Extreme Sports in Southern Transdanubia Celebrates an Anniversary

The Sopianae Extrémsport Egyesület (Sopianae Extreme Sports Association) brings together the community of extreme sports enthusiasts in the South Transdanubia region: their goals include advocacy, event organization, and training the next generation. As part of the PEEX20 campaign, they are raising funds for the Pécs Extreme Sports Center’s 20th-anniversary program series with the support of the Duplázható program.

The Pécs Extreme Sports Center organizes open, community-oriented programs that bring extreme sports closer to the general public, strengthen the local community, and provide a space for young people’s self-expression, active leisure activities, and local cultural initiatives. These aren’t limited to sports competitions, but also include community gatherings, workshops, and music events, which provide an excellent setting for exchanging experiences, sharing knowledge, and strengthening community bonds.

“We’ve done one-off fundraisers before, but this is our first attempt at a longer, well-structured campaign,” reveals Tamás Zoltán Gál, the association’s vice president. This means that they’ve placed donation boxes at their events whenever there was a specific goal they sought their followers’ help to achieve. Tamás believes that, thanks to their professional backgrounds, they have sufficient experience to plan and execute a campaign, so the fundraising workshop organized as part of Duplázható was particularly useful to them for the exchange of experiences.

“It was interesting to hear the insights and experiences of various organizations and learn how they go about fundraising,” notes the vice president. As he adds, the association’s community has gained extensive experience in organizing competitions. Over the past two decades, they have organized dozens of national-level skateboarding, BMX, and roller skating competitions. For example, the mini half-pipe competition called Velo Hell Ride has been welcoming participants for nine years. Everything needed to prepare for and run the competitions smoothly is handled using their own resources and volunteers.

The campaign supporting the anniversary will conclude with a massive fundraising party at Szabadkikötő, where they will also celebrate the past 20 years of the Pécs Extreme Sports Center with a free party on May 22. There will be a freeskate park, a photo exhibition, concert and a DJ set.

In the Duplázható program, they have committed to raising 2.000 EUR. If successful, Aspektus+ will double that amount. The association will spend the grant on PEEX, purchasing, among other things, technical equipment, supplies needed to run competitions, and sound and lighting equipment, but funds will also go toward program organization and communication costs.

“Actually, it was the opportunity that caught our attention,” Tamás replies when asked why they applied to the Aspektus+ program. “It’s difficult for rural civil society organizations to obtain financial support; we have to seize opportunities when we can identify with them, especially when they also offer opportunities for growth.”

In this series of articles, we’ll introduce the civil society organizations supported by the Aspektus+ regional grant program, and you’ll learn about their stories and the people who make up their communities.