On October 15 and 16, the EUYouSport project partners gathered in Split, Croatia, for their final partner meeting and the project's Final Conference. Both events were held alongside the European Sport Platform 2026.

The European Youth and Sport Together (EUYouSport) project aims to develop youth participation mechanisms within the decision-making processes of sports organisations. The initiative, co-funded by the European Union, seeks to provide young people with meaningful opportunities to have their voices heard within the sport sector. Project is coordinated by ENGSO Youth, and is held in cooperation with several partners, including EUSA Institute. EUSA was represented at the final event by Franciska Coko, EUSA Student Commission member from Croatia.

The morning of the first day began with the partners meeting, presenting what they had achieved locally. OPES from Italy described its work with universities. The students' proposals focused on local synergies, incentives for sports participation and system-wide agreements.

The Finnish Olympic Committee spoke openly about the challenge of working nationwide, with a wide gap between regions and a great diversity of sports and roles. Their youth committee was organised into four groups, each responsible for a different campaign or strategy. A smaller group of young people also drafted documents on what youth need most. Students now sit on the board, and the Olympic Day offered youth try 40 different sports while sharing their views for a youth participation toolbox.

From Portugal, partners presented a local workshop with students in Coimbra. Although bad weather forced a smaller format, the workshop grew into a pilot project. The conference held there became a forum where everyone's voice could be heard. Its legacy lives on through training sessions, plans to establish a commission, and a new connection with FADU - Portugal University Sports Federation.

ENGSO Youth then presented the results of the European survey and position paper, developed in cooperation with EUSA. The survey drew 77 responses from across Europe. It confirmed a striking gap - while 92% of organisations named young people aged 18 to 30 as their target group, and 91% involve them as participants or officials, only 27% have young people as board members. Most organisations rely on informal approaches, and 18% have no youth participation strategy at all. Regular meetings and trainings remain the main tools, and partners agreed that more structured methods are needed in the future.

In the afternoon, partners joined the opening of the European Sport Platform and met sport organisations from all over Europe.

On October 26, the project final conference was held under the theme "Evidence-based youth participation in sport governance: from policy to practice". The conference was opened by Tiago Guilherme, ENGSO Youth Managing Director. He brought the survey findings to a wider audience and showed how far European sport still is from giving young people a real seat at the table.

Dr Anna-Maria Strittmatter of Orebro University followed with a keynote on how organisational cultures and established practices can quietly keep young people out of decision-making. The topic connected naturally with the gaps the survey had revealed.

The interactive panel brought Dr Strittmatter together with Luca Wernert of German Sports Youth and Siiri Turunen of the Finnish Olympic Committee. They combined research with first-hand experience of young people serving on boards and committees.

Andre Urban of OPES then showed what the partners had built in practice, from university workshops to new participation structures. Tiago Guilherme closed the conference with the question that framed the whole event: are we climbing the participation ladder, or just holding it?

The two days in Split marked the end of EUYouSport, a project dedicated to giving young people a meaningful voice in sport decision-making.

For more information and resources, please see https://www.eusa.eu/projects/european-youth-and-sport-together and https://engsoyouth.eu/euyousport/