🟣 Rome Transnational Meeting: TIME TO TEAM moved from ideas to practice

In September 2025, the TIME TO TEAM project continued its journey with the second transnational meeting, held in Rome and hosted by the Italian partner. After the first meeting in Lisbon, where the partners laid the methodological and educational foundations of the project, the Rome meeting represented a new and important step: moving from shared concepts to practical tools, activities and training experiences.

Over two days of work, the organisations from Italy, Portugal and Bulgaria explored how sport associations can become safer, more welcoming and more inclusive environments for transgender people.

TIME TO TEAM is co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Sport programme and aims to support sport organisations in developing the knowledge, sensitivity and practical skills needed to promote inclusion, respect and equal participation in team sports.

From awareness to responsibility

The Rome meeting focused strongly on the role of sport managers, coaches and youth workers as key figures in creating inclusive sport environments.

One of the first workshops addressed the responsibility of sport association managers. Participants reflected on how inclusion is not only a matter of personal attitude, but also of organisational choices, internal rules, communication practices and daily management.

Sport organisations are not neutral spaces: the way they welcome people, manage information, organise facilities and communicate with members can either create trust or reinforce exclusion. For this reason, the meeting highlighted the importance of recognising sport managers as people with a concrete responsibility in protecting the rights, dignity and wellbeing of transgender participants.

Key elements for inclusive sport organisations

During the meeting, partners worked on several key dimensions of inclusion within sport associations.

A dedicated workshop focused on welcoming, communication and privacy protection. Participants discussed how to create a first contact that is respectful and reassuring, how to use inclusive language, and how to avoid exposing personal information without consent.

Another workshop explored the administrative and logistical aspects of inclusion. The group discussed practical issues such as registration forms, membership documents, changing rooms, use of facilities, uniforms and internal procedures. These elements may seem technical, but they can have a major impact on whether a transgender person feels safe and respected within a sport environment.

The meeting also addressed the importance of managing spaces and organisational routines in a way that reduces embarrassment, protects privacy and prevents discrimination.

The body as a tool for learning

One of the most meaningful parts of the Rome meeting was the workshop “The body as a tool”, where participants experienced the body through sport-based activities.

This session invited the group to reflect on how sport is not only physical performance, but also identity, exposure, vulnerability and relationship with others. For transgender people, sport environments can sometimes become places of fear, judgement or discomfort, especially when the body is observed, compared or categorised.

Through practical exercises, participants explored how movement and sport can help people understand exclusion, develop empathy and rethink the way training activities are designed.

The aim was to show that sport can reproduce barriers, but it can also become a powerful educational tool when activities are designed with attention, care and awareness.

Talking with a transgender person: what to promote, what to avoid

Another important workshop focused on communication during a conversation with a transgender person.

Participants discussed what should be promoted: active listening, respect, confidentiality, openness and the ability to welcome someone’s story without judgement. At the same time, they reflected on what should be avoided, such as minimising someone’s experience, asking intrusive questions, making assumptions, or treating a person’s identity as a problem to solve.

This session helped participants understand that inclusion often begins with simple but meaningful behaviours: listening carefully, respecting the words people use for themselves, and creating a context where no one feels forced to explain or justify who they are.

Sport as a space for inclusion and social wellbeing

The Rome meeting also explored the benefits of sport and its role in promoting social inclusion.

Participants reflected on how team sports can support mental wellbeing, build relationships, strengthen self-confidence and create a sense of belonging. However, these benefits are not automatic. They become possible only when sport organisations actively work to remove barriers and ensure that everyone can participate safely.

For this reason, the partners worked on examples of activities that can be used to promote inclusion, empathy and solidarity within sport groups.

Inclusion Handball: learning through the game

One of the practical activities presented during the meeting was Inclusion Handball.

This group sport activity focuses on equal rights and equal opportunities for people with different gender identities and sexual orientations in sport. Its main learning outcome is to build empathy and solidarity with people who experience discrimination.

The activity is based on the random assignment and interpretation of different “social roles” during a handball match. Through the game, participants experience how rules, privileges, limitations or unequal treatment can affect participation, confidence and group dynamics.

By playing with different roles, participants are encouraged to reflect on discrimination not as an abstract concept, but as something that has concrete effects on the body, on relationships and on the possibility of fully taking part in sport.

This activity showed how sport-based learning can help participants understand exclusion in a deeper and more emotional way, while also encouraging them to imagine fairer and more inclusive alternatives.

A practical step forward

The Rome meeting confirmed the value of TIME TO TEAM as a project rooted in both reflection and action.

After Lisbon, where the partners built the common framework of the training, Rome allowed the group to test ideas, refine activities and translate inclusion into practical tools for sport organisations.

The meeting strengthened the partnership and gave participants the opportunity to work together on concrete questions: how to welcome a transgender person, how to protect privacy, how to manage spaces, how to communicate respectfully, and how to use sport itself as a tool for empathy and change.

Continuing the TIME TO TEAM journey

The second transnational meeting in Rome marked an important step in the development of the project. It helped partners move closer to the creation of practical educational resources that can support sport organisations across Europe.

The work carried out during the meeting will now feed into the next phases of the project, including local activities, further testing of the training tools and the development of the final guide for inclusive sport organisations.

The TIME TO TEAM journey continues, with a clear message: inclusion in sport is not only about opening the door. It is about changing the way we welcome, communicate, organise and play together.