Before Silver Goals, DomSpain and Football Abroad worked together in the Erasmus+ project INCLUDE ME, alongside Technifutbol 2010 SL.
INCLUDE ME explored how football can become much more than a sport. It can be a place where people learn, connect, build confidence and feel part of a community.
The project focused on young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds in Rinkeby and Tensta, in Stockholm, and in the province of Tarragona, in Spain. Its aim was to support social inclusion through football, training and community participation.
Through INCLUDE ME, the partners developed a shared approach to using football as a tool for inclusion. The project created training materials, practical guidelines and learning activities to help coaches, educators and organisations work with young people in safer, more inclusive and more supportive environments.
The project helped participants strengthen not only their football-related skills, but also important social and personal competences such as teamwork, respect, empathy, responsibility and communication.
It also showed that local football clubs can play an important role in community life. They are not only spaces for sport, but also places where people from different backgrounds and generations can meet, learn from each other and take an active role in society.
INCLUDE ME confirmed something very important: football can open doors.
It can help people who may feel excluded to participate in community life. It can create trust between organisations, coaches, families and local communities. It can also give participants a practical and motivating way to learn new skills.
The project also strengthened the cooperation between DomSpain and Football Abroad. Working together across education, sport and inclusion helped both organisations understand common needs in their local communities and identify new ways of responding to them.
Through Silver Goals, football clubs can become more inclusive and community-based, while older adults can find meaningful ways to stay active, connected and valued.
The project continues the spirit of INCLUDE ME: using football as a practical tool for social inclusion, lifelong learning and community participation.
This time, the focus is on creating opportunities for older adults to become active contributors to local sports communities, while strengthening relationships between generations.
The successful collaboration developed during INCLUDE ME showed that DomSpain and Football Abroad share a common vision: football can support inclusion, learning and active citizenship.
Silver Goals takes this vision further by creating new training resources, a digital matchmaking platform and local volunteering opportunities that help older adults become part of football clubs in a structured and meaningful way.
In this sense, INCLUDE ME was not only a successful project. It was the starting point for a broader journey towards more inclusive, connected and intergenerational communities.
Silver Goals builds on the lessons learned through INCLUDE ME and applies them to a new social challenge: the isolation and lack of structured participation opportunities faced by many older adults.
While INCLUDE ME focused mainly on young adults and inclusive coaching, Silver Goals focuses on older adults, volunteering and intergenerational connection.
The idea is simple: older adults have knowledge, time, experience and skills that can be extremely valuable for local football clubs. At the same time, many grassroots clubs need more support with activities such as mentoring, administration, events, logistics or community engagement.
INCLUDE ME created practical tools and learning experiences that helped the partners understand how football can support inclusion, confidence and community participation. These results are now an important foundation for Silver Goals.
These lessons now support Silver Goals in creating meaningful volunteering opportunities for older adults and strengthening intergenerational links in grassroots football clubs.
