Brazil Tennis Coaching

If you love tennis and are looking to volunteer, then this project is perfect for you. On this programme you’ll travel to Brazil and help to coach tennis to disabled players and underprivileged children from the nearby favelas. Combining this with learning Portuguese in the world’s most beautiful city, this is a full on cultural and sporting gap experience!

When people think of Brazil and sport, their first thought is football and it’s obvious why. However, other sports are popular and football is not always a game that everyone can play. Therefore, it’s important that other sports like tennis are promoted and developed to give each child/person the opportunity to enjoy a fit and healthy lifestyle. This project aims to do this by offering tennis coaching to disabled players and children who may not get the opportunity to play a different sport.

Project Age Limit
Minimum age 18, maximum decided on potential participant’s health

Project Requirement
High beginner or intermediate Portuguese. Participants should also ensure they are fit and able to join a project of this nature.

Sports Volunteer Programme
This programme is divided up into two parts: the first is a language and cultural experience, where you will study Portuguese in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In the second part you will change location to Belo Horizonte, where you will utilise your tennis skills and coach this sport to local children and disabled players.

Volunteer Role
During your project you’ll have the opportunity to take part in the following programme activities:

You have a lot of flexibility as a volunteer to coach tennis in the way you see fit. The important thing is to remain confident and to keep your sessions fun!

Please Note: Sports facilities and equipment in Brazil are not the same standard as those you expect in the West. Equipment is often old, with facilities at a minimum. When coaching in the favelas, facilities may be non-existent and equipment used may be very basic/old.

Coaching Placement
The programme works with a number of different tennis clubs and initiatives throughout Belo Horizonte. The project was founded in 2002, originally called “Tennis at the Park.” It was primarily geared towards providing tennis instruction to all kinds of people, from different walks of life; however, it soon realised that it did not cater to those people who needed it most – the poorer, marginalized people from the nearby shanty towns (favelas) and those people not physically able to take part given the current conditions of the project. The end result was the foundation of “Tennis Over Wheels” in November 2003, which extended the project to disabled children and adults and out to people in the underprivileged communities. Today, the project has a number of disabled participants, each competing in local and national competitions.

Project Aims
The project provides not only sports coaching, but also develops important therapeutic values. The programme works on both the physical and psychological sides, giving athletes the opportunity to interact with a group and to develop socially and personally through the sport. This gives participants the chance to have a far healthier lifestyle in both a physical and sociological way.

Typical Volunteer Day
Working with the tennis project coordinator, your volunteer day will vary according to the daily schedule of players attending the project. Some players attend on the basis of doing basic exercise and learning new skills. These players have 2 weekly sessions, 11/2-2 hours in length. The more regular players attend 3 times per week, for a minimum of 2 hours. In addition to this, you will coach at the local favela, which means you will be coaching for an average of 3 hours a day.

You will coach small groups of players, no larger than 3-4 people at a single time.
Please Note: This daily schedule is a guideline and may vary according to the project’s needs at the time. Always try to be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances and differing conditions that may affect your lesson plans.

Favelas
Part of the programme will involve you coaching at the local favela, called Favela Cafezal. Favelas are informal settlements that have developed on the outskirts of many of Brazil’s cities and towns. These mainly house the under-privileged and poorer people who have moved to these areas to find work. Nowadays, hundreds of thousands of people live in these settlements, in sub-standard conditions and without access to a number of the key amenities children in developed countries or other parts of Brazil have.

On this part of the programme you will coach tennis to 6- 14 year old children, in separate classes according to their age (6-9, 10-12 and 13-14 year olds). In total, there are around 300 children who attend for tennis coaching, English lessons and social activities, all of which you are free to join and help coordinate. A coordinator from the project will attend your coaching sessions with you to ensure that all equipment and resources are available and that you have a fellow coach to work with. They know the communities well and will ensure that you remain safe.

Please Note: group sizes at the favelas may vary according to the number of children attending. Language and Culture Programme

Language and Culture Programme
The language school placement is optional, however, the project requires you to have a minimum of high beginner Portuguese.

Our language school is located just moments away from your accommodation in Rio, which makes getting up and going to class much easier! The school itself has been operating for over 30 years and is geared towards providing tailor-made courses to foreign students with differing needs.

The school provides a unique Portuguese language experience with emphasis on participants understanding the culture, as well as learning the language. Fun cultural activities will be arranged, such as experimental Capoeira classes and visits to a Samba school.

The aim of the school is to make the lessons interesting and fun, as this is the best way to learn a language quickly and easily. The teaching approaches are dynamic and varied and the classes are intensive, yet challenging and enjoyable.

The course is designed to enable students to actively participate in classes. As quickly as possible, students will learn how to communicate, comprehend and use accurate pronunciation in Portuguese. The small classes and active participation training provides the flexibility to meet your individual needs and offer you a comprehensive course.

The classes are based on the communicative approach in order to be useful in practical real-life situations; this enables you to achieve your daily objectives/needs, rather than learning words and grammar that will not assist you. However, the classes consider Portuguese as a whole and as well as there being an emphasis on speaking abilities, they also take into account grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, pragmatic use and cultural understanding.

Language classes will generally consist of 5 to 6 students but you will never be with a group of more than 10. With smaller, more intimate classes it allows the school to tailor the programme to your specific needs. In order for you to be placed in the correct class according to your Portuguese proficiency level, you will have a written test and/or oral evaluation exam during your first day of class.

Please Note: If class sizes are less than 3 people, your lessons may be given as intense language classes, and therefore may have fewer hours of tuition than stated.

Throughout the course you will have your progress assessed by your teacher and the Academic Director.

An example of your daily schedule
9am – 12pm Morning classes
12pm – 1pm Lunch break
1pm onwards Free time

Once a week, after your Portuguese classes you will have the chance to participate in afternoon cultural activities:

Accommodation and Meals
During your stay in Rio you’ll be accommodated at a hostel located just 2 blocks from Ipanema beach! Rooms will be on a shared dormitory-style basis. This hostel is popular with travellers from all over the world and has all of the necessary facilities to keep you comfortable during your stay.

These facilities include:

The language school, where your Portuguese classes are held, is nearby and many other important amenities are within reaching distance i.e. banks, supermarkets, shops etc.

Breakfast is included at the hostel; however, you will need to self-cater for your other daily meals when in Rio. You should budget £30-40/week for this, more if you wish to eat out.

During your tennis placement you’ll be accommodated with a local host family. A host family is a great way to have an authentic cultural experience, as well as having a local support network whilst you’re in a foreign country.

Our host families generally come from the local middle class and live in safe areas of the city.

At the host family, you will have a private room and access to the household facilities. On rare occasions you may be required to share your room with someone of the same sex.

The host family will provide you with breakfast and an evening meal each day. You will need to provide your own lunch, which can be purchased cheaply from one of the many cafes or supermarkets in Belo Horizonte.

Project Support
During your programme you will have the support of our local coordinator. They will provide you with competent field support and assistance and help you with any questions or support you may need during your stay.

In addition, we will provide you with a 24 hour emergency contact number before you depart, so that you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.

Local Orientation
Once you have been met and picked up from the airport, you will be taken to your accommodation to settle in. On your first full day, your coordinators will guide you through your Rio orientation and help to answer any questions you may have. Your orientation will cover:

On arrival into Belo Horizonte you will have a similar orientation to the one above, covering issues related to the local area and the state of Minas Gerais. It will also cover your volunteer placement, daily structure and what to expect from your host family (and what they expect from you).

For further information, or to secure your place on this programme, please call the Latin America Team today on 01892 516 164, or email our Latin America Programme Manager at matt.fenton@realgap.co.uk