Hockey4Change
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The Story and Purpose of the Project
Hockey4Change is an inclusive sport initiative promoted by ASD Lazio Hockey Prato Giovani, fostering social inclusion through structured team sport, with a particular focus on children and young people with physical and cognitive disabilities. Ongoing since 2023, the project has progressively reached a phase of methodological consolidation, strengthening its inclusive training model, educational outreach, and territorial partnerships while maintaining regular adaptive hockey activities grounded in accessibility and participation.
Building on the organisation’s experience in inclusive coaching and volunteer-based sport delivery, the initiative integrates accessible training sessions, adapted methodologies, and inclusive sport events that reduce physical, social, and psychological barriers to participation.
The project includes continuous adaptive hockey training, capacity-building moments for coaches and volunteers on inclusive methodologies and safeguarding, and community engagement actions involving schools, families, and local stakeholders.
Impact
The initiative conceives sport as an educational and social lever, capable of reducing barriers, strengthening participation, and promoting wellbeing. In line with inclusive development principles and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Hockey4Change promotes equal participation within mainstream sporting environments rather than segregated activities.
Through adapted field hockey sessions, school engagement, and continuous collaboration with local stakeholders, the project has created a structured and safe environment where inclusion, teamwork, and personal development are embedded in regular sporting practice.
Achievements to date
120+ inclusive sessions (1 session per week over 3 years)
Approximately 180–200 hours of structured, live inclusive training
110+ cumulative children and youth engaged across the three project years
Stories of Impact
“Over three years of weekly training, the hockey field became a consistent inclusive space where young participants could grow, interact, and feel part of a team. The regularity of the sessions transformed sport into a stable social anchor, fostering confidence, relationships, and long-term inclusion beyond the training context.”
Who We Are
Lead organisation: ASD Lazio Hockey Prato Giovani
Team: Volunteers and qualified coaches
Location: Italy, with partnerships and outreach in Spain and Malta
ASD Lazio Hockey Prato Giovani promotes inclusive grassroots sport with a concrete focus on disability inclusion, delivering adaptive hockey activities and accessible training sessions that encourage participation, wellbeing, and social integration of young people with disabilities, while strengthening transnational cooperation and community engagement through sport.
