FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain — February 2026
I-PLAY: a new European project revives traditional sports as a tool for youth inclusion, wellbeing and cultural heritage
An Erasmus+ Sport project led by ABARKA ONGD (Spain), Biga Gelisim Spor Kulübü (Türkiye) and Association SEDA (Poland) launches an 18-month initiative across three countries to bring traditional sports back to communities, schools and policy agendas.
Oiartzun, 1st February 2026
A new European cooperation project officially launched this month with a clear mission: to revive traditional sports and games as tools for social inclusion, gender equality, healthy lifestyles and intercultural dialogue across Europe.
Co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Sport Programme, the project — I-PLAY: Inclusive Heritage Games – Practice, Learn, Appreciate, and Youth (Proposal No. 101244092) — gathers three organisations from Spain, Türkiye and Poland for an 18-month transnational cooperation that will engage at least 500 young people and 100 educators, youth workers and sports coaches.
The kickoff meeting will take place on 12 & 13th March 2026 in Donostia / San Sebastián (Spain), will be hosted by the project coordinator ABARKA ONGD, in partnership with Biga Gelisim Spor Kulübü (Türkiye) and Association SEDA (Poland).
A response to a European challenge
Despite their cultural value, traditional sports are increasingly absent from school curricula, sports clubs and community life across Europe. Globalisation, the dominance of mainstream sports, and the lack of digital and educational frameworks have pushed many heritage games to the margins — at the very moment when youth physical inactivity, social exclusion and mental wellbeing have become urgent concerns.
According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 young Europeans does not meet the recommended levels of physical activity. Meanwhile, marginalised groups — including women, migrants and persons with disabilities — continue to face systemic barriers to sports participation.
I-PLAY responds to this dual challenge by combining heritage, inclusion and innovation.
What I-PLAY will deliver
Over 18 months, the project will:
- 🏃 Organise three inclusive traditional sports festivals in Spain, Türkiye and Poland, engaging at least 500 young people, with a target of 40% participation from marginalised groups.
- 🎓 Train 100+ educators, youth workers and sports coaches through a Train-the-Trainer programme and local workshops.
- 💻 Develop an open-access digital toolkit and online training platform, hosted within ABARKA’s institutional infrastructure (curso.abarka.org) for long-term sustainability.
- 🏛️ Produce policy recommendations to integrate traditional sports into national and EU education, sport and inclusion strategies.
- 🌍 Build a European network of Traditional Sports Ambassadors to ensure cross-border cooperation continues beyond the project’s lifetime.
A consortium built for impact
Each partner brings complementary strengths to the project:
- ABARKA ONGD (Spain) — coordinator with strong expertise in EU project management, social inclusion through sport and digital learning.
- Biga Gelisim Spor Kulübü (Türkiye) — sports development specialist with extensive experience in youth athletics, inclusive coaching and event management.
- Association SEDA (Poland) — education and policy organisation with deep expertise in lifelong learning, evaluation and Erasmus+ project methodology.
Quote from the coordinator
«I-PLAY is more than a project — it’s a movement. Traditional sports are part of who we are as Europeans, and they hold extraordinary potential to bring young people together across borders, generations and backgrounds. With this project, we want to show that heritage games are not a thing of the past — they are a tool for the future.»
— Clotaire Mesmin Ntienou Tchiengue, President & Director, ABARKA ONGD
Project at a glance
| Project name | I-PLAY — Inclusive Heritage Games: Practice, Learn, Appreciate, and Youth |
| Reference | Proposal No. 101244092 |
| Programme | Erasmus+ Sport 2025 (Small-scale Cooperation Partnerships) |
| Duration | 18 months (February 2026 – July 2027) |
| Coordinator | ABARKA ONGD (Spain) |
| Partners | Biga Gelisim Spor Kulübü (Türkiye), Association SEDA (Poland) |
| Countries | Spain, Türkiye, Poland |
| Website | https://i-play.abarka.org |
| Training platform | Coming Soon |
Media contact
Clotaire Mesmin Ntienou Tchiengue President & Director ABARKA ONGD 📩 clotaire@ongabarka.org 🌐 https://i-play.abarka.org 📍 Oiartzun, Spain
I-PLAY is co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Sport Programme. 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.
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