The meeting was held in Aheloy in 25 July 2023, according to the project „BasketforAll – ERASMUS-SPORT-2022-SSCP – 101090524. “Funded by the European Union. However, the views and opinions expressed belong entirely to their author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority is responsible for them.”

The duration of the meeting was one day, divided into two sessions. Representatives of 11 organizations participated. They represented different sectors of society. Some of the organizations are related to sports for children and youth 10 men and 1 women were present.

Methods of organization and implementation of cognitive and practical activity:verbal – conversation,visual – presentation.

Important issues were addressed such as-

1.)  What are your organizations/ sectors’ (public-civil-private) needs to implement basketball practices as a tool for social empowerment?Here are the answers

– there is no place to hold the trainings – 3

– Inappropriate and inconvenient time for training, related to the children’s school – 3

– insufficient budget for providing coaches – 4

– lack of well-prepared personnel for working with children and youth – 1

2) What kind of opportunities do you see related to your sector (public–civil–private) to implement basketball practices to empower disadvantaged groups? (EU funds, local empowerment etc.)

– Increasing the budget through projects – projects of the EU, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the municipalities- 15

– Training of volunteers to work with disadvantaged children – 5 — Use of the sports facility of the schools in places

3) Do you know any good practices at the local level which focus on real-life examples for the social empowerment of disadvantaged groups through basketball?All organizations deal locally in some way.

• Some clubs rely on parents for financial support and help with logistics.
• Other organizations are supported by the municipal councils with financial assistance.
• Some of the organizations retrain physical education teachers as basketball coaches.

All the organizations present are directly involved with the youth, including those in a disadvantaged position. Most organizations were from the Varna and Burgas region. The next meeting will be attended by organizations from other regions. We have reached out to organizations that have the profile we need and are looking for. We believe that we have raised the awareness of the participants about the project and its ideas. There are already people willing to participate in further projects