"Sport as a Gateway Back to Life": Five Years of the "Phoenix" Club

"Sport as a gateway back to life" is one of the mottos. The anniversary was celebrated in Vienna on Thursday evening. "Phönix" founder and organizational leader Ricardo Parger looked back on half a decade of commitment to the health and resocialization of inmates.

"Training for Life" by "Phönix" - since 2020 - are ten-week programs during incarceration focusing on health and social skills. The association sees "sport as the key to resocialization." With Simmering in Vienna, Korneuburg, Hirtenberg, and Sonnberg in Lower Austria, "Phönix" trainers are currently active at four correctional facility locations. Basketball, volleyball, dancing, and fitness programs are offered. The "Comeback Club" has been offering weekly basketball training in freedom since last year - for day-release prisoners as well as for those released.

Lawyer Parger described "Phönix" on Thursday evening as "unique in Europe." One of the team's goals is to establish further projects in correctional facilities. Since 2024, the association has also been working with women in the Korneuburg correctional facility. About 34 training sessions have been held with approximately 30 female inmates. For men, there have already been about 150 sessions with around 180 participants.

Association "Phönix": Project enabled under Zadic

National Council member Alma Zadic (Greens) enabled the project in the facilities as Minister of Justice. Parger and "Phönix" co-founder Dominik Bachmeier "never gave up." People in the penal system need support, Zadic said on Thursday evening. She attested to the five-year-old association for combining sport with social responsibility. "Continued success" was wished by Sports State Secretary Michaela Schmidt (SPÖ) in a video message.

Hirbod Mahdavi acts as a basketball coach in the program. "It's about motivating people through sport, telling them not to give up," he explained in an interview with APA about his work "behind bars."

"Trainers are always welcome," Parger used the "Phönix" anniversary as an opportunity to make an appeal. According to its own statements, the association is financed by donations, funding for specific projects, and project contributions from cooperating correctional facilities.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.