UNITED NATIONS DRUGS OFFICE LAUNCHES GUIDE FOR COACHES ON USING SPORT TO TEACH HEALTHY LIFE SKILLS

UNITED NATIONS DRUGS OFFICE LAUNCHES GUIDE FOR COACHES

ON USING SPORT TO TEACH HEALTHY LIFE SKILLS

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 13 August (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the non-governmental organization Right To Play will launch the “Coaches’ Guide for Using Sport to Teach Healthy Life Skills” at a round-table forum in Athens, Greece, on Saturday, 14 August.  The round-table forum, “Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace”, is organized by Right To Play and will focus on the potential of sport to achieve social, economic, health and development goals.  Confirmed speakers at the event include Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Peace and Development, Adolf Ogi, and International Olympic Committee Vice-President, Dr. Thomas Bach.

“This event is a perfect forum to launch the Coaches’ Guide.  This guide has been tested and proven to be an invaluable tool to help coaches pass on the important life-lessons that can be learned through sport”, said Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, UNODC.

“Sport represents the best school of life by teaching young people the skills and values they need to be good citizens”, said Mr. Ogi.

The Coaches’ Guide is a CD-ROM containing a training package for use by coaches to help them maximize the potential of sport.  The information included is a guide for coaches in all sports (or teachers and youth leaders) in conducting an active and fun training for youth aged 10 to 14 to increase their awareness of the ethical decisions they make in sport, and to practice making decisions based on fair-play values.

The CD-ROM provides everything needed to conduct the training, including handouts, forms and a detailed guide.  In addition, the information contains tips on how best to deliver these sessions, such as practical suggestions for conducting role-plays and activity-oriented techniques to really engage young people on the topic of fair play.

Right To Play is a humanitarian non-governmental organization committed to improving the lives of the most disadvantaged children and their communities through sport for development.

The Coaches’ Guide can be downloaded from www.unodc.org or ordered by contacting:  UNODC, Advocacy Section, Vienna International Centre, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, fax: (43-1) 26060-5931.

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