‘Of course it’s important for us to win medals. But what’s even more important is that winning those medals helps us to make the world a little bit better.’ Gerard Dielessen / Secretary General NOC*NSF The efforts made by NOC*NSF are rightly referred to as a remarkable contribution to the GEO project, according to Sarah Looise and Naomi Ruijs of Utrecht University. The two researchers describe the chosen form of education as a key factor in the children’s development. The clinics given by past and present Dutch top athletes have made an important additional contribution. Looise and Ruijs, research students at the department of Management and Organisational Sciences (USBO), travelled to Rio de Janeiro in the spring of 2015 in the wake of the wheelchair basketball players Inge Huitzing and Irene Sloof, visited the GEO schools, interviewed past and present pupils at the school, and spoke to many other people involved in the project. This resulted in a research paper entitled ‘Een sportieve Nederlandse bijdrage aan de GEO-scholen in Rio de Janeiro’ (‘A sporting Dutch contribution to the GEO schools in Rio de Janeiro’). The top athletes’ visits have an enormous impact, as the research findings make abundantly plain. Meeting the Olympic and Paralympic athletes in person and hearing their inspiring stories about how they reached the top, not to mention having an opportunity to touch an Olympic medal, made success tangible for the pupils. At these moments the top athletes also become role models, who can show students how to turn their dreams into reality. Looise and Ruijs spoke to numerous pupils, and without exception they had loved the experience and said it really motivated them. Projeto GEO / amizade, respeito e excelência < 57 ‘A remarkable contribution’ / Dedicação especial
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