GameMind project officially launched in Belgrade: Strengthening mental resilience in european women’s sport
29.12.2025.
The Erasmus+ Sport project GameMind – Building Mental Strength in Sport was officially launched during the Kick-off Meeting held in Belgrade, marking the beginning of a new European cooperation focused on mental health, psychological resilience and capacity building in sport.
Hosted in Belgrade in December 2025, the meeting brought together project partners from Serbia, Italy, Spain, France, and North Macedonia, establishing a shared vision and operational framework for the implementation of activities across Europe. The event represented the first step toward developing innovative approaches that integrate mental preparation into everyday sports environments.
A EUROPEAN RESPONSE TO MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES IN SPORT
GameMind addresses one of the growing priorities within European sport systems — supporting athletes’ psychological well-being alongside physical performance. The project focuses particularly on young female athletes, aiming to strengthen emotional regulation, confidence, stress management, and resilience through structured and practical methodologies.
During the kick-off meeting, partners aligned on project objectives, roles, communication structures, and timelines to ensure coordinated implementation across participating countries. Establishing this common understanding is essential for delivering consistent results within diverse sporting and organisational contexts.
FROM PLANNING TO PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION
The GameMind methodology combines scientific expertise with practical application. Over the 2026–2027 sports season, the project will introduce:
- bi-monthly mental preparation workshops for athlete
- post-match consultations supporting coaching staff
- capacity-building training for coaches and sport professionals
- development of practical tools and educational resources for clubs.
These activities aim to embed mental preparation directly into daily training routines, promoting psychologically safe and inclusive sporting environments across Europe.
STRENGTHENING TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Belgrade meeting also reinforced the project’s strong transnational dimension. By implementing activities simultaneously across multiple countries and clubs, partners will exchange practices, test methodologies in different contexts, and co-create tools adaptable to diverse European sport systems.
This collaborative approach supports mutual learning and ensures that project results remain transferable beyond the consortium, contributing to wider European efforts to improve mental health practices in grassroots sport.
Following the successful launch, the project now moves into its needs assessment phase, including focus groups and surveys designed to map current mental preparation practices and identify key development areas within partner organisations.
Insights gathered during this phase will directly inform upcoming workshops, training programmes, and the development of GameMind educational tools, ensuring that project outcomes respond to real needs within sport communities.
About GameMind
GameMind is an Erasmus+ co-funded initiative dedicated to strengthening mental resilience in sport while enhancing organisational capacity in the field of mental health. By combining education, practical training, and international cooperation, the project aims to create sustainable models that support athletes, coaches, and sports organisations across Europe.
