Press releasesThe program stands next to 25,000 children for the tenth consecutive year
OPAP, faithful to its commitment to invest in youth and the future of sports, continues for the tenth consecutive year the implementation of the corporate responsibility program OPAP Sports Academies. The program, which started in 2014 with football academies and expanded in 2019, to basketball academies, is a significant investment to the future of sports. Its main objective is to instill in young athletes the basic principles of sport and help them become better people in the future.
In the new cycle of the program, 200 academies were selected to participate, through a very thorough and fully transparent process, in cooperation with the Hellenic Football Federation and the Hellenic Basketball Federation. There are 120 football and 80 basketball academies, which consist of 25,000 athletes aged 6 to 13.
The 200 amateur clubs, which will be supported by OPAP Sports Academies for three years, come from 49 districts of Greece, 46 of which are in Attica, 17 Thessaloniki and 137 in the rest of the country.
The operation pillars of the program
As members of OPAP Sports Academies, participating amateur football and basketball clubs enjoy the following privileges:
- Insurance coverage and injury rehabilitation for athletes
- Provision of sports material
- Webinars for coaches
- Meet distinguished former athletes, who visit the academies and discuss with the children, coaches, and parents/guardians
- Interactive visits by nutritionists and child psychologists of the scientific team of the program, with the participation of parents/guardians
- Participation in major sporting events with sports, educational and entertainment content
The selection process of the academies participating in the program
Before each cycle of OPAP Sports Academies begins, interested academies submit an application to participate in the program and are evaluated based on specific quantitative and qualitative criteria. Inter alia, the safety and hygiene of their facilities, medical support, the regulations and procedures they follow, their training facilities, the welfare for people with disabilities, as well as their social footprint are examined.
The academies that are eligible to participate in the OPAP Sports Academies have to be members of the Federation in their sport, have active groups of athletes 6-13 years old, as well as an active section of men and / or women competing in an amateur category.