What I Brought Back from Barcelona

When you arrive at a meeting with a European sports ambassador, it’s easy to think that you’ll take home some good exercises and ready-made project ideas. In Barcelona, however, that wasn’t primarily what happened.

Rather, we talked about how each of us can authentically engage with the topic and what we can contribute through our own experiences, knowledge, personality.

For me, this was perhaps less of an issue. Inclusion is close to my heart, and it’s also one of the most important areas I focus on in the Veszprém–Balaton European Region of Sport 2026 program.

For other ambassadors, however, it wasn’t quite so clear in which topics they could truly find their own voice. We arrived with diverse backgrounds and varying skill sets. Some are stronger in communication, while others can speak authoritatively about a specific sport, community building, or even a social issue.

And that’s exactly what made the meeting so interesting.

Anyone who already had a well-formed idea, project, or cause—as I did—was happy to share it with the others. So we didn’t just give each other ideas about what to do with this title, but along the way we also found points of connection that perhaps none of us had anticipated.

For me, one such connection was a visit to a yacht club in Barcelona.

Here, women who have undergone breast cancer treatment can join a rowing community after their rehabilitation. In the program, coaches and doctors continue to support the participants throughout their recovery. They monitor not only how their physical condition changes, but also how exercise and a sense of belonging to a community affect their mental well-being.

When I saw this, it immediately occurred to me: this could work here at home, too.

We have the necessary resources here as well: Lake Balaton, water sports, professional partners, and even healthcare institutions with which we could collaborate.

That is why we would like to find partners for this initiative in Hungary as well. I am very pleased that this is no longer just an idea conceived in Barcelona: discussions between the Spanish and Hungarian partners have already begun.

Perhaps this is one of the best parts of being an ambassador. It’s not just about bringing a good idea home, but also finding the people here who can turn it into a real program.

But if I had to name what I found most inspiring in Barcelona, I wouldn’t say it was this project.

Rather, it was the way inclusion was present in everyday life.

Not at a special conference. Not in a program created specifically for this purpose. Not in a way that said, “Now we’ll show you how to involve people with disabilities.”

But it was simply there.

In restaurants. In services. On public transportation. In everyday situations.

In the case of a food allergy, just as as with accessibility issues for a person in a wheelchair or difficulties faced by a visually impaired person.

And that’s very close to how I think about this.

I wouldn't want anyone to be the center of attention just because they have a disability.

I wouldn’t want inclusion to be some kind of special gesture. I’d like it to be natural.

So that when you design a restaurant, you keep in mind people with food allergies. When you design a sports facility, it should go without saying that it’s accessible to people in wheelchairs. When you organize a workout, the first question shouldn’t be, “Can they exercise with us?” but rather, “How can we make it possible for them to exercise with us?”

And perhaps that is the most important difference.

For me, inclusion isn’t about setting aside a separate space for someone alongside the community.

Rather, it’s about building the community in such a way from the very beginning that there is a place for everyone within it.

That is precisely why, as part of the Veszprém–Balaton European Region of Sport 2026 program, we are working to make physical activity accessible to as many people as possible. Through our inclusion program, we train coaches, support the creation of inclusive sports environments, and organize events where coaches, people with disabilities, and the organizations representing them can build meaningful relationships.

Through the “VitalPoint” program, we aim to bring high-quality exercise opportunities closer to those living in smaller communities.

Because, to me, equal opportunity doesn’t just mean that a door is open to everyone.

It also means that there should be a chance to walk through it.

And perhaps that is why the role of European Sports Ambassador is so important to me. Because in the meantime, one can think in two directions. To bring to Veszprém and the region what works elsewhere.  And to show Europe what we believe in, what we’re trying to create.

That’s why I didn’t just return home from Barcelona with a new project idea. I also came back with a renewed conviction: 

When it’s simply natural.

When you don’t focus on how you’re different from one another, but on the fact that you’re together.

Maybe that’s what I’d most like to bring home from Barcelona.