“Idrettshoder” is a project that aims at developing new solutions for recruiting and including children in organized sports in Norway. It emphasises that close cooperation between schools and sports clubs is the key to including more people and aims at developing a model for how schools and sports clubs can cooperate in practice, that can be shared across municipalities in Norway.

The “Idrettshoder” model presupposes that sports are an important arena for growing up. For children and young people, sports can be an arena for coping and self-expression. Participating in a sports club can provide unity and friendship for life and strengthen belonging to the local community. Physical activity in childhood lays the foundation for good living habits and life-long health.

However, participation in sports is unequal, and children with an immigrant background or from low-income families are often prevented from participating in organized sport. The reasons are multiple, and includes costs related to participation, parental involvement and little knowledge of sports and the Norwegian volunteer model. The “Idrettshoder” project has been developed to overcome these barriers.

Through “Idrettshoder”, all children in grades 1-4 have the opportunity to participate in a free activity program under the auspices of the local sports club during after-school hours.

“Idrettshoder” has two main goals:

• To develop and implement a free after-school sports program for children in Oslo and the surrounding area.

• To develop and disseminate a model for how schools and sports clubs can collaborate to include children in organized sports, regardless of the sport.

The core of the model is close collaboration with the schools. By offering activities during school hours, children who are otherwise at risk are reached. The schools know the children and their guardians and can therefore make a targeted effort to include those who do not currently participate in extracurricular activities. “Idrettshoder” started as “Håkkihoder” in 2020. Although the model aims at emphasising sport in general, so far the sport clubs involved has come from ice hockey.