A Sea of Sports
A project built on sports, play, and inclusion
A Sea of Sports offers children and young people in situations of social vulnerability — housed in foster homes, women’s shelters, or CAS (Extraordinary Reception Centers) — a unique and exciting combination of play and sports activities, in close contact with water and nature.
Under the guidance of qualified instructors, the children try kneeboarding and wakeboarding, water sports that are entirely new to them and improve their balance and motor coordination.
The manager of Wake n Lake, the facility where the sports activities take place, explains: “Thanks to its freestyle nature, with no rigid rules except for safety regulations, wakeboarding allows the kids to express themselves, unblock emotionally, and overcome water-related fears in record time. By the second lesson, small changes are already noticeable.”
At the same time, the children engage in playful activities such as creative workshops, group games outdoors, nature explorations, and balance exercises on indoboards and trampolines. These activities stimulate imagination, collaboration, and coordination. Contact with the natural environment fosters relaxation and curiosity in a spontaneous and engaging way. Participation in group games encourages the development of positive relationships, improving communication skills, cooperation, and mutual respect.
The project also organizes a sailing excursion: a discovery of the sea like these children and young people have never seen before, with open horizons that stimulate imagination and positive emotions.
The combination of activities contributes to their psychological and physical well-being, helping to strengthen self-esteem, improve interpersonal relationships, and overcome emotional barriers.
A collaborator of NOVE involved in the project describes the initiative as “a flower blossoming,” emphasizing that each session represents an achievement: a physical success for reaching a sports goal, the birth of a friendship, the overcoming of a fear, or active participation in a group activity. Progress is continuous.
The children and young people participating in the project are 18 guests — both boys and girls, Italian and foreign, aged between 7 and 17 — who come from the Ain Karim Foster Home and the Comunità Opera Nazionale for the City of Children.
NOVE carries out the activities in collaboration with Il Porto dei Piccoli — an organization that provides professional play-therapy support to hospitalized children and their families — the Italian Federation of Surfing, Water Skiing, and Wakeboarding (FISSW) — a CONI-recognized body dedicated to the development of aquatic disciplines, with a particular focus on the growth of young athletes — and the Wake n Lake facility in San Cesareo (Rome).
