September marks a new beginning. Our youth exchanges are finally back, and we couldn’t be more excited to kick off a brand new season together!
Back in the Game is not only about sports. It’s about wellbeing, mental health, and rediscovering the simple joy of moving your body. We’ll explore how physical activity helps reduce stress, boost our mood, and bring us closer to the people around us. This activity will also promote a low use of screens: it’s time to disconnect and live offline, even if just for a few days.
This exchange is beginner-friendly and inclusive: you don’t need to be an athlete to join. From group games, volleyball, badminton, and football to hiking and meditation, there will be something for everyone, whatever your experience level and preferences.
We will explore these topics in a relaxed and engaging way to ensure everyone can enjoy and benefit from the youth exchange.
Your participation will consist of 3 phases:
- Preparation: Before the mobility, our team will organize an online preparatory meeting, mainly to introduce our team and the national group leaders, and to answer any doubts or curiosities participants might have.
- Mobility: During the mobility, participants are expected to play a huge role in designing the activity: games and sessions will be organized by participants themselves, in groups. Contributing can take many shapes: from helping to collect and distribute material, to taking photos, to facilitating a game. Everybody will have a chance to share their ideas and contribute to the activity.
- Follow-up: After the mobility, we will have follow-up activities to share what we learned, disseminate the results, and keep the connections alive. You will plan and implement one dissemination activity with your local community, individually or in a group with other participants, for example by showing the content of the activity to friends and colleagues, organizing a small workshop, or playing a game you learned with your local community in your neighborhood.
🎯 What to Expect
Networking: You will meet dozens of participants from 7 different countries, in a truly multicultural environment that will add even more value to the experience.
Non-formal Education: All our methods are non-formal: that means you will learn by playing. No boring lectures. We will also value your ideas and contributions to make sure we run a smooth activity that everyone can enjoy.
Intercultural Dialogue: You will learn about different cultures from partner countries, including through our cultural nights. Each national team will host an open space to share their country, whether through a presentation, a game, a dance, or a gastronomy night.
✅ Selection Process
This activity will bring together about 56 participants, distributed equally across 7 European countries: Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Portugal, Lithuania, Romania, and Serbia. We aim for a balanced group across countries, genders, and experience levels. We value diversity of experience and background – past experience is not required (Erasmus is all about learning, after all!), however, we welcome participants with more expertise in youth exchanges who can support newcomers during their journey.
Applications are reviewed on a daily basis, so we recommend you apply as soon as possible and don’t leave it for the last minute, as this will increase your chances of selection.
👤 Participant Profile
- Residents or citizens from any of these countries: Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Portugal, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia.
- Optimal age range: 16-24 years old.
- Available to attend the whole duration of the mobility, participate in all the sessions.
- Motivated to explore sport, movement, and wellbeing as tools for personal growth.
- Expresses a willingness to disseminate results of the youth exchange to other groups of young people.
- Currently not receiving any funds from the European Union (e.g.: participating in an Erasmus exchange program within University).
🗓️ Mobility Schedule
Days 1-2: Welcome and team building: We will focus on team-building activities to help everyone get to know each other better, and through topic-related fun games and interactive sessions, we will create a friendly and cooperative atmosphere, setting the stage for a productive and enjoyable program.
Days 3-8: Back in the Game: Over these days, we will dive into the powerful relationship between sport, wellbeing, and mental health through a wide range of interactive activities. Participants will take part in group discussions on topics like burnout culture and how excessive screen time is negatively affecting young people’s wellbeing, alongside movement-based sessions and team games (volleyball, badminton, football, group games, and meditation among them), exploring how sport can boost both our wellbeing and our connections with others. We will also take part in exciting outdoor adventures and hands-on experiences, using this time together to disconnect from our screens and reconnect with ourselves and each other.
One full day during this period will be dedicated to hiking. Rokytnice nad Jizerou sits in the heart of the Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains, whose main ridge forms the natural border between Czechia and Poland, so weather and trail conditions permitting, we may even cross into Poland during our hike!
Day 9: Reflection and celebration: We will wrap up the project by outlining future dissemination activities, like reflecting on our experiences, and assessing the program’s impact. We will distribute Youthpass certificates and celebrate the achievements and memories made throughout the exchange with a closing ceremony.
🏡 Location and Venue
The youth exchange will take place in the mountain town of Rokytnice nad Jizerou, with participants staying at the welcoming Lípy – Chata pod Lipami, nestled in peaceful natural surroundings with stunning views. The accommodation has a lovely outdoor area, including a grassy field and a volleyball court, giving us plenty of space for sports, games, and relaxing between sessions. Accommodation will be in shared rooms of 3–5 people, arranged to encourage international diversity and separated by gender.
All participants will receive three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Dietary preferences should be indicated during the application process to ensure that meals can be adapted accordingly.
⬇️ Timeline
- Deadline to apply: 09/08/2026.
- Selection results announced between the 10th and 14th of August 2026. You will be informed via email you provided in the application form about the selection results. Selected participants will have 24 hours to confirm their participation by following the instructions in the selection email. After confirming, participants must wait a few more days until the whole group is closed; after that, participants will be contacted with further details via Discord, where a channel with all the participants of the activity will be created.
- Our organization takes care of purchasing the travel tickets for all selected participants (with the help of the Group Leaders) until the 21st of August 2026.
- Mobility dates 02/09/2026–10/09/2026. Travel days 01/09/2026 and 11/09/2026. Note that some travels might extend one more day, depending on how far participants live from the accommodation.
- Dissemination activities: September/October 2026. Participants are expected to organize a dissemination activity in their local communities, for example by showing some of the activity content to friends, colleagues, or teachers, or by organizing a game learned during the activity with their friends, to increase the impact of the activity beyond the mobility itself and let other people know about Erasmus opportunities.
🧳 Travel Plan
Portugal
- Meeting Points: Lisbon/Porto
- Plane to Budapest, Prague, or Vienna (note: some flights might require one layover)
- Bus / Train to Pardubice
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
Czechia
- Meeting Points: Brno/Prague
- Bus / Train to Pardubice
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
Hungary
- Meeting Point: Budapest
- Train to Pardubice
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
Slovakia
- Meeting Point: Bratislava
- Train to Pardubice
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
Lithuania
- Meeting Point: Kaunas/Vilnius
- Bus / Train to Hradec Králové
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
Romania
- Meeting Point: Bucharest/Brasov
- Bus / Train to Budapest
- Bus / Train to Pardubice
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
Serbia
- Meeting Point: Belgrade
- Bus / Train to Bratislava/Budapest
- Bus / Train to Pardubice
- Private Bus to Rokytnice nad Jizerou
The official travel days will be the 1st and 11th of September. Once the participants’ selection is finished and everyone is confirmed, the activity coordinators will arrange with the national group leaders to finalize the travel itinerary for each group. The travel tickets from meeting points to mobility venue and back will be purchased by our organization.
Each partner country will have a maximum of two meeting points, where participants will gather to begin their travel. Usually, these meeting points are the cities where majority of participants come from. In case participant is from different city, s/he should arrange their own travel to the meeting points.
For flights, we are purchasing the basic option, which includes one small backpack to be carried under the seat. You can add priority or cargo luggage to your reservation if you want at your own cost. Participants who are flying will receive a link from the project coordinators with access to their flight reservation. This link should be used to check in and get your boarding card.
In some cases it might be needed for participants to travel one day earlier or return one day later, namely if there are no viable flight connections in the same day. Participants who cannot travel on the 1st of September or the 11th of September must mention it in the additional information section of the application form.
All important information regarding travel and other topics will be available on a dedicated Discord channel of the activity and also via e-mail.
Above you can find a preliminary travel plan for each national group. These might change depending on the availability of connections and prices.
ℹ️ Useful Information
No participation costs: Travel, accommodation and food are co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union. Participants who are selected will be asked to pay a 50€ deposit to confirm their participation, which is reimbursed right after the mobility. Read our terms and conditions for detailed information.
Health & Insurance: Participants are required to arrange and bring European Health Insurance Cards, which are issued free of charge and can be used in case participants need medical assistance outside their countries.
What to bring: Identity Card or Passport, towel, sportswear and comfortable shoes for outdoor / sport activities, a reusable water bottle, a hiking backpack to use on the hike day, a raincoat and a hoodie for colder days / evenings, comfortable and enough clothes for the days of the mobility (there is no washing machine available at the accommodation). You might also bring national food or traditional clothes to represent your country for the cultural nights, and feel free to bring a board game, a musical instrument, or anything else you’d like to share with the group.
Terms & Conditions: Refer to www.e29.eu/terms-and-conditions for detailed terms and conditions.
Q&A: Have any doubts? Feel free to reach us through our social media channels.
