SAFE Playground — Newsletter #1
Words that introduce us. Words that stay with us.
It’s soul for Katerina, alegría for Rosario; seny i rauxa for Gil and Joan. And lüften. Words that, for some of us who met for the first time in Giessen, carry a special meaning — or that we’ve picked up from other languages along the way. They helped us break the ice. And we’d like them to guide how we move through this Erasmus+ project, too.
Welcome to SAFE Playground 👋
The soul of SAFE Playground
The name says it all.
SAFE Playground was created with a clear purpose: to build safer environments in sports clubs and organisations, focusing on something essential — mental health and wellbeing for athletes and for the wider ecosystem around them: coaches, staff, families, and leadership.
When we say “safe”, we also mean “healthy”. And when we say “healthy”, we’re talking about culture, habits, prevention, noticing things in time… and having real tools to act when it matters.
Lüften…
Open up. Air out. Let fresh air in.
SP starts from a very real place: in sport (especially in competitive settings), pressure, stress, and certain risk situations can seriously affect psychological wellbeing. Many clubs want to do things properly — but often lack structure, clear protocols, training, and practical resources that don’t feel heavy or unrealistic.
We want to fill that gap with a practical, scalable approach, building on previous learning and strengthening/updating tools that already exist. In other words: less theory in the abstract — more breathing space, more clarity, and more action.
Seny i rauxa
Good judgement and boldness. Method and creativity.
We have two years ahead of us. The issue is clear — now comes the important part: understanding real needs, designing a useful programme, creating meaningful training content, and developing tools that actually work in the everyday life of clubs.
We’ll do it with seny: rigour, listening, good sense — measuring, evaluating, fine-tuning.
And we’ll do it with rauxa, too: staying open to what emerges, what shifts, what evolves — leaving room for creativity and for solutions that don’t just “tick the boxes”, but truly help.
Along the way, SAFE Playground is working towards some very concrete goals:
- Updating and expanding tools and protocols (and, most importantly, their real implementation in clubs).
- Designing and launching a multilingual online training programme on mental health, prevention, and response.
- Creating a SAFE recognition system (Diploma/Certification) for clubs that put it into practice for real.
- Improving the digital support and reporting channel, making it more integrated, user-friendly, accessible, and confidential.
- Boosting international collaboration and awareness through workshops, activities, and dissemination.
La alegría
A project is also a team (and without a team, this doesn’t breathe!!!).
SAFE Playground brings together training, practical tools, a digital support and reporting channel, and a recognition/certification system — to help clubs move from theory to action.
But for that to happen, the most important thing is simple: who’s doing it.
On the SAFE stage:
Coordination — AIC (Germany): holding the thread, keeping the rhythm, connecting the pieces.
Protocols, the communication channel, and the structure — Mithra Legal Advisors (Spain): bringing order where it’s needed and turning it into usable tools (including online).
Academic grounding and evidence — CUS-Palermo (Italy): research, the “state of the art“, wellbeing — the sport from the inside.
Training and the MOOC — UVic-UCC (Spain): turning all this into clear, practical learning that’s easy to replicate and adapt.
Real-world club implementation — TC Favorite (Bulgaria): testing, adapting, refining… and showing what works in daily club life.
And this is how we begin
With soul, with air, with judgement and boldness… and with alegría.
This is SAFE Playground: a project designed to support the day-to-day reality of sports clubs and organisations — so that sport becomes a space for growth, not burnout. A safe place. A place that takes care.
