Transatlantic Support for Transformation through Attachment, Coaching, and Humanity
A transatlantic scientific initiative mobilizing sport as a psychosocial intervention lever for youth mental health in Morocco.
In partnership with
CDIDE
School of Psychoeducation
Tibu Africa
IUJD
With the financial support of
UdeM International – Université de Montréal
ATTACH Summer School launch ceremony — Casablanca, May 2026
Transforming the sporting experience into an intentional developmental experience
The Integrated clinical model of sport-based development proposes a structured way of using sport not only as a physical activity, but as a space for relational, psychoeducational and developmental intervention. This model transforms sporting situations experienced by youth into concrete development opportunities, through a clinical reading of lived experience, quality relational presence, and continuous adjustment between the young person and their environment.
Puts the young person in contact with: unpredictability, authentic emotions, cooperation, decision-making, bodily engagement, real challenges and a sense of belonging.
Based on: professional operations, the overall structure and relational schemas.
Development plays out in the balance between: PAD (adaptive potential of the person), PEx (experiential potential of the environment) and fit (dynamic adjustment between the young person, environmental demands and available relational support).
Supporting emotional security, exploration, co-regulation and trust.
Understanding the influence of the group, family, school and environment.
Observing belonging, leadership, implicit norms and emotional contagion.
Read what is being lived in the sporting action.
Transform lived events into learning opportunities.
Modulate the framework, expectations, challenge level and relational support to maintain an optimal zone of development.
- Schools
- Sports organizations
- Coaches and practitioners
- Psychoeducators and psychosocial professionals
- Universities and training institutions
- Community and international partners
Sport as a secure base environment: the coach-athlete relationship as an attachment figure fostering emotional regulation and identity development. T1 items Q13–Q15 (98% perceived respect, 90% perceived interest) empirically confirm this coach-youth attachment quality (Mårs et al., 2024; Davis et al., 2021).
Person-environment interaction approach: the Adaptive Potential of the person (PAD) and the Experiential Potential of the environment (PEx) allow the sport challenge to be adjusted to the young person's resources. Sport becomes a structuring life environment where the use of lived experience transforms each moment into transferable learning (Renou, 2005; OPPQ, 2021).
The sport group as a container for regulation, belonging and co-construction of meaning. The T1 student debrief confirms this mechanism: “group”, “community”, “collectivity” and “strong and rapid bonds” dominate the word cloud. The collective precedes and supports individual learning — it is the primary vector of the ATTACH effect.
Internationally recognized framework positioning sport as a vector of transferable life skills: confidence, connection, character, competence and contribution. 96.4% of T1 youth express the intention to repeat the experience and recommend it (Côté & Vierimaa, 2014; Fraser-Thomas et al., 2025).
Intensive training sessions — 40 hours of psychoeducation and attachment theory
The model is designed to be concrete, transferable, and teachable, allowing coaches to directly integrate psychosocial principles into sports practice.
Morocco, May 2026 · 5 cities · 1,200 young people reached · 138 surveyed · 29 psychoeducation students · 35 teachers · 30 Tibu Africa coaches
Results from the Q1 Report — Assessment of feasibility, acceptability, and implementation
Field interventions in primary schools — Phase 1, May 2026
The experience is massively positive and homogeneous across all 5 sites. The coach bond (4.84/5) surpasses all other scores — availability, respect, perceived interest at 90–98%. 68% of verbatims from Sidi-Kacem mention friendship: a sign that the project creates connection where it is lacking.
Very solid conceptual adoption (4.75/5). Coaches explicitly name relational schemas and attachment to re-read their practice. Main challenge: moving from theory to concrete application. Key lever: peer exchanges after sessions.
Strong theoretical buy-in (4.41/5) but marked contextual friction (3.43/5). Top need: preparation time. Not a rejection of the approach — a request for the conditions to implement it.
Young participants during interventions in primary schools — Phase 1, 2026
“Psychoeducation, as we experienced it here, should not only be an academic field, but also a genuine tool for social transformation.”
— Mohamed El Amrani, ATTACH 2026 participant, Morocco
The 29 psychoeducation student-interns from the Université de Montréal led sport activities in pairs with Tibu Africa coaches, working with youth across 5 cities. They also administered data collection questionnaires with the youth, directly contributing to the scientific rigor of the T1 Report.
Leading sport activities in pairs with Tibu Africa coaches across all 5 sites.
Administering T1 questionnaires to the 138 youth participants.
Participating in the final collective debrief, a key source of qualitative data for the T1 Report.
A unique and invaluable intercultural field experience.
Development of concrete applied research skills.
Immersion in community intervention at an international scale.
What the student debrief reveals: The student debrief reveals a deeply relational and collective experience. The dominant words — group, human connection, sharing, welcome, adaptation, gratitude — confirm that ATTACH is experienced as a structuring human encounter, not merely a training.
The ATTACH 2026 team — 29 Canadian students, 30 Tibu Africa coaches, and 35 teachers brought together
Psychoeducational expertise, clinical supervision and development of the ATTACH model.
Academic leadership, student training and research design.
Field implementation, cultural adaptation and community mobilization.
Scientifically validated attachment training and knowledge transfer.
The ATTACH project has benefited from the generous support of Members of the National Assembly of Quebec, who contributed through their discretionary budget. Their commitment reflects a shared vision: making sport a lever for young people’s well-being.
"The first elected official to publicly support the ATTACH project and promote it in Quebec."
"Valuable support for anchoring ATTACH within Quebec’s social development priorities."
"His support reflects the vision of a Quebec where a culture of well-being also comes through sport."
"A strong commitment to the social inclusion of vulnerable youth."
"Her support illustrates the transregional reach of the ATTACH project."
Their confidence in our approach is recognition of the real impact of sport on young people’s mental health.