Youth Exchange “Sport is all around us”, 17-25 July, 2015, Poronin, Poland
The Youth Exchange project “Sport is all around us” was held in Poland, in a small town of Poronin, around 6 km from Zakopane. The venue is truly amazing. The city is peaceful, surrounded by green fields, forests and of course – the Tatra Mountains. We were really lucky to enjoy the midsummer heat as it was hot and the sun was shining brightly every day.
Our team from Lithuania consisted of 7 people – 6 girls and 1 guy who of course became our team leader. The trip from Vilnius to Poronin took almost all day; we left early in the morning and arrived quite late. The next day we started with breakfast and got to know each other better as well as other participants from Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. All of us were so different but we all had the same goal – we came here to know more about sports, about active lifestyle, get to know other cultures, explore the amazing region of the Tatra Mountains and to have a great overall experience.
This project was based on activities related to sports. Even though it was really hot outside, we had a lot of fun playing football, volleyball, race and different types of games that involve teamwork, problem solving, trust among each other, etc. In addition, we had workshops where we discussed about what kind of role sport plays in our lives, whether it is important for us, what is competition and fair play.
Another important part of the project was to share and exchange ideas among the people coming from different countries and different cultures because sport is part of our culture, isn’t it? During the project each country had to prepare a presentation and a sports’ afternoon, which would be based on the most popular national sport. It is interesting how different countries are passionate about different types of sports. For example Italy is the most passionate about football. And they are good at it, everyone could agree.
Our country – Lithuania – has a passion for basketball. We even call it our second religion (some, even the first one). Our national basketball team has won several gold, silver and bronze medals along the way and our players are well known in all over the world. However, basketball is not the only sport we‘re good in. During the presentation about national sports of Lithuania we presented swimming as a growing and perspective sport and one of the highlight sportswoman now – Rūta Meilutytė. Also in Lithuania we have the strongest man in the world – Žydrūnas Savickas. The reason of it probably is he eats a lot of potatoes. Another sport – Latin formation dance team called “Žuvėdra” which in its performances emphasizes teamwork, trust and responsibility. They have also won gold medals in European and World championships.
The second part of our presentation was sports’ afternoon. Unfortunately, there was no possibility to play basketball, as we would’ve wanted. So we decided to play some games, which involve active participation of everyone and are entertaining in general. As an icebreaker we played “Limbo”. It was quite a challenge but some of the participants were better than we expected! One of the more traditional games was a Lithuanian game that children play called “Fishes and the net”. Two other games we introduced were “One touch” which is an alternative version of football and “Hot potato” – a similar game to volleyball but with slight punishments.
One of the days in the project was dedicated to explore the region. We climbed to the Tatra Mountains, reaching almost 2 km above the sea level. It was quite a challenge, it took us around 3-4 hours to go one-way and that day we walked about 20 km. After the climbing some of the enthusiasts still had the energy to go to Zakopane, which is a beautiful, and touristic mountain city. The next day everyone’s feet were aching but we were filled with positive emotions.
The highlight of each evening was the country presentation, where each country presented their national food, drinks, showed some national dances or sang a song.
The last day of the project was the evaluation day. We discussed and shared our ideas about what we liked, what we did not like, what were our expectations before coming here and whether they were fulfilled. Furthermore, we had a workshop where we stuck a paper to another person’s back and all the participants could write some good wishes or some positive thoughts about that particular person. Even though it was done anonymously, I could recognize some of them. I still have this paper with me and whenever I read it, it brings back all the good memories, all those positive and smiling people whose I hope to meet again at some point in my life.
I want to thank VsI Inovacijų biuras (Innovation Office) for sending us to this project. I personally really enjoy sports during my free time like jogging, cycling, swimming, roller-skating. But after participating in the Youth Exchange “Sport is all around us” I have even more motivation to keep moving and enjoy outdoor activities (especially during the summer) as I believe that sport is very important to everyone. Sport is not just an activity – it’s a lifestyle!
