October 2024
On October 10, 2024, the sports representatives from more than 40 European countries, the associations member of the EPAS Consultative Committee, and a group of youth delegates as part of a specific youth initiative gathered in Porto (Portugal) to attend the 18th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport, during which was celebrated the 10th anniversary of the as Macolin Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions.
Organized by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, the event addressed collaborative strategies for good governance and inclusivity in and through sports. As part of the first day programme, EAS took part in the meeting of the EPAS Consultative Committee, which was followed by a speed date with the youth participants addressing the possible strategies for fostering policies to progress the sports.
The focus of the second day was on collaborative governing and god governance in sports, with special attention to the adaptation of the rules to move forwards. The last day, a focus session on “Leadership through Gender Equality in Sport & Dual Career: Effective Strategies and Future Directions” was organized with onsite and online modalities. Following a thoruogh discussion on gender equality, the dual career issue was opened by Vitor Pardal (National Coordinator of the High Performance Sports Unit in School, Portugal), who delivered the keynote speech Reconciling School and Sports Success in Portugal focused on the good practice of the UUARE high school programme with 80% of academic success of athletes compared to all students.
Before moderating the dual career panel discussion, the EAS President summarized the 20-year journey of the European dual career discourse, starting from the 2004 European Year of Education in and through Sport (EYES), followed by the publication of the White Paper on Sport in 2007 and of the EU Guidelines on Dual Career of Athletes in 2012, the inclusion of dual career as a priority of the ERASMUS+Sport programme, and the extension of dual career to all the sportspersons (e.g., coaches, physical trainers, referees, sports managers, and volunteers) in 2021. She emphasized the usefulness of the European Portal “Erasmus+ Project Results” (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/) which offers the outcomes of the previous ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnerships. Also the findings of three systematic literature reviews, were highlighted as crucial resources to help the implementation of dual career programmes. In particular, Laura capranica invited the participants to collect the fliers of the ongoing projects Compath, DC Mentor, DiscoverU, Find Me, Smart Start for DC, Sports as Values, and Talent, made available for the participants.
The President also illustrated how EAS contributes to the European dual career discourse through the organization of: an annual conference, two of them organized in Portugal; the fall and spring EAS online cafès, which give voice to sportspersons and experts on specific dual career topics; the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship awarded to the best paper submitted to the annual EAS conference; the collaboration with several dual career actors through European projects; and the networking with educational institutions, sports bodies, and local, national, and European authorities, as well as with dual career associations established beyond Europe, as substantiated by the collaboration with the Associação Brasileira sobre Dupla Carreira Esportiva (ABDC) fostered by EAS Portuguese members. Finally, she urged actions in dual career for all the sportspersons as students and as workers.
During the panel discussion, Duarte Nuno Fernandes Lopez (Chief of Staff, Secretary of State for Sport, Portugal, and organizer of two EAS Conferences in Lisbon) provided his considerations on the benefits of the Portuguese dual career system for high school and universities. Gévrise Emane, (Lifestyle Athletes Manager at the National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance – INSEP, former judo champion, and speaker at a online EAS cafè) discussed how INSEP help athletes in managing the challenges towards long-term success and well-being. Sofia Ramalho (SLBenfica Basketball Female Team Manager, Time out 2.0 Project Manager, International Basketball Federation – FIBA) reported how the crucial aspects of transition from player to team manager helped her supporting athletes in handling dual careers. Andrej Pisl (Communications & Project Manager, European University Sports Association – EUSA, coordinator of the DiscoverU dual career project and speaker at a online EAS Cafè) reminded that EUSA celebrates its 25th anniversary, claimed that university sports id for all students and not only for elite athletes, and reported successful stories of best practices to establish dual career legacy. Andy Criere Martin (Professional surfer and Olympian athlete, and speaker at a online EAS Cafè) illustrated the opportunity to pursue a dual career path by enrolling in an online university, and how the combination of academic studies helped him improving as an athlete and entrepreneur. During the general discussion, the role of parents and coaches and educated dual career service providers were emphasized.
The recording of the gender and dual career event is available at https://www.youtube.com/live/21tdgavFw7M
The 2024 annual EAS Conference and General Assembly have been held face-to-face in Katowice, Poland, on October 1-3, organized by the Academy of Physical Education of Katowice. The 2024 European City of Science welcomed around 70 participants from 17 different countries in presence and others attending online. With its well-developed economy and culture, Katowice was the perfect place to celebrate the 20th anniversary of EAS in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
In the first day, the opening ceremony was introduced by Piotr Rodak, President of the Organizing Committee, followed by EAS President Laura Capranica, Vice Rector of Sport AWF Katowice Adam Zajac, and a video message from MEP and former Olympic athlete Jagna Marczulajtis-Wall, The session was closed by Rajmund Tomik, Conference Director.
Key lectures focused on the AWF – School of Champions by Adam Zajac (Academy of Physical Education in Katowice – AWF); the Erasmus+ funding opportunities on Dual Careers by Izabela Pelczynska from the European Education and Culture Executive Agency – EACEA; the FISU Dual Career programme by Bill Thompson from the Education Committee of the International University Sports Federation (FISU); and the the European Network of Sport Education – ENSE by President Antonio Tessitore, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding between EAS and ENSE.
The Bengt Nybelius Scholarship winner Flavia Guidotti from the University San Raffaele of Rome, Italy, presented the dual career experiences of female soccer players, preceding the EAS 20th anniversary commemoration, led by the EAS founder and Honorary President Risto Keskitalo, who summarized the history and main achievements of the Network.
In the afternoon sessions focused on oral presentations on dual career at university level and a session specifically dedicated to European projects on dual career encompassing: FIND ME: University Dual Career Opportunities (Nenad Stojiljkovic, and Pascal Izzicupo); HEPALIS, An Online Educational Chance (Juan Alfonso Garcia-Roca); DiscoverU – Discovering University Sport and Supporting Dual Career (Andrej Pisl); SAMEurope (Dorothée Brac de la Perrière); Smart Start for DC – Encouraging the Dual Career of Young High School Athletes (Renato Vuk); Talent (Antonino Scardina); and the Capacity Building ‘Sports as Value’ – Societal Impact and Development of Grassroots Sports in the Western Balkans (Faton Tishukaj).
On the second day, the Conference was organized at the Silesian Stadion Slaski in Chorzow, where the panel discussion on Sport in School and University was chaired by Piotr Rodak, with the former Olympian and sport journalist Weronika Nowakowska, the representative of the Academic Sports Association of Poland – AZS Marianna Pikul, Vice-Dean of AWF Katowice Krzysztof Wilusz, and Olympian student-athlete at the AWF Katowice Maciej Wyderka sharing their experiences and commitment for the advancement of dual career in Poland.
Following the sessions dedicated to oral presentations on dual career at high school and university levels, the Annual General Assembly was directed by the EAS Secretary Ole Keldorf. The members approved the activity report presented by the President Laura Capranica and the financial report presented by the Treasurer Mojca Doupona, duly checked by Florentino Huertas and Nenad Stojiljkovic. Furthermore, the Assembly nominated Flavia Guidotti (Telematic University San Raffaele, Italy), Alejandro Alejandro Leiva-Arcas (UCAM, Spain), and Malene Thisgaard Knudsen (Aarhus University, Denmark) as Members of the Next Generation EAS Committee, which will be responsible to assign the 2025 Bengt Nybelius Award and to collaborate to the enhancement of the communication channels of the Network.
At the end of the General Assembly, Romana Caput-Jogunica invited the EAS members to attend the 22nd EAS Conference to be held in Zagreb next 2025 on behalf of the Croatian Olympic Committee and the University of Zagreb, in cooperation with dual career associations.
The participants had also the opportunity to visit the sports infrastructure and facilities of the Stadion Slaski before attending the Gala Dinner having a sky overview the town of Katowice.
During the last day of the Conference, the closing ceremony was organized after a tour at the Guido Mine museum located at 320m underground in Zabrze. The Conference book of abstracts is available at https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl. The Academy of Physical Education in Katowice – AWF is planning to publish a book of the contributions.
As part of the DC Mentor project, the project partners held a meeting on 30th September in Katowice, Poland. The meeting was highly productive in terms of reviewing the project’s current status, completed outputs, and planning future steps.
The meeting began with an opening speech by Aneta Lemiesz. Following that, Gamze Aydin from Sportstech Türkiye provided an update on the outputs completed so far and the ongoing tasks. Håkon Ege from COLIN shared a draft version of the platform developed within the scope of the project, while Rıdvan Cakir from Sportstech Türkiye presented the modules’ interface and structure in detail.
Throughout the meeting, the project partners reviewed each module individually and discussed areas needing improvement. They provided valuable feedback on how the modules could be adapted specifically for young athletes.
One of the key topics of the meeting was the “Mental Toughness” module. It was discussed that this module should be kept separate and its content addressed more specifically.
The meeting also addressed how the platform would be structured, how the modules would function, and innovations to enhance user experience. It was announced that each module would include an “Assessment” section at the end, and participants would receive a certificate after completing the training modules. Videos and PowerPoint presentations will also be included on the platform alongside the modules. All partners will deliver the content related to their modules by the agreed deadlines and continue contributing to the project as it progresses.
At the end of the meeting, there were discussions on dissemination strategies. Additionally, various interactive activities and blog posts were planned for the local promotion of the project.
This project aims to support the academic and athletic development of student-athletes. The educational modules developed within the scope of the project will contribute to enhancing both their personal and professional skills.
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.
The Compath Project meeting we held on 17th September in Zagreb, with the participation of all project partners, was completed. The meeting started with an opening speech by Renato Vuk on behalf of PESG. Vuk briefly mentioned the work done so far in the project and outlined the general flow of the meeting and the topics to be discussed. Following this, Håkon Ege from COLIN introduced the gamification-based digital “Competence Hub” platform, which will be developed within the scope of Work Package 3, aimed at sports innovation. Ege explained that this platform is designed to foster and share innovative approaches in the world of sports. Access to the platform will be provided via https://portal.sportsinnovationshub.com, and after registering, all participants had the opportunity to explore its features and usage details. During this review, Resul Erhan, the representative of MOBAD, gave a comprehensive presentation about the technical details of the platform, providing information on its infrastructure and technical operation. Additionally, Ege mentioned that the platform would be ready for testing within a week, and partners would be able to provide feedback on it.
The second session of the meeting continued with a detailed review of the tasks within Work Package 4. In this session, Håkon Ege from COLIN gave a presentation about the tasks, roles, responsibilities, and the contributions of project partners under this work package. The distribution of modules among project partners was also clarified during this presentation. Each module was distributed according to the expertise of the project partners, and the roles and responsibilities of each partner were detailed. These modules will be added to the project’s digital learning platform to create educational content focused on sports innovation.
In addition, various local and international events under Work Package 4 were outlined in the second session. Under this work package, it was planned to organize local training seminars for trainers, teachers, and experts in five countries (Norway, Poland, Croatia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden). Guidelines, checklists, and feedback forms to be used in these seminars were presented by Ege to all partners. It was also agreed that local thematic workshops would be organized for student-athletes in these five countries, with a deadline for completion set for October 20, 2024.
Another important event discussed was the international workshop to be held in Oslo. This workshop, scheduled for October 28-29, 2024, will host 12 young participants. Each project partner will be responsible for sending a designated number of participants to this international event.
The topic of testing the digital platform was also addressed. It was decided that the platform would be tested by a total of 120 young athletes from eight countries, with 15 participants from each country taking part in the digital learning activities. This testing phase was considered a critical step in terms of platform functionality and user experience. Finally, community-building activities were planned, with six hybrid (physical/digital) meetings and various webinars to be organized throughout the project. These events aim to raise awareness in the field of sports innovation and reach a wider audience.
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.
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Email: info@dualcareer.eu