy); the true results of EYES’ success in schools may take some time due to the enormous amount of feedback required to get a realistic overview of all events and projects.
The apparent lack of continuation in terms of the aims and objectives of the initiative can be put down to one of two things. One is that the EU are banking on the continuing success of a one-off push into sport, ignoring the possibility of a speedy return to the low participation rates of recent years. The more likely explanation is that, whilst the EU realise that the effects of EYES may wear off as the future years go by, it will be more effective, given the comparatively small budget available, to concentrate on getting the message out there to as many people as possible this year than to try to implement long-running programmes with less public awareness.
Ultimately the deciding factor on the success or failure of EYES, as with most things, will be the budget. Even if, as suggested, the money is directed in the correct manner with minimal amounts of wastage, it is still a relatively insignificant sum on an international scale. I would predict that for there to be any lasting impression left by EYES on the future education through sport in this continent, the amount of funding behind the initiative would have to be substantially larger.
Whether or not this is the case, only time will tell.
Word Count (exclusive of Annexes and Bibliography): 1778 words
Bibliography
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Annexe 1
The Aims of EYES
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The aims of the European Year are:
