An EVEC Sport initiative · For Erasmus+ Sport drone partners, schools & youth NGOs
Let’s build youth drone sport — across Greece and Europe.
We’re launching a youth drone-sport ecosystem from Athens: simulator-first training any school can start, safe indoor drone-soccer clubs you can run, and a planned path from local matches to regional competitions — all on recognised international standards. Build it with us as an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner, or start a club with our help.
Why drone sport, why now
A real sport — governed, school-ready, and only now reaching Europe.
Drone sport isn’t a gadget demo. It has world federations, rulebooks and international championships — and one discipline, drone soccer, was purpose-built to be played safely in a school gym.
Internationally governed
The FAI (the world air-sports federation) recognises drone soccer as class F9A; FIDA is the international drone-soccer federation.
Safe by design
In drone soccer the drones are caged and indoor — collisions are the point of the game, not a hazard.
Europe is opening up
The first-ever European Drone Soccer Championship is set for 2026 — and no Erasmus+ school network exists yet.
STEM in disguise
Players build, repair, tune and pilot the drones — digital skills, engineering and teamwork.
The model
One pathway, four levels — from a laptop to the podium.
We don’t start with expensive racing drones. We start on a screen, move into a safe indoor team sport, and let the talented few climb toward competition. Every level builds on recognised international standards.
FPV racing & freestyle
The competitive flagship — goggles-on racing through gates (FAI F9U / MultiGP). Advanced, mostly outdoor.
Tiny-whoop racing
Tiny ducted drones raced indoors — the safe gateway from soccer to real FPV piloting, under €100.
Drone soccer
Caged, indoor, full-contact team sport for school gyms — the broad participation base of the whole sport.
Simulators
Learn to fly on any laptop with a real controller, for almost nothing. Everyone starts here — and competes online.
The anchor discipline
Drone soccer — the safe team sport schools can actually run.
Two teams of three fly small drones, each wrapped in a protective ball-cage, inside a netted arena. One “striker” per team has to fly through the opponent’s hoop to score, while teammates block and defend. Players stand outside the net; the drones bounce off each other and the walls — so contact is the game, not the danger.
It needs no airfield, no pilot licence and no open airspace — just an indoor space. The school-size class (20cm “drone-balls”) fits a gym or large classroom. Students learn to build, wire, repair and tune their drones like a pit crew, then pilot them as a team: real STEM, real teamwork, real fun.
Caged · indoor · team-based
- Safe by design — collision-proof cages, low speeds, indoors
- No licence or airspace permit needed
- Team sport — great for inclusion and youth work
- Build & repair = hands-on STEM and digital skills
- A recognised rulebook (FAI class F9A) to adopt
The timing is rare. The first European Drone Soccer Championship runs in 2026 and a European federation is only now taking shape — and we’ve found no dedicated Erasmus+ drone-sport school network yet. There’s a real first-mover opening for an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner.
Build it with us →Simulator-first
Start for almost nothing — on the laptops you already have.
The single biggest way to cut cost and risk is to learn on a simulator before flying anything real. Free simulators run on a school PC; one reusable controller flies the simulators and binds to many real drones later. So you can train and even compete online before owning hardware.
A drone club on existing PCs
Free simulators + a few shared controllers. Train pilots and run zero-travel online matches against partner schools.
from ~€100First real flights, indoors
Add low-cost controllers and a few all-in-one “tiny-whoop” starter kits (drone + controller + goggles in one box) for a class.
~€800–1,500 / classA competition-ready team
Competition drones and a netted regulation arena, ready to host local matches and tournaments.
multi-thousandSpend on controllers first — they’re the durable asset students keep, and they carry across the tiers. Equipment figures are indicative; we cost each setup with you against current EU prices.
Partner with us
We’re building this — and looking for partners to build it with.
We’re not claiming to run leagues we haven’t started. We’re an experienced Erasmus+ organisation opening a new sport, and we want committed partners — schools, youth NGOs, sports clubs, national federations — to launch it together.
EVEC brings the delivery experience and the methodology; the sport already has neutral international standards. Together we adopt them, localise them, and grow a cross-border school network.
What EVEC brings as your Erasmus+ Sport drone partner
Reliable Erasmus+ delivery
An accredited NGO with 20+ Erasmus+ & ESC projects — we deliver our work packages on time.
Non-formal & STEM method
We turn technology into hands-on, inclusive learning young people engage with.
Standards, adopted
We build on the FAI / FIDA rulebook — we don’t invent our own and stall recognition.
Simulator-first, inclusion-first
A near-zero-cost entry so any school — and youth with fewer opportunities — can take part.
Dissemination & events
Open resources, an online inter-school league, and competitions worth watching.
What we’d build together
What an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner would actually build
The list above is short on purpose. Here is the work behind each line, so you can weigh the load before agreeing to carry any of it as an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner.
A shared, localised rulebook
We would start from the FAI and FIDA rules rather than write our own, localise them, and settle the things a school hits first: how a pitch fits an ordinary gym, and what a referee does when a drone-ball breaks mid-match. Recognised rules are what make a school team’s result mean something outside its own hall.
An equipment & arena standard
Which drone-ball class, which net and arena footprint, which controllers. Written down once, an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner in one country can buy locally and still turn up to a match with compatible kit, instead of finding out at the first fixture that nothing fits together.
Coach & referee certification
A sport without referees is a demonstration. A short non-formal route would let a PE teacher or a youth worker run sessions and officiate a match without first becoming an engineer.
A simulator-to-real curriculum
The pathway on this page, turned into lesson plans: the first sessions on a free simulator, the point where a pilot moves up to a tiny-whoop, what a drone-soccer squad practises as a team. Written properly, it can be handed to a school that has never touched a drone.
A cross-border school league
Fixtures, an online inter-school division for the schools that cannot travel, and physical tournaments for those that can. The league is what keeps a club meeting once the novelty wears off, and the reason to agree on rules and equipment at all.
A safety & insurance pack
Risk-assessment templates, consent forms, battery handling, and a plain-language note on how EU and EASA rules relate to a caged indoor game. It is usually the first thing a school asks about.
How it’s funded
Fundable through Erasmus+ Sport — framed honestly.
Drone sport fits Erasmus+ Sport best through its digital transformation and inclusion priorities, and “education in and through sport” — not as a cardio/physical-activity pitch. The EU has already funded esports projects under Erasmus+ Sport, so a screen-and-skill sport with a real STEM dimension is a credible fit.
Small-scale Partnership
Newcomer-friendly. Pilot the simulator-to-real pathway and the first school clubs across a couple of countries.
€30,000 / €60,000 · 2+ countriesCooperation Partnership
Build the shared rulebook, equipment spec, coach/referee certification and a cross-border school league.
€120k–€400k · 3+ countriesHonest by design. We’d lead a bid on digital skills, inclusion and youth participation — not health claims — and adopt recognised FAI/FIDA standards rather than inventing our own. The next Erasmus+ Sport deadline is around early March; if a round comes too soon, we aim for the next one.
How this works
From first email to first match — the order we work in.
Nothing here asks you to decide everything at once. This is the order we work in with a new Erasmus+ Sport drone partner, and you can stop after any step and still be left with something your young people can use.
Tell us where you’d start
Use the enquiry form at the foot of this page: who you are — school, youth NGO, sports club, federation — what indoor space you have, and roughly how many young people. Say whether you are writing as a possible Erasmus+ Sport drone partner or as a school that simply wants a club. We answer every enquiry within a maximum of two working days.
We cost your setup honestly
The three tiers above are indicative, not a quote. We cost your real setup with you against current EU prices, and we will push you to buy controllers first: they are the durable asset students keep, and they carry across the tiers.
Fly on simulators before anything is bought
Free simulators on the computers you already have, plus a few shared controllers. Your pilots start training — and can play zero-travel online matches against partner schools — while any paperwork is still being written.
Pick the instrument that matches your ambition
A Small-scale Partnership suits an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner applying for the first time, or a pilot of the pathway across a couple of countries. A Cooperation Partnership is for the bigger build: rulebook, equipment standard, certification and a league across three countries or more.
Write the bid together, framed honestly
Digital transformation, inclusion and education in and through sport — not health claims. We bring the delivery experience and the methodology; you bring the school-level reality that makes an application believable. That division of labour is what we mean by an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner. The next deadline is around early March, and if a round comes too soon we aim for the next one.
Move indoors, then into a league
All-in-one tiny-whoop kits let a class fly safely indoors; a drone-soccer squad with caged drone-balls and a netted arena turns the club into a team. Local matches first, then the online inter-school league, then regional competition for the pilots who want it.
We don’t set the calendar — Erasmus+ does. How long a project runs, and how long any activity inside it lasts, is fixed by the Erasmus+ rules for the action you apply under and by the grant agreement you sign. We are not inventing rules. Tell us the dates that fit your school year and we build the plan around them.
Be honest early
Who should be an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner — and who honestly shouldn’t.
Saying no early saves everyone a funding round. Here is where an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner fits with us, and where you would be better served by someone else.
A good fit
- Schools with any indoor space. The 20cm school class fits a gym or even a large classroom, and players stand outside the net.
- Youth NGOs doing non-formal work. A team sport with a build-and-repair pit crew attached: inclusion and STEM in one session.
- Sports clubs and national federations. A discipline is easier to shape while a European federation is still forming than after it has settled.
- Organisations with no hardware budget. The simulator tier exists for you: free simulator software, the computers you already have, a few shared controllers.
- Newcomers to Erasmus+. The Small-scale Partnership is newcomer-friendly by design, which is where a first-time Erasmus+ Sport drone partner should start.
Probably not a fit
- You want a league to join next month. We are not claiming to run leagues we haven’t started. What exists today is the pathway, the international standards we adopt, and an open invitation to build the rest — an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner joins a build, not a finished competition.
- Outdoor FPV racing is your main goal. That is the advanced tier and a later phase — not where an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner starts.
- You need a professional pilot qualification. Drone soccer needs no licence and no airspace permit; that is the point of it, not a shortcut into commercial certification.
- You want to sell it as a fitness programme. We frame drone sport as digital skills, inclusion and education in and through sport, and we will not write health claims into a bid.
- You want a supplier, not a partner. An Erasmus+ Sport drone partner takes work packages and delivers them, and that runs in both directions.
Want to start a drone club?
Near Athens or beyond — we’ll help you set up a simulator-first drone club, from the free software and first controllers to safe indoor flying and, when you’re ready, a drone-soccer team. Start small, grow into the league.
Questions we get
The questions every Erasmus+ Sport drone partner asks first.
Straight answers, in roughly the order people actually ask them.
What does an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner actually commit to?
Work packages, and delivering them: adopting the FAI and FIDA rules rather than inventing local ones, running the simulator-first pathway with your own young people, reporting back what breaks and what works, and taking a named share of the writing — rulebook, equipment standard, certification route, or league.
Do we need a pilot licence, a permit or open airspace?
No. Drone soccer is played indoors with caged drones at low speed, so it needs no airfield, no pilot licence and no open airspace — just an indoor space. That is why we made it the anchor discipline instead of outdoor racing: it is the version of drone sport a school can say yes to.
We have no equipment budget. Can we still start?
Yes, and we would start there anyway. Tier 0 is free simulators on the computers you already have plus a few shared controllers, from around €100. Pilots train and play zero-travel online matches against partner schools, so a school can act as an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner before owning any hardware.
What does the equipment cost when we do buy?
The figures on this page are indicative, not quotes. Sim-only starts from around €100; a class flying all-in-one tiny-whoop kits indoors runs roughly €800–1,500; a competition-ready club with a netted regulation arena is multi-thousand. We cost each setup with you against current EU prices, and controllers come first.
Is drone sport really recognised, or is this a hobby?
Recognised. The FAI — the world air-sports federation — recognises drone soccer as class F9A, and FIDA is the international drone-soccer federation, with the first European Drone Soccer Championship set for 2026. An Erasmus+ Sport drone partner adopts that rulebook rather than inventing one, which is what separates this from a gadget demo.
How long would the project run?
That is not ours to decide, and we would rather say so plainly. The Erasmus+ rules for the action you apply under, and the grant agreement you sign, set how long the project and any activity inside it last. We are not inventing rules — tell us the dates that fit your school year and we build around them.
Are you already running a league we can join?
Not yet, and we won’t claim otherwise. EVEC is an experienced Erasmus+ organisation opening a new sport, not a federation with fixtures to sell. The league is what we want a founding Erasmus+ Sport drone partner to build with us, starting with an online inter-school division that needs no travel.
Is it too late for an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner to be first?
Not yet. We’ve found no dedicated Erasmus+ drone-sport school network, and a European federation is only now taking shape, with the first championship due in 2026. Joining at this point means helping write the standard rather than inheriting it.
Can a sports club or federation be an Erasmus+ Sport drone partner, or is this schools only?
Not schools only. Schools are the participation base because gyms and classrooms are where the game fits, but clubs, youth NGOs and national federations are exactly who we want beside them: a club brings coaches, a federation brings a route to recognition, and both need the same rulebook.
How fast do you reply, and can we come and talk?
Within a maximum of two working days, every time. Our office at Polifimou 17, Zografou 157 71, Athens is open every working day from 09:00 to 16:00 if you would rather talk in person.
Trust & credibility
A new sport — backed by a real, EU-recognised organisation.
Drone sport is new for everyone; what isn’t new is EVEC. We’re an officially recognised Erasmus+ & ESC organisation with a track record of delivering — the safe pair of hands a young sport needs.
Erasmus+ accreditation
KA1 Youth field. (For Sport we partner & organise — no sport-specific accreditation is required.)
2023-1-EL02-KA150-YOU-000188397ESC Quality Label
Volunteering quality mark — active.
2023-1-EL02-ESC50-QLA-000195138Organisation IDs
Our official identity in the EU system.
OID E10172681 · PIC 909448430Proven track record
20+ Erasmus+ & ESC projects since 2017, with partners across Europe.
GR · MK · PL · RS · BG · RO · ES · DK · ATDrones in our toolkit
Drones are already part of our STEM toolkit — taking them into sport is the natural next step.
A new EVEC Sport initiativeAthens, Greece
Polifimou 17, Zografou 157 71, Athens.
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Co-funded by the European UnionCo-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Let’s begin
Let’s get drones in the air. Tell us who you are.
Whether you’re a potential Erasmus+ Sport drone partner, a school, a youth group or a sports club — tell us where you’d start and we’ll get back to you with next steps.
