14 Aug EuroFIT Model to be Tested at Grassroots Level
The European Fans in Training or ‘EuroFIT’ programme has proven hugely successful in professional sports club settings, helping men to lose weight, get active and feel better. Owing to this success, the programme will now be tested in grassroots settings as a feeder mechanism to boost participation in the beautiful game.
EuroFIT is a groundbreaking health and wellbeing programme for male football fans aged between 30-65 that harnesses the intense loyalty they have for football, attracting them to a lifestyle change programme delivered by football coaches at club facilities.
To date, the programme has been delivered in professional sports club settings, taking advantage of empty stadia, dressing rooms and on-site training facilities to draw men to EuroFIT and help ensure they attend every session of the 12-week programme hosted by their local club.
Having been delivered in over over 20 football clubs across Europe, Healthy Stadia is keen to test the programme’s appeal in grassroots settings with a view to positioning EuroFIT as a gentle (re-)introduction to the beautiful the game with graduates of the programme going on to take part in regular walking football.
Healthy Stadia will now work with the Liverpool County Football Association (LCFA) to conduct a feasibility study into the delivery of the programme at grassroots level. It is hoped that the results of the programme will help to inform the development of a larger pilot project.
Using brand-new recreational facilities in the city, LCFA coaches will deliver the gold-standard programme to groups of overweight men aged 30-65 and who have a BMI greater than or equal to 27.
Those who carry excess weight or who are physically inactive are at greater risk of injury or over-exertion and anecdotal evidence confirms that many participants who may try walking football or similar recreational activities simply find the jump from couch to open play to great a hurdle.
According to Sport England’s national strategy, Towards and Active Nation, “the biggest gains and the best value for public investment is found in addressing the
people who are least active”. For this reason, participants will also be recruited based on their activity levels and their non-participation in organised football activities for three years or more.
Healthy Stadia would like to thank Liverpool Charitable and Voluntary Services (LCVS) for providing grant funding to facilitate this project. The project is anticipated to start in January 2020.
