About this Project
Many LGBTQI young people still face barriers when trying to participate in sport. They may encounter environments where they do not feel safe, or face policies and practices that fail to recognise their experiences. Play for Pride is a three-year joint initiative by the adidas Foundation and IGLYO to help change this.
The project brings together LGBTQI associations, grassroots sport clubs and sport-for-good organisations from the UK, Spain, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to make community sport safer, more inclusive and more accessible for LGBTQI young people across Europe. It uses a mentorship model that connects organisations with complementary expertise and experience. Each partnership brings together one LGBTQI organisation as a mentor with two grassroots sport or sport-for-good organisations as mentees.
The project’s grant structure provides a total of €1,257,000 across the nine partner organisations, with a minimum grant of €119,000 per organisation over three years. By investing in both LGBTQI expertise and grassroots sport organisations, Play for Pride aims to help build a sport sector where LGBTQI young people are not only able to take part, but are welcomed, supported and able to thrive.
A Collaborative Approach
After a self-assessment process in which mentees evaluated priorities and gaps in LGBTQIA+ inclusion within their organisation, they co-designed an Inclusion Action Plan to tackle those priorities. These plans support each organisation to identify priorities and put meaningful changes into practice: from strengthening staff and coach training, to reviewing policies, improving safeguarding, creating more inclusive activities and making sport facilities and communications more welcoming. Once the implementation of the Inclusion Action Plans is over, the Trios will design a set of Local Amplification Activities to share outputs, learning and results with the wider community and sports sector.
The project also creates opportunities for partners to learn across borders. By sharing experiences, challenges and approaches, organisations can strengthen their own work while contributing to wider learning on LGBTQI inclusion in sport.
Play for Pride officially began with a kick-off event in Brussels in July 2026, where all partner organisations came together to meet, plan actions, exchange experiences and explore the challenges and opportunities facing LGBTQI young people in sport. The event marked the beginning of a long-term learning and collaboration process, as partners began building relationships, identifying potential synergies and laying the foundations for the work ahead.
Mentors and mentees’ presentation
Three organisations from our IGLYO family are supporting the project as mentors:
- LGBT Youth Scotland, United Kingdom, in collaboration with LEAP Sports (United Kingdom)
- LGBT Forum Progress, Montenegro
- ACATHI, Spain
And six organisations are participating as mentees:
- Walsall FC Foundation, United Kingdom
- Track Academy, United Kingdom
- Cross Cultures Project Association (CCPA), Bosnia and Herzegovina
- FK Breznica, Montenegro
- La Rotllana, Spain
- Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya (UFEC), Spain
