Author: duponam
On April 10-11, 2025, the European Commission organized the EU Sport Forum 2025 in Kraków, Poland, which provided a unique opportunity to envisage the advancement of EU sport policies through a high-level dialogue on: the future of the European Sport Model based on solidarity, values and competitiveness; the role of sport in education; the rights and wellbeing of athletes; the piracy of life sports events; the role of sports in EU enlargement; foreign investments in European football; the role of Artificial Intelligence in sport; and the possible implementation of Erasmus+ Sport actions. The event was also streamed online.
The crucial role of a close collaboration between institutions in support of the European Sports Model and its values was addressed in the opening speech by Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport; in the introductory remarks by Sławomir Nitras, Minister of Sport and Tourism of Poland, and by Aleksander Miszalski, Mayor of Krakow; in the video key-note speech by Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee; in the presentation of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games by Diana Bianchedi, Chief Strategy Planning & Legacy Officer of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics Foundation; and in the introductory speech on the European Model of Sport by Bogdan Zdrojewski, Member of the European Parliament and Rapporteur on the Role of EU Policies in Shaping the European Sport Model. Keynote speeches were also provided by David Evangelista, President and Managing Director of the Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, Shanaia Xuereb, Maltese Special Olympics athlete. The closing remarks of the event were offered by Georg Häusler, Director of Culture, Creativity and Sport of the European Commission.
During the two-day event, EAS joined the Commissioner and the Members of the Sport Unit of the European Commission, the representatives of the European Parliament, national sports ministers, Olympic committees, sport federations, international sports organisations, and elite athletes in debating the challenges, the opportunities, and the future of the European sport policy and collaboration.
On March 31, 2025, around 70 participants attended the 15th EAS online Cafè “From talent identification to talent support” organized in cooperation with the consortium of the ERASMUS+Sport TALENT (Cloud-based education for creative sport talents- 101090147) project.
The Cafè was moderated by Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, EAS ExCom Mamber and expert scholar on talent identification, who welcomed the participants and invited them to contribute before April 27, 2025 to the monograph Dual Career in School and University – Innovative Bridges between Sport and Education. Prof. Figuiredo informed also on the 2025 EAS Conference to be held in Riga (Estonia) next October 6-8, 2025.
Prof. Zoran Milanovic (University of Nis, Serbia) introduced the concept of talent in sports and presented the challenges and opportunities in talent recognition. After offering an overview of the development of the scientific research in talent recognition and selection, he envisaged future opportunities that the artificial intelligence could provide to sport staff.
Mr. Ole Keldorf (Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Denmark) illustrated the need of a holistic mindset to dual career to sustain talented athletes and provided information on the current approach at the sports academy of Aarhus, which offers dual career paths to more than 250 athletes of 34 sports, from the 8th of the elementary school, till secondary school graduation.
Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic (University of Nis, Serbia), presented the aims and journey of the ERASMUS+Sport “TALENT” project, which has led to the TALENT Guidelines for coaches and teachers to recognize talented children; for teachers to support the development of talented students; for parents to nurture their children’s talents; for sports clubs to enhance support mechanisms for the dual career development of talented athletes; and for decision makers to develop educational institutions supporting dual careers for talented athletes.
TALENT is funded by the European Union (101090147). 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.
On March 27, 2025, the Sports School PESG (Croatia), coordinator of the ERASMUS+Sport project Smart Start for Dual Career (101133555), organized an online Team meeting to discuss the progression of the key elements for supporting the development of dual careers of young student athletes (14 – 19) through strengthening their transversal/transferable skills. The joint effort of
PEGS, Margherita Sport e Vita – MSV, MindSpin, Champions Factory, Turkish Ministry of Education, and EAS is to finalize the development of new MOOC educational contents and the self-evaluation questionnaire for youth athletes as students.
The Smart Start for Dual Career Team will meet in person in Sofia (Bulgaria) at the end of April 2025.
The Smart Start for DC project is funded by the European Union and coordinated by PEGS. 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.
On March 18, 2025, the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) invited European sports stakeholders at the European Parliament to contribute to a consultative meeting on the role of the EU policies in shaping the European Sport Model.
Member of the European Parliament Bogdan Zdrojewski, Vice-Chair of the CULT Committee and rapporteur of the initiative, welcomed the participants, followed by presentation by Iwona Lotysz (Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union) Giorgio Guazzugli-Marini (Acting Head of Sport Unit at the European Commission), and Roberto Pella, (European Committee of the Regions, rapporteur of the opinion on “Building a values-based, bottom-up European sports model: a vehicle for encouraging inclusion and social wellbeing among young Europeans).
Overall, 40 stakeholders participated in the event, with 20 of them providing short speeches in contribution to the European sports policies. Laura Capranica, EAS President, highlighted the importance of European ERASMUS+Sport fundings for cooperative partnerships focused on the sportspersons’ rights to education in and through sports. She highlighted that whilst Europe has been considered a good model and inspiration for countries beyond Europe (recently, a dual career association has been established in Brazil following the EAS example), the tremendous outcomes of the ERASMUS+Sport projects do not always reach the target population at large. To bridge such a gap and to have a positive impact especially in the future generations of athletes, coaches, physical trainers, referees, sports managers, sports scholars, and volunteers, President Capranica suggested the adoption of European policies urging the sport academic institutions and the sport bodies to include relevant European priorities (such as dual career, sport inclusion, sport integrity, safeguarding, etc) in their educational courses.
In relation to the claims made by other stakeholders on the lack of accurate and reliable data to help the interpretation of the European sport phenomenon and its possible evolution in different sectors, President Capranica recommended that the European sport policies finally enforce the inclusion of sport in the in the European Research Area, To assist the European sport culture, President Capranica strongly encouraged European policies ensuring the right of citizenship of sports in the European Research Council (ERC) by finally mentioning active lifestyles, physical activity and sports in the ERC codes and by including experts of sports sciences in the European Scientific Committee.
Following this event, the European Parliament’s own-initiative report will gather the input from the stakeholders by March 31, 2025 in preparation of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union (EU).
The event was also an opportunity for EAS to promote its ongoing ERASMUS+Sport projects in cooperation with other stakeholders, such as EUSA Institute.
On March 17th, 2025, Laura Capranica, President of EAS, visited the Headquarter of CISM to met CISM Secretary General Navy Captain Roberto Recchia, CISM Academic Director Lieutenant-Commander Florentia Sfakianou, and dr. Andrea Carletti from Sport4Impact.
In presenting dual career opportunities offered by military sports to actual and former athletes and the efforts of CISM in organizing large global sports events, Lieutenant-Commander Florentia Sfakianou (Olympian) and Captain Roberto Recchia have been speakers at the 11th and 14th EAS cafès, respectively.
By reinforcing the collaboration with CISM and Sport4Impact, EAS contributes to bridging the gap between elite sports performance, education, and social development. During the meeting, joint initiatives have been envisaged to foster international cooperation in academic, scientific, and educational sports initiatives for sustaining the dual career of sportspersons, the sport values, and the integrity of sports.
Coordinated by Collective Innocation AS, EAS, CISM, Sport4Impact, Mouvement Européen pour le Fair Play-EFPM, the EUSA Intitute, and the UniversitàTelematica San Raffaele Roma cooperated in the preparation of the SPORT-Voice application to the ERASMUS+Sport 2024 Call.
Further information is available at https://www.milsport.one/news/march-2025-032025/cism-strengthens-ties-with-academic-and-community-sports-initiatives
Dear friends of Dual Career,
On behalf of the EAS Executive Committee, I inform you that the 15th EAS Virtual Cafè on “From talent identification to talent support” will be held on Monday March 31, 2025 (from 13:00 CET). You can join the Zoom Meeting at https://uni-lj-si.zoom.us/j/97281335276
13:00 Welcome – Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, University of Coimbra
13:10 Prof. Challenges and opportunities in talent recognition – Prof, Zoran Milanovic, University of Nis, Serbia
13:25 The holistic approach to talent support in Denmark – Mr. Ole Keldorf, Head of Sport at Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Denmark
13:40 The talent journey: Guidelines for coaches, parents, teachers – Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic, University of Nis, Serbia
13:55 General discussions and concluding remarks
Speakers:
Prof. Zoran Milanovic Associate Professor at the Sports and Physical Education Faculty of the University of Niš, Serbia, he has published more than 100 papers in international journal. He is a member of International Network of Sport and Health Science (INSHS)
Mr. Ole Keldorf, Head of Sport at Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Member of the EAS Executive Committee, Coach educator at the Danish Football Association, Member Advisory Board for Youth Elite in the Danish FE. Author and Editor of several articles and books and talent development.
Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic, Vice Dean for Science and International Cooperation at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education of the University of Nis, expert of designing research process, with more than 40 scientific prublications. Coordinator of the “FIND ME” and Member of the “TALENT” ERASMUS+Sport projects
Moderator
Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra, Member of the EAS Executive Committee, expert of youth training and talent identification and development with an emphasis on soccer.
Funded by the ERASMUS+Sport programme (101134043), the FIND ME project aims to structure an evidence-based European platform specifically tailored for dual career at university level through a joint effort of five European universities (Faculty of Sport and Physical Education University of Nis, Coordinator; University of Chieti-Pescara “Gabriele D’Annunzio”, Italy; Faculty of Sport University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; University Alexandru Ioan Cuza Din Iasi, Romania; Universidad Internacional De La Rioja, Spain), an impact-driven organisation (Collective Innovation – COLIN, Norway) and EAS.
On March 10, 2025, the Find Me Team organized an online meeting to discuss key milestones, to address challenges, and to assess the overall alignment of activities with the project’s objectives. Based on the deskwork and fieldwork at national levels in Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Spain (https://findmeproject.net/#flipbook-df_626/1/), and the recent publication of findings of a survey on the views of 321student-athletes’ and 43 dual career university experts (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1507951/full?utm_source=F-NTF), the team is planning the creation of an online platform providing information about dual career opportunities at university level, discussing its technical characteristics and requirements to ensure its functionality and accessibility.
The FIND ME project is 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.
On March 4, the TALENT Project Consortium Board held online one of its final meetings, marking an important phase in the project as it nears completion on May 31, 2025.
Representatives from CI SDZ, SMOC, CSI, KMOP, FSFV, EAS, and UNIPA gathered to discuss crucial milestones, upcoming events, and remaining deliverables.
The final deliverable for Work Package 4 has been reviewed and will be soon uploaded on the SyGMA portal, and the preparations of the final event to be held at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Sarajevo next April 9-13, 2025, has been finalized. In the next weeks KMOP will compile the final video of the testimonials from athletes and a TALENT EAS cafè has been envisioned. Further information is available at https://talent-edu.eu
Talent id funded by the European Union (101090147). 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 EAS Executive Board held its first in-person meeting of 2025 in Frankfurt (Germany) on 20-21 February. During the meeting, President Laura Capranica and Treasurer Mojca Doupona presented the 2024 activity and financial reports, respectively, which were unanimously approved.
The contribution of EAS to the development of the ongoing ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnerships was illustrated and possible participations in the next call was envisaged. To facilitate exchanges of information between the dual career community, the functionality of the EAS website will be implemented in the next three months.
For the EAS cafés, several themes have been proposed, with the next events to be organized at the end of March-beginning of April, on June, and on December. Unfortunately, the Croatian Olympic Committee informed that the current financial situation does not permit to organize the 2025 EAS Conference and General Assembly in Croatia. The ExCom decided to enquiry several possible alternatives.
Antonio Sánchez Pato presented a proposal for the EAS Strategic Plan for the 2024-28 cycle, which was discussed by the members of the executive committee. Final considerations were dedicated to the possibility of implementing the EAS Stature to allow the inclusion of the Members of the Next Generation in the ExCom EAS, and individual memberships. These aspects will be presented to the General Assembly.
Funded by the Erasmus+Sport programme (101133555), the SMART START for DC is a joint effort of Sportsko učilište PESG – projekti(HR) MindSpin (CY), Aps Asd Margherita Sport e Vita (IT), Champions Factory (BG), EAS – The Dual Career Network (MT), and Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı(TR). The project aims to encourage the dual career of young athletes of high school age (from 14 to 19 years old) through timely preparation for the labor market.
On February 4 the SmartStart4DC Team met online to align the goals and methodologies for the creation of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on transversal skills for empowering youth athletes aged 14 to 19 years and helping them juggling training, classes, and personal life. The content of the MOOC is based on the insights gained from analyzing the findings from surveys and interviews performed during earlier stages of the project.
The Smart Start for DC project is funded by the European Union coordinated by PEGS. 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.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu