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On January 22-23, 2026, the KOLMEN KAMPUKSEN URHEILUOPISTO (KKU) organized the kick off meeting of the FOCUS Project at the Kisakallio Sports Institute (Finland). Coordinated by NYSA (Sweden), in cooperation with BK HACKEN (Sweden), RFS Academy (Latvia), LATVIJAS AUGSTSKOLU SPORTA SA VIENIBA (LUSF – Latvia), TURUN KAUPUNKI (Finland), KKU (Finland) and EAS, the FOCUS project aims to establish an innovative and scalable Dual Career co-created framework, ensuring that elite football players can successfully transition from youth to professional sport levels while maintaining educational and career opportunities.

By utilizing the Cynefin framework, athletes and stakeholders will explore decision-making strategies in complex career transitions, with an emphasis on narrative-driven ethnographic research to shape European policy recommendations. Starting from a desk analysis of the football and educational contexts in place in Finland, Latvia, and Sweden, a systematic literature review of dual career in European football, an online survey, and national focus groups, the project will encompass actual testing sessions, and will culminate in the dissemination of practical toolkits, policy guidelines, and a scalable Dual Career model, integrating sport and education to foster athlete success beyond the playing field.

The FOCUS project is funded by the European Union and coordinated by NYSA. 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.