Generation Amazing Youth Festival

We were delighted to take part in the Generation Amazing Youth Festival, the first-ever international school exchange programme alongside the FIFA World Cup™️, designed to foster international cooperation and cultural understanding. Students engaged in sport for development workshops, helping them develop key life skills and address social issues that exist in their communities. 

We delivered a workshop to young leaders from the 32 World Cup nations, and engaged in roundtable discussions on the future of the SDP (sport for development and peace) sector. Specifically, we advocated for prioritising coach development and we showcased our new Powered by Purpose programme, demonstrating how to bridge the divide between high performance sport and sport-for-development.

TAP was a partner along with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - IFRC, Laureus, Coaches Across Continents UNESCO Hamad Bin Khalifa University KAS Eupen Wrexham AFC UNICEF  FUDELA - Ecuador LEADedu  CONCACAF love.fútbol SDSN Youth Solutions Program Generations For Peace Education Above All Foundation UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency UCFB GIS Kick for Life.

We are truly grateful to our hosts, and for the opportunity to listen, engage, learn and make a difference.

Above: One of our workshop participants speaks about their experience of mindfulness.

Above: Two workshop participants share their experience of the festival and the TAP workshop.

Above: Voice recording of a participant who experienced TAP!

"It was our first workshop so it was more of an opening ceremony than the actual ceremony! When we all met each other and saw each other we were awkward, but that first atmosphere built up, and as we heard your story, although the story wasn’t intended to bring us all together, it kind of did. We felt it was relevant because we all felt helpless at some point, through covid and all of the things going on. At some point we’ve all felt that way so we all learnt a lot from your story as a team."

​"It was expialidocious! Everything about it is unique: the mentoring program, how beautifully you combine mindfulness and wellbeing with sports, even your mission "to build a more compassionate world through sport" is ASTONISHING. Without exaggeration that was the best 90mins of my life :D From the bottom of my heart, I wish TAP all the very best and to prosper in the years to come, so glad that such a project exists :)"

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Our experiential workshop gave participants a taste of TAP, showing how we it is possible create meaningful spaces with one another, in which we can connect us to ourselves, each other, and to a higher purpose.

We explored creative, mindfulness-based practices for sport, which focused on arriving with presence, embracing vulnerability and listening deeply.

At the end, we asked students "what would you like to explore further as a result of your experience?". We loved their responses!

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"It kinda made me realised I should meditate, because the feeling that we got was exhilarating."

“More ways by which I can focus in a very very distracting environment. Can mindfulness help me in becoming a better person to others and in achieving all I want or just make me feel better when I’m down? I liked your session”
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“I am interested in and curious about vulnerability”

“I need to explore how to be more present in day to day life.”

“Vulnerability”
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“I want to learn more about mindfulness and exercises that will help with concentration.”

“Explore the methods of mindfulness”

“Channeling our attention and focus”

“How mindfulness helps with concentration”

“How can our vulnerability help others”

“Did mindfulness help with dark thoughts? What stopped you from taking your own life?

“I would like to know about how to control your emotions when you’re in a difficult situations and to improve on it, because I always end up letting it out on others who didn’t deserve it.”

“I want to explore how mindfulness has an impact on mental health”

“About how far I can go as a person if I practice mindfulness. THANK YOU!”

“How do you take a mindful breath in a stressful situation? In the car example, how would you [respond] if the person who hooted expects a quick reaction?”
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​“How to be more focused and be present. How to control my anger”

“Enjoyed the session. Maybe I would like to come here twice or thrice a month cause I just want some time with myself and away from studies.”

“Meditation”

“How mindfulness can help me in supporting myself to be successful in supporting myself.”

“How to make a cooler handshake!”

“Focus is fundamental for achieving goals. I can define my way forward and focus on it.”

“How mindfulness can help with self discipline in the face of difficult situations”
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“I would like to explore more about mindfulness as a way of helping others”

“I wanna know how mindfulness can benefit me socially in my life?”​

“How can mindfulness help us in realizing our and other people’s mistakes? i.e. help us dictate between right and wrong?”
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“How mindfulness can make life decisions easier”

“I was interested in the impacts mindfulness can inflict on our actions and emotional control / stability. I.e. how we treat others and process our feelings.”
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“Learn how mindfulness can help me become a better runner. I get very agitated, stressed, mad before runs, but I’m good at running <3”

“Concentrating at school”
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​“Mindfulness walk”

“I want to explore more about emotion”

“How to be present and listen deeply”

“How does being mindful increase success”

“How to apply mindfulness in school”
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“I’m curious about focusing at one thing and not get distracted”

“Like your training. Want more training.”

“How will the use of mindfulness benefit me, whether it being physically and mentally. Does it help change my mindset in a sense?”​