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Power of Public Relations in Sport

Strengthening communication and PR skills in grassroots sport organisations across Europe through innovative training programmes and cross-border mentorship.

📅 2022–2024
🇪🇺 Erasmus+ Sport
👥 5 Partners
🌍 4 Countries

Project Overview

The Power of Public Relations in Sport (PPR) project addresses a critical gap in grassroots sport organizations: the lack of professional communication and public relations skills. While elite sport thrives on media exposure, grassroots clubs and community sport organizations often struggle to tell their story, attract sponsors, engage communities, and advocate for their value.

Funded through the Erasmus+ Sport programme, PPR brings together 5 partner organizations from 4 European countries to develop a comprehensive PR training curriculum tailored specifically for grassroots sport leaders, coaches, and administrators.

Through a series of transnational workshops, a digital toolkit, and peer-mentorship activities, the project empowers sport organisations to improve their visibility, build stronger community relationships, and secure sustainable funding through effective communication strategies.

Project Objectives

1. Build PR Capacity

Equip grassroots sport organisations with essential communication and public relations skills through structured training programmes.

2. Digital Toolkit

Create an open-access digital PR toolkit with templates, guides, and best practices designed specifically for the sport sector.

3. Cross-Border Learning

Facilitate knowledge exchange between partner countries through transnational workshops and study visits.

4. Mentor Network

Establish a European network of sport PR mentors who can provide ongoing support to grassroots organisations.

5. Policy Advocacy

Develop policy recommendations for national sport federations on integrating PR training into coach and administrator education.

6. Sustainability

Create a sustainable model for continuing PR education in sport beyond the project lifetime through digital resources and partnerships.

Project Activities

September 2022

Kick-off Meeting — Rijeka, Croatia

Initial consortium meeting to align on project methodology, assign work packages, and establish the governance framework.

January 2023

Needs Assessment Research

Survey and interviews with 200+ grassroots sport organisations across 4 countries to identify their most pressing PR and communication challenges.

April 2023

Workshop 1 — Rome, Italy

First transnational training workshop on "Storytelling in Sport" — 30 participants from grassroots organisations learned narrative techniques for engaging communities.

September 2023

Digital PR Toolkit Launch

Release of the open-access toolkit containing social media templates, press release guides, event promotion playbooks, and branding resources.

February 2024

Workshop 2 — Lisbon, Portugal

Advanced training on "Digital Marketing and Fundraising for Sport Clubs" with hands-on sessions on campaign creation and analytics.

June 2024

Final Conference — Brussels, Belgium

Dissemination event presenting project results, toolkit, and policy recommendations to EU sport stakeholders and the broader Erasmus+ community.

Project Partners

🇭🇷

Vere Montis

Rijeka, Croatia — Lead Partner

🇮🇹

UISP

Rome, Italy

🇵🇹

Sport Inclusion Foundation

Lisbon, Portugal

🇩🇪

Sportverein Europa

Berlin, Germany

🇧🇪

EU Sport Policy Lab

Brussels, Belgium

Project Results

PR Training Curriculum

A structured 40-hour training programme covering storytelling, social media, media relations, event communication, and fundraising for grassroots sport organisations.

Digital PR Toolkit

Open-access online toolkit with 50+ templates, guides, and video tutorials available in 4 languages (EN, HR, IT, PT).

Research Report

Comprehensive study on PR needs and practices in grassroots sport across 4 European countries, based on data from 200+ organisations.

Policy Recommendations

A set of policy recommendations for national federations and EU institutions on integrating PR competencies into sport education systems.

Downloads

📄

PPR Needs Assessment Report (2023)

PDF • 2.4 MB • English

📦

Digital PR Toolkit for Sport Organisations

ZIP • 18 MB • Multilingual (EN/HR/IT/PT)

📄

Training Curriculum — Facilitator Guide

PDF • 1.8 MB • English

📊

Policy Recommendations Summary

PDF • 980 KB • English