Barcelona, Spain and Stockholm, Sweden – The European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO) and N3XT Sports today announce a three-year partnership which sees N3XT Sports support ENGSO on the CHANGE project.
The CHANGE project aims to contribute to the promotion of integrity and values in sport by focusing on promoting and improving good governance. Through the 16 outputs developed in this project, the organized sports movement will be equipped to adopt innovative governance approaches, tailored for grassroots sports, and to build sustainable and innovative ways to tackle present and future challenges.
Lovisa Broms, CHANGE project manager at ENGSO, said: “We are very happy to start up the CHANGE project and we have high expectations on what the partnership will accomplish throughout the coming three years. At the kick-off meeting we set the basis for a partnership that will support the sports movement to develop and implement innovative strategies on how to tackle challenges related to environmental sustainability, inclusion and digitalization.”
The project comes at a crucial time in the current growth phase of sports organizations. Digitalization is shifting from a nice-to-have to a necessity for all types of organizations ranging from grassroots to elite sports and the opportunity it presents cannot be ignored. For this reason, N3XT Sports is delighted to be joining forces with ten partners from nine countries as part of a consortium of expertise that will specifically address challenges for innovation and change-management within the grassroots sports movement.
The 11 partners are the following: European Association for Sport Management (ENGSO), OPES Organizzazione Per l’Educazione allo Sport (OPES), National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF), Malmö University (MAU), European Association for Sports Management (EASM), World Snowboard Federation (WSF), Latvian Sports Federation Council (LSFC), Basics Sports Club, Union of Sports Federation of Catalunya (UFEC), Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI), and N3XT Sports.
N3XT Sports and the rest of the partners will be using an agile and collaborative approach to develop a new suite of tools designed to help the sports movement overcome the current barriers to digital transformation. The solution itself will be key to modernizing the processes and structures that we see around sports organizations.
Furthermore, with the support of ENGSO and Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI), N3XT Sports will lead the CHANGE Project’s workstream on specialization and innovation. By leveraging its wide network of industry experts and tailoring their solutions to grassroots organizations, N3XT Sports will apply the best practices of professional sports towards the development of the grassroots sports ecosystem. The three partners (ENGSO, SandSI and N3XT Sports) will focus on three main topics: digitalization, inclusion/engagement, and sustainability.
Hisham Shehabi, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of N3XT Sports, said: “The prioritization of digital transformation and innovation of the grassroots sports movement by ENGSO and the consortium of partners comes at a critical juncture in the sports industry. We are excited to be developing a modern suite of tools that can be scaled across the European grassroots sports movement. We will be bringing our ecosystem of partners and experts to accelerate the achievement of the European Commission’s objectives in digitalization, sustainability and inclusion.
Hisham added: “Effective change and modernization is achieved via strong communication, and digital transformation is no exception. Thanks to our understanding of the sports digital ecosystem and building upon recent projects, N3XT Sports will also be co-leading the communication and implementation workstream with Organizzazione Per l’Educazione allo Sport (OPES) to implement, communicate and disseminate the values, purpose and objectives of the CHANGE Project through different activities and digital channels.”
About ENGSO:
The European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO) is a not for profit organization with public responsibilities, the umbrella organization of National Sport Confederations and National Olympic Committees from 33 European countries.
ENGSO aspires to grassroots sport that promotes stronger communities, with the mission to represent, develop and advocate for voluntary-based sport in Europe. ENGSO and its members form a platform for developing and exchanging ideas, and a diverse network of people that share a passion for sport.
About N3XT Sports:
N3XT Sports is an end-to-end digital transformation agency that works with international sporting organizations in football, basketball, and the Olympic Movement, to identify and address their most critical challenges, enabling them to achieve sustainable and competitive advantages within the rapidly changing sports landscape.
N3XT Sports was born in the world’s epicenter of innovation in Silicon Valley, has its operational HQ in Barcelona and its team is spread in different countries in Europe such as France, Italy, England, Spain, and Switzerland as well as in the United States, Morocco and Canada.