Location and general information
Access to Sport - 
Children with disabilities - 
Infrastructure and equipment - 
Personal developmentContext
Fundación Empate is an Argentinean NGO that provides free, non-profit spaces and activities for people with Down syndrome to promote their holistic development and social growth. Since 2016, the foundation has offered activities such as football, tennis, music, art and job training workshops.
The activities promote encounters between people with and without different types of disability. The aim is to foster inclusion in all social, cultural and sports contexts, with an emphasis on psychomotor and cognitive development. In this continuous learning environment, people with Down syndrome develop in terms of sports, culture and play, helping them to improve their quality of life and find their place in society. The goal is for them to learn about themselves to better understand the world around them.
Project content
Across Argentina there is a shortage of places where people with Down syndrome can learn to play sports, have fun and develop. Empate for Argentina seeks to fill this gap by offering quality inclusive sports spaces with fewer barriers. To help achieve this, Fundación Empate is developing a scheme of free social franchises to share its experience, methodology, guidelines and success with other locations.
Objectives
- Improve the health of the participants
- Develop learning skills through sports practice
- Promote personal and social recognition through sports activities as a framework for social inclusion
- Encourage socialisation so participants can establish new bonds and create friendships
- Promote self-esteem, individual growth, self-control, courtesy, social skills, respect and cooperation with others
- Encourage recreational and sports meetings with other schools and institutions
- Generate exchanges with society to facilitate the active participation of all those who wish to collaborate
Project activities
- Developing a franchise model in three Argentinian provinces (Buenos Aires, Tucumán and Mendoza)
- Developing training programmes to share the knowledge and experience gained by Fundación Empate over the last four years
- Identifying three institutions to become franchises
- Supporting and mentoring the franchises in the first few years of development
- Gathering experiences to provide feedback and improve the methodology so that the franchise can be expanded to more provinces in the future
Expected results
- Reach 500 people with Down syndrome (110 in Cordoba and 100 per province)
- Develop free quality sport spaces for people with Down Syndrome
- Promote the values of Fundación Empate in the three social franchises: respect, empathy, equality and equity, commitment and confidence
- Develop tools to facilitate the integration of people with Down syndrome into different social environments, such as school, local community, family and work
Partner
