Please describe your proposed solution.

It has been verified that young fencers 13-16 yrs, lack opportunities to excel in Fencing because national federations prefer to invest on older athletes who already excelled instead of investing on young talents. This is causing a constant financial burden for parents who struggle to cover the high costs of training and competitions so that their children can follow their dream. The solution to this problem is to initiate a Sports Fund that will allow at first two young promising fencers ages 13-16 to attend 4 international competitions during the 2023-2024 sports season.

The Cardano Sports Fund will provide financial support to cover competition entry fee, travel expenses, accommodation, fencing equipment for young fencers participating in international competitions. This support will alleviate the financial burden on families and ensure that talented young fencers have equal opportunities to access and compete in international competitions.

Cardano will benefit through exposure and promotion. The young athletes will introduce Cardano in sports and raise awareness on Cardano Foundation and ecosystem. Awareness raising and promotion will include media coverage, participation in interviews, sharing of the athletes' achievements on social media platforms, and collaboration with fencing federations and sporting events to showcase their talent and how Cardano assisted in this. Thus, giving Cardano a different perspective in the sports world. Furthermore, the Cardano Fund is expected to inspire devs in building tools using Cardano blockchain such as smart contracts, apps and more in relation to sports.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

“Cardano in Sports” fits well in the challenge because this is a space where unconventional ideas and projects can fit in. The project is short and non-technical. It touches everyday life and aims to bring out a different face of Cardano. Furthermore, Cardano ecosystem, with its strong focus on sustainability and decentralization can play a significant role in the development of smart contracts, apps and other tools related to sports. By leveraging its blockchain technology, Cardano can contribute to creating a more equitable and inclusive sports ecosystem for young fencers, support talent-based opportunities and foster the development of young athletes.

This project will establish the Cardano Sports Fund operated by Catalyst Community in the future.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Success of the project is the confirmed presence of the two athletes in international competitions and the exposure of Cardano. This can be tracked by the following:

1. Official registration of the athletes at the competitions can be seen on the official webpages of the organizers as well as Eurofencing and FIE websites.
2. Presence of the athletes in 4 competitions in Europe confirmed by pictures and videos.
3. Exposure of the athletes and Cardano foundation in the media for every competition they attend.
4. Final results of the athletes on the official websites of the Fencing federations
5. Monthly reports provided for the Catalyst community.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

For Milestone 1, which is the preparation stage, there will be Media coverage (newspapers, social media, YouTube channel, interviews) about Cardano's support of the young athletes. Therefore, Catalyst Community will have access to every documentation through the monthly reports and postings. [Expected within 1 month upon approval of the project).

For Milestone 2, Media coverage of the athletes in competitions through articles, interviews, online papers, videos on social media (Facebook, YouTube, etc.), before and after every competition, official webpages of federations. These will be available to the Catalyst Community through postings, live streaming (where applicable), as well as the monthly reports. [completed within 5 months after M1].

Dissemination: Footage from all competitions, training, and other athletes' moments will be collected used to show the support from Cardano providing equal opportunity for young fencers to excel in sports.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

All team members have the experience and knowledge to implement the project successfully.

Dr. Mouza has 20 years of experience in project management (attached cv). In addition, she has been a Catalyst member, a CA, PA, proposer, voter vPA and she is also a veteran fencer. (99+) Dr. Margarita Mouza | LinkedIn

Margarita Mouza (0000-0003-1370-5029) (orcid.org)

Ms. Alexandrou has experience in administration, she is also a fencer and she also aware of the procedures needed to attend competitions (attached cv). She is a new member of the Catalyst community. (9) Theodora Alexandrou | LinkedIn

Mr. Chrysostomou studied Computer Systems Engineering and Marketing & Sales with experience on Web sales & Social Media Marketing. He performed the same role during F9-Products & Integrations for the project Honeybees on Blockchain. (9) George Chrysostomou | LinkedIn

Petr Smělík has been working as a professional filmmaker for over 16 years. His work has been shown in television and cinema. Along the way his projects received several awards.

His Cardano related work can be seen here: <https://www.adafilms.art/>

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goals of the project are:

1. Equal Opportunities: give the opportunity to the young fencers participate in international competitions and have a fair chance to compete along with other athletes of their age group.
2. Awareness raising: Introduce Cardano in sports and raise awareness of Cardano’s social agenda through sports.
3. Introduce sports in Cardano ecosystem and initiate the development of products, apps, smart contracts etc. using Cardano blockchain.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1: Planning and Marketing preparation

Identify competitions according to European Fencing Federation and International Fencing Federation standards.

Prepare fencing gear with Cardano logo on as per FIE regulations

Media coverage (social media, online newspapers upon approval of the project)

Timeline: (1 month)

Milestone 2: Getting into Action

Participation in 4 competitions

Media exposure of sponsor (Cardano) through articles and interviews on social media, online newspaper, websites, blogs

Online coverage of the athlete’s competition to increase visibility of sponsor (Cardano)

Media exposure aims to generate awareness of Cardano’s social responsibility and involvement in the community.

Timeline: (5 months)

Dissemination & Closeout

Footage from competitions, training, and other athletes' moments will be used to create a video to show the support from Cardano Foundation while stressing equal opportunities and benefits for young athletes to excel in sports.

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1: Planning and Marketing preparation

Deliverables:

List of potential competitions with locations and dates as approved by fencing federations.

Photos of fencing gear with Cardano’s logo as per FIE regulations.

Postings on Media referring to Cardano’s decision to support the athletes to fence in international competitions.

Youtube channel

Outputs & Intended outcomes

Scheduled competition calendar provided to the Catalyst Community

Exposure of Cardano sports fund

Sense of acknowledgement: The young athletes’ efforts will be acknowledged.

Equal opportunities: Increase public awareness of Cardano’s social agenda on sports and present initiatives focused on young fencers by providing the resources and support to access training and competitions like other fencers to excel in their sporting career.

Educate: Increase public awareness of Cardano’s social agenda in sports in promoting equal opportunities, inclusivity, and innovation in sports.

Support for Inclusive Sporting Communities: Foster support and recognition for inclusive sporting communities to encourage participation, acceptance, and equal treatment for all athletes, irrespective of their backgrounds.

Positive Media Coverage: showcase the positive impact of Cardano's initiatives in the sports industry.

Inspiration for Innovation: can lead to development of new projects, applications, and technologies that leverage Cardano's ecosystem to create positive change in sports and related industries.

Milestone 2: Getting into Action

Deliverables:

Participation in 4 competitions

Media exposure of Cardano and Catalyst Community through articles and interviews on social media, online newspaper, websites, blogs

Online coverage of the athlete’s competition to increase visibility of Cardano

Media exposure aims to generate awareness of Cardano’s social responsibility and involvement in the community.

Outputs & Intended outcomes

Substantial media exposure: articles and interviews about Cardano's involvement and support is shared across social media platforms, online newspapers, websites and blogs.

The online coverage of the competitions will amplify the visibility of Cardano. Through live streams, event highlights and exclusive interviews with athletes and coaches, the audience will witness firsthand how Cardano's support will positively impact sports.

The media exposure will achieve the primary goal of generating awareness about Cardano's social responsibility and active engagement in the community. Furthermore, media coverage will reinforce Cardano's commitment to supporting young athletes and promoting equal opportunities in sports.

Dissemination & Closeout

Deliverables

Video with footage from competitions, training, and other moments of the athletes

Outputs & Intended outcomes

The footage will be used to show that support from Cardano, gave equal opportunities to young fencers to excel in sports.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Milestone 1: Planning and Marketing preparation

Provide fencing gear with Cardano logo on as per FIE regulations. (2x5638) = 11276 ADA

Media coverage (social media, online newspapers upon approval of the project. 2000 ADA

Total 13276ADA

Milestone 2: Getting into Action

1. Participation of 2 athletes in 4 competitions (2x18793) = 37586ADA

2. Media exposure of Cardano:

(a) articles and interviews on social media, online news, youtube channel, websites, blogs for each competition

(b) online coverage of the athlete’s competition to increase visibility of Cardano

4000ADA

Total 41586ADA

Dissemination & Closeout

Footage from competitions, training, and other moments of the athletes will be used to show that support from Cardano, gave an equal opportunity to young fencers to excel in sports. 10000ADA

Total 10000ADA

Total Project Budget: 64862ADA

NOTE: Please note that coaching fees, traveling expenses of adult accompanying the children as well as coordination and administration fee are not included in the requested budget as these costs will be covered by own funds.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Dr. Margarita Mouza. Project Management and PR

Info about Dr. Mouza: (99+) Dr. Margarita Mouza | LinkedIn

Margarita Mouza (0000-0003-1370-5029) (orcid.org)

Ms. Theodora Alexandrou – Administration and PR

Info about Ms. Alexandrou: (9) Theodora Alexandrou | LinkedIn

George Chrysostomou – Digital Marketing and content creation

Info about Mr. Chrysostomou: Mr. Chrysostomou studied Computer Systems Engineering and Marketing & Sales with experience on Web sales & Social Media Marketing. He performed the same role during F9-Products & Integrations for the project Honeybees on Blockchain. (9) George Chrysostomou | LinkedIn

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of “Cardano in Sports – Supporting Young Fencers” represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem through

1. Positive Media Coverage to help amplify the message, inspire others, and showcase the positive impact of Cardano's initiatives in the world of sport.
2. Inspiration for Innovation to development of new projects, applications, and technologies that leverage Cardano's ecosystem to create positive change in sports and related industries.
3. Sense of acknowledgement for young athletes who struggle to overcome financial and other barriers to excel in fencing.
4. Equal opportunities: Increase public awareness of Cardano’s social agenda on sports and present initiatives focused on young fencers by providing the resources and support to access training and competitions like other fencers to excel in their sporting career.
5. Educate: (a) Increase public awareness of Cardano’s social agenda in promoting equal opportunities, inclusivity, and innovation in sports, (b) Inclusive Sporting Communities to encourage participation, acceptance, and equal treatment for all athletes, irrespective of their background

The cost estimation of the project was calculated based on the actual costs paid by fencers per athletic year. This budget includes

1. fencing equipment, competition fee, travel, accommodation, meals.
2. online marketing (social media, online newspapers, articles, video, printings on fencing gear, press release, interviews

Please note that the amount requested for this proposal is part of the actual cost to attend competitions. Other costs exist such as accompanying adult and coach expenses which are not included in the requested amount and will be covered by own funds.