Main Objectives

The PAPA project has six scientific objectives.

1. To identify the key components of a European-based coach education programme for youth sport based on:
   - Examples of "good practice"
   - Empirical research
   - Contemporary theories of motivation, optimal functioning, and health behaviour determinants in children.
2. To develop a European-based coach education programme for youth sport that will provide a realistic and practical strategy for primary prevention (i.e., eliminating the causes of chronic disease) in young people.
3. To examine the feasibility and effectiveness of the programme as an approach to educating grassroots coaches.

4. To evaluate the effectiveness of the coach education programme by investigating its impact on:
   - The nature of the social environment in youth sport settings
   - Motivation to engage in physical activity
   - Well-being
   - Health behaviour patterns

5. To distribute evidenced-based principles of good coaching practice and project findings to:
   - The scientific community
   - National and international football coaches and association representatives
   - Child health organisations
6. To bring PAPA project findings to the attention of sport organisations, politicians, and other policy makers concerned with youth sport and/or children's health-related issues.

The delivery of all workshops for the main trial phase of the PAPA Project has now been completed in Norway. In total 17 workshops were conducted by the seven selected Coach Educators throughout three different regions in the country.

The first Greek PAPA team meeting with the CEs was held in the University of Thessaly. Head coaches (Aleksiou V., Patronis N., Keramidas P., Sigalas V., Voutiritsas T., Stefanis E., Loutsos G., Masouras A., Karagiannis T., Gioti G., & Kalogiannis P.) of youth football teams from all over the Greece visited the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences to discuss the key elements and future planning of the PAPA project.