Turkish Olympic Committee’s (TOC) ‘Sports Culture and Olympic Education Programme (Oli)’ aims to help young generations acquire sports culture early in life. The initiative, which has been running for more than ten a decade, promotes sporting values and the Olympic spirit among elementary students in Turkey. It targets students in the 4th and 5th grades (9-11 years old pupils) in elementary schools with the purpose of encouraging them to take part in physical activities, keeping them away from bad habits and contributing to their healthy development physically, mentally and socially.
The Oli Project is about exercising multi-activity interactive educational programme thru 45-minute interactive audio-visual presentations, culmination of meticulous work undertaken by academicians, child psychologists and the TOC Sports Culture and Olympic Education Committee members. Contributing to the attractiveness of the programme and its dynamism, the much-cherished professional presenter and the mascot “Oli”, created specifically for this programme, interact with the children during the presentations. Presentations include the topics of benefits of sport, Olympic Games and its philosophy, Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence, principles of Olympism, Fair Play, healthy nutrition and environment.
Oli engages with children with videos, cartoons, small competitions, puzzles and riddles, all tailored to help nurture an understanding of mental and physical benefits of practicing sports and staying healthy, Olympism and the concept of fair play as well as awareness of healthy nutrition and the environment. Children actually enjoy themselves as they focus on the presentations and the intended education is given through the sessions, which they eagerly follow. Active and retired Turkish Olympic champions and medallists, famous sports persons, journalists, TV sports presenters and even upcoming athletes are invited to take part in the presentations to interact and share their experiences with the pupils. Inclusion of champion athletes and sports celebrities in the presentations is especially relished by the children and meeting their role models has proved to be a very valuable count for keeping their interests alive.
Fully supported by the Ministry of National Education since its inception in 2006, the Project has and continues to accomplish its objectives, drawing great interest and admiration from the participating students, their teachers and families as well as from the governorships, municipalities and Ministry of Youth Services and Sports’ local directorates. Communications measures are implemented to make the public aware of the programme with posters, brochures and information disseminated in the media. The presentations receive wide media coverage especially at the local press and TV.
Presentations are carried out to a great extent at the school or public halls in the visited cities and sometimes at the Olympic House in İstanbul. As occasions require, ‘special’ editions of the Project have been held in host cities before they are to organize Olympic events like EYOFs and other international competitions, in order to enlighten and encourage the children as well as the community about the upcoming event. Other ‘special’ editions are also held in the south-eastern cities of the country, to contribute to the educational programmes towards integration of the Syrian refugee children in the region.
City visits are organized for four or five days and two to three presentations per day. 20 cities will be visited during the current school-year, from October 2017 to June 2018, where 12 to 15 presentations will be made during each city visit. The targeted number of attending pupils in this term is 150.000. Within the 11 years since its inception, close to 5.000 Oli presentations were made in 48 provinces, reaching more than 1.700.000 children with a positive effect on raising the number young people who are choosing to take up sport.