CRECER EN POSITIVO (Growing in a positive way) is a project based on sports and leisure activities for people with intellectual disabilities. A social entrepreneurship venture born after carrying out a market study in Spain, that revealed the lack of organizations carrying out programmes like this one on a national level.
The aim of this non-profit association (Crecer en Positivo) is to generate sports and leisure activities that promote a positive growth environment for people with intellectual disabilities. An affective, social environment of joy, friendship, and values.
It seeks to offer more than just sporting activities, it means to give a professional approach, collaborating with people who have experience both working in sports and with people with intellectual disabilities.
"Our real motivation and what makes us truly happy is to do our part, so that our guys with intellectual disabilities can develop in a friendly environment, with the best possible care, through the indescribable power of sport to unite, to generate cohesion and to have fun."
Osvaldo Marquez, Co-founder and General Manager
From the beginning, they worked along professionals: pedagogues, psychologists, coaches, and social workers, to create an offer for sports activities whose objective was to develop a unique space for people with intellectual disabilities, so that they can thrive in a safe and inclusive environment, carrying out a work of cohesion and forming friendships, through the benefits that can be acquired through sport, which go far beyond just competition.
When the work began, what they wanted to achieve was clear. They sought the support of ESBS by AMOS together with theValencia CF Foundation Training Centre, securing at the time a slot among the most innovative university entrepreneurship projects to carry out their activities.
Being a project born from ESBS by AMOS, Crecer en Positivo was backed by the Valencia CF Foundation, an idea that fitted the social values of the club and got the support from the very first moment.
It started with small activities, such as the first camp for people with intellectual disabilities organized by a Spanish first division football club and with specific actions with Valencia CF football players, as well as activities shared with the club, among others.
It currently has three lines of work with the Foundation: the intellectual disabilities football team of Valencia CF, competing at the moment in LaLiga Genuine, a social project of LaLiga’s Foundation. It consists of a league of the same Spanish clubs of LaLiga, oriented for people with intellectual disabilities.
They also had the opportunity to have a basketball team and academy, in collaboration with Godella Basket (one of the most well-known basketball clubs in Valencia), as well as educational projects for coaches, brought by the Spanish Federation of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Through ESBS, they train coaches so these can monitor those intellectually disabled individuals in different sports, such as athletics, basketball, football and swimming.
In addition to the projects mentioned above, they continue to work on specialized activities for people with intellectual disabilities, involving their families, such as hiking, swimming activities, a paddle tennis team, surfing, and dance, among others.
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