We won the EU Be Inclusive award for Breaking Barriers in Sport on Tuesday 2nd May at the EU Sport Forum in Stockholm.
On the week of our 6th birthday, after 900 sessions of pushing social cohesion, empowerment and wellbeing for young Athenians through skateboarding, Free Movement Skateboarding have received recognition from the highest level – an EU Be Inclusive award for Breaking Barrier in Sport. From 97 applications, judges stated that the MKO won the award due to its innovative, access-focussed approach, bringing sport to the people who need it most from our van-based mobile skatepark.
For us, it’s a real honour for us to receive this recognition from such a high level. For six years we’ve been out in public spaces, refugee camps and schools 5 days a week, working with young people in the city who really need it – almost 3000 of them since we started – this award is for them.
Denia Kopita, instructor and communications lead made us proud as she took the mic at the award ceremony, saying that ‘this award is for the girls who are discriminated against in skateboarding, for those who feel they can not pick up sports, to empower themselves and not feel intimidated. Free Movement Skateboarding are pushing this change as seen in our participation statistics, with 39% girls and women involved. We also see this in the behaviour of boys and men in our sessions and the Greek skate scene at large.’
The EU Sport Forum took place in Stockholm on the 2nd and 3rd of May, featuring the Be Inclusive award ceremony alongside providing a platform for crucial conversations around gender equality, integrity and good governance in sport.
Watch Will and Denia receive the award here: https://youtu.be/bpebUI4AXR0
EU article on the winners: https://sport.ec.europa.eu/news/meet-the-winners-of-the-beinclusive-eu-sport-awards-2022
