October 2022
On October 24, the Members of the Italian Olympic Athletes’ Committee organized the national forum “Stronger together” at the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome. Claudia Giordani – Vice President of CONI, Silvia Salis – Deputy Vice President of CONI, representatives various National Sports Federations and Associated Sports Disciplines, Paolo Bouquet – President of UnisportItalia, and Laura Capranica – President of EAS attended the event.
The Secretary General of CONI, Carlo Mornati opened the Forum, which aimed to foster a democratic representation of athletes at the level of all the national sports federations, and to raise the awareness of the activities and projects carried out by the Italian Olympic Athletes’ Committee.
Giovanni Malagò, President of the Olympic Committee and IOC Member, emphasized the benefits of engaging athletes in the decision boards of sports bodies to advance the Italian sports culture and highlighted the successful athletic outcomes in several sports disciplines of the last two years.
Federica Pellegrini, swimmer champion and Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), testified the relevant role and aims of the Athletes’ IOC Committee, and encouraged all the sports federations to listen to the athletes’ voices by establishing their Commission. In fact, athletes are the key players of sports. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a strong community for sharing initiatives and for creating synergies with all the sports actors.
The President of the Italian Olympic Athlete’s Committee Raffaella Masciardi (basketball), and the Vice-President Carlo Molfetta (taekwondo) presented the role, aims, and Members of the ExCom including Antonella Del Core (volleyball and Member of the Executive Board of CONI), Paolo Pizzo (fencing and Member of the Executive Board of CONI), Francesco Marrai (sailing), Elena Pantaleo (kombat sport), Anna Cappellini (ice skating), Francesco Pellgrino (sking), Tatiana Andreoli (archery), and Paolo Lorenzi (tennis) as elected Members, as well as Cristina Lenardon (handball) and Sara Gama (soccer) as co-opted members.
Then, four initiatives of the Italian Olympic Athletes’ Committee were illustrated and discussed: 1) “Financial education and sport” aimed to educate athletes on sound economic management, financial planning, savings, economics, and self-entrepreneurial capability; 2) “The national dual career guidelines” developed in cooperation with Unisport Italia, and the Universiyty Sport Association (CUSI) to be disseminated and to be adopted by all the sports bodies and higher educational institutions; 3) ”MyLLENNIUM AWARD – MySPORT” dedicated to Dual Career athletes under 30 years of age presenting projects on entrepreneurship, creative writing, training, or communication; and 4) “Excellent Student Excellent Athlete” award to reward successful experiences in sports and education, which need to be disseminated to all the athletes’ community.
In considering that Italy is lacking structured measures and arrangements, the Stronger Together forum represents a great opportunity to establish fruitful cooperation and synergies between sports bodies, educational institutions, for-profit companies, and media for the benefit of the sportspersons.
To note, the Vice-President Carlo Molfetta and the Member of the CONI ExCom Paolo Pizzo have benefited of the dual career programme at the University of Rome Foro Italico.
On October 11, 2022, the Partners of the PARA-LIMITS participated in a transnational blended meeting in Bucharest, Romania, to discuss the progresses of the previous phases of the project and to plan the following ones (https://paralimits.eu). The Para-Limits project is co-funded by the European Erasmus+ Sport programme and focuses on high-level athletes, Paralympians included, who seek to break down barriers and cultivate their talent with no limits.
The Europe-wide Para-limits strategic partnership encompassing universities, sports bodies, innovative organization, and EAS, the European Dual Career network, intends to achieve greater social inclusion through sport and higher education, by enabling high-level athletes to achieve their sporting and educational careers, regardless of their disability. In administering a 84-item questionnaire to 160 student-athletes, equally representing student-athletes with and without disability, Para-limits uncovered the differences of dual career barriers between these groups. To achieve an effective integration of paralympic student-athletes at university level, Para-Limits intends to propose a series of recommendations to try overcoming these barriers and to foresee low-cost dual career solutions to be adopted in different Member States, thus contributing to the European policies on social inclusion of high-performance athletes with disabilities. Furthermore, the Para-limits platform is expected to be available in the first months of 2023.
On September 28-30, the Univesidad Catolica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM) hosted the 2022 EAS Annual Conference “A Holistic Approach to the Dual Career of the Student Athlete”. In being at the forefront of European Dual Career, UCAM participates in several ERASMUS+ Sport Partnerships, promoted a special issue in its scientific journal Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte, and is the University with the highest number of student-athletes winning medals at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021. At the Roman Theatre Museum of Cartagena, the Dean of the Faculty of Sport at UCAM Ms. Lourdes Meroño García, the President of EAS Ms. Laura Capranica, the President of the Organising Committee at UCAM Mr. Juan Alfonso García Roca, and the Delegate Councillor of Tourism of the Cartagena City Council Ms. Cristina Pérez Carrasco welcomed the participants.
Ms. Floor van Houdt (Head of Unit for Sport, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture) and Mr. David Kunst (Policy Officer for Evidence & Analysis, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) presented online the opportunities for sports and employment at the European Commission, whereas Ms. Francine Hetherington Raveney (Deputy Executive Secretary of the EPAS) reported on the actions in the field of sports at the Council of Europe.
Dual career perspectives of the European Sports Organizations were offered by Mr. Andrej Pišl – Communications and Projects Manager at the European University Sports Association (EUSA); Mr. Philippe Housiaux – President of the European Fair Play Movement (EFPM); Ms. Teodora Pletosu – EU Affairs and Public Projects Specialist at Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The dual career viewpoints of International Sports Organizations were provided by Mr. Kole Gjeloshaj – Director of Institutional and Educational Affairs at International School Sport Federation (ISF); Mr. Bill Thomson – Education Committee Member at International University Sports Federation (FISU) and Mr. Joerg Foerster – Chair Shareholder Committee Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games gGmbH; and Mr. David Cabello – Executive Board Member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The EAS Conference was also the occasion for the signing of an important Memorandum of Understanding between the ISF and EAS on common dual career interests and close cooperation between the two organisations.
During the first session on dual career best practices and research, the 2022 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship has been awarded to Dr. Andrea Fusco from the University of Cassino and Lazio Meridionale, who presented research findings on dual career relocating elite coaches.
At the end of the first day, the participants contributed to the first workshop of the ERASMUS+Sport BRAnd Values Alignment through Dual Career (BRAVA-DC, 622824-EPP-1-2020-1-IE-SPO-SCP), which required to grade the importance and feasibility of 50 statements on the enhancement of the European workplace environment so the circumstances and challenges of dual career employee-sportspersons can more effectively be accommodated. 
On the second day, the event was organized at the UCAM Cartagena Campus and was opened by Mr. Alejandro Leiva Arcas – Secretary of the Faculty of Sport, who reported the strategies and experiences for the promotion of Dual Career of student-athletes. Then, Mr. Sergio López Andújar (General Secretary of the Spanish Futsal Players Association, AJFS) moderated a round table with UCAM dual career athletes (Mr. Agassi Goantara – Indonesian International Basket Player), paralympic athletes (Mr. Gerard Descarrega – Paralympic 400m Gold Medalist; and Mr. Guillermo Rojo – International Athlete and Guide of Mr. Gerard Descarrega), and coaches (Antonio Peñalver – University Professor, International Athletics Coach, Decathlon Silver Olympic Medalist; and Mr. Rafael Alcaraz – International Taekwondo Coach of Olympic and Paralympic athletes).
A second workshop of the BRAVA-DC project was organized to allow the participants to group the 50 statements into categories in terms of meanings according to their individual logic. The expertise and knowledge of the participants in the first and second BRAVA-DC workshops have been considered very valuable in assisting during the development of European guidelines which support Dual Career in the workplace and facilitate appropriate brand alignment strategies and Corporate Social Responsibility policies.
During the annual General Assembly, Mr. Ole Keldorf, Secretary General, summarized the main activities and achievements of the organisation, as well as the financial results. Despite the 2019-2022 quadrennium presented several unexpected challenges, EAS managed to increase its activities organizing online cafès on different dual career aspects of the sportspersons, contributed to the finalization and progression of European ERASMUS+ Sport Partnerships, co-authored several scientific publications, and participated in European cultural and sports events. The delegates also elected the Board for the new 4-year mandate, confirming Ms. Laura Capranica (Italy) in the position of the President, and Ms. Mojca Doupona (Slovenia), Mr. Ole Keldorf (Denmark), Mr. Ilvis Abelkalns (Latvia), Mr. Antonio Sanchez-Pato (Spain), Ms. Laurence BONDEL (France), Mr. Antonio FIGUEIREDO (Portugal) as Members of the Executive Board, which is complemented by the permanent positions of Mr. Risto Keskitalo (Finland) and Mr. Tibor Kozsla (Hungary) as Founder and Honorary President, respectively.
The third day of the event took place in the Roman Theatre Museum of Cartagena and encompassed the second session dedicated to dual career best practices and research, and to Erasmus+Sport projects (e.g., SPRINGBOARD, Athlete Counsellors Against Match Fixing, ELCAMP, Para-limits).
Participants had plenty opportunities to interact and to exchange ideas for future dual career projects and collaborations during the conference breaks, lunches, dinners, the tour to the Roman Theater, and the Tourist Boat trip. The large delegation of Finnish Rectors and the Brazilian participants substantiated the EAS Conference as a crucial event to further develop a European dual career discourse in and beyond Europe.
On behalf of the EAS Board, President Capranica thanked the Organizing Committee and the UCAM staff for their amazing work in organizing such a grand final of the 2019-2022 quadrennium. The 2023-2026 quadrennium is already on the move, with the EAS Members looking forward to the 2023 and 2024 EAS Conferences to be held in Gaeta, Italy, and in Katowice, Poland, respectively.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu