Gerard de Gràcia is one of the volunteers of the SPEY (Sport for Prevention of Extremism in Youth) project, led by the UFEC and co-financed by the European Commission.
Among many activities, he participated in the organization of football training sessions that took place throughout 2021 at the EU Sant Andreu installations. Training with young people between the ages of 16 and 25 has shown again that the values transmitted by sport are an effective tool in preventing radicalization in crime and extremism among young people.
“I think the SPEY project is a great opportunity for people from different cultures to share a space to do one of the things they love most: doing sport,” says de Gràcia. On the experience, he adds that “there are very special moments and fair play. Sport becomes a connecting tool for young people with different cultures, languages. There is an unique atmosphere”.
On the other hand, Salim Sherioui and Saibo Dabo, participants in the SPEY project, agree that they have learned a lot from very different people. In addition, they emphasize that what they loved most was playing as a team and sharing time with everyone.
Over the next few weeks, the new SPEY board game will be released, with key aspects of the program. Later, will arribe the final part of the project, with the meeting with all the partners in Cordova and the presentation of the conclusions, next June.