The Manresa City Council and UManresa have presented the conclusions of the “Values in Play” project to local sports organizations. This initiative, promoted by the City Council and developed by the Chair of Leadership in Values, has made it possible to identify the principles that should guide sports practice in the city. As a result of this collaborative process with the organizations, the Guide to Good Practices in Values-Based Leadership has been developed, aimed at all those involved in sports in Manresa.
Commitment, cooperation, effort and respect: the pillars of the model
The project was built through a participatory process led by the Chair, combining training workshops, co-creation sessions and various participation mechanisms to gather input from the different stakeholders involved.
The methodology was inspired by the values-based leadership model of Pep Guardiola and Manel Estiarte, which underpins the Chair’s framework and structures the work into four key dimensions: personal, team, organizational and environmental. From this process, four core values emerged to guide sports practice in the city: commitment, cooperation, effort and respect. These are considered essential across grassroots, amateur and professional sport, and are reflected in concrete behaviours both on and off the field: individual responsibility, teamwork, personal improvement, respect for rules and people, and engagement with the sporting environment. The work also made it possible to classify values according to their sphere of application. At the individual level, discipline, humility, effort and self-improvement stand out; at the team level, cooperation, respect, commitment and generosity take centre stage; while at the institutional level, clubs and organizations embrace values such as inclusion, responsibility, recognition and role modelling, reinforcing their role as educational and social references.
Strong participation from the local sports ecosystem
The project involved significant participation from the local sports community. In total, 400 people took part, linked to 35 sports organizations, including coaches, athletes and families, as well as representatives from educational centres. Among the activities carried out were two performances of the gamified show “The Match”, aimed at students in the 4th year of compulsory secondary education and upper secondary (Baccalaureate) at Guillem Catà Institute and FEDAC, with 200 students participating. In parallel, 151 survey responses from clubs, technical staff and students were analysed. Beyond the four core values, the project also highlighted other relevant principles such as inclusion, generosity, humility, responsibility, role modelling and institutional cooperation, reinforcing the role of sport as an educational tool and a driver of social cohesion.
The results were shared during a feedback session at the University with participating organizations, helping to validate the conclusions and strengthen the shared commitment to promoting a values-based sports model.
The City Council’s Councillor for Sports, Anjo Valentí, подчеркed that the goal is for local sports organizations to be known not only for their results, but also for their ability to transmit values both on and off the field of play, positioning Manresa as a reference in this regard. Meanwhile, Valentí Martínez, Academic Director of the Chair of Leadership in Values, highlighted that the project exemplifies the university’s commitment to ensuring that academic knowledge and reflection have a real and transformative impact, developed in collaboration with the local community.
A guide to embedding values in everyday practice
The Guide to Good Practices in Values-Based Leadership provides clear and practical guidance on how to integrate these values into daily sports practice. The document links the identified values to observable behaviours and actions in training sessions, competitions and relationships with athletes, families and the wider environment. Although it is primarily aimed at coaches, it also considers the role of clubs, management teams, families and other stakeholders, with the aim of aligning discourse and practice and strengthening the educational leadership role of sport. Designed as a practical and reference tool, the guide seeks to help consolidate a shared sports model in Manresa based on values, role modelling and collective responsibility.