EVENTS
On November 30, 2020, EAS welcomed 101 participants of the first virtual EAS café on parenting dual career athletes, well moderated by Paolo Bouquet, President of the Unisport-Italia network.
Originating from the findings of the FISU-EAS survey during the 2017 Summer Universiade and of the EU-funded ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership Education Model for Parents of Athletes In Academics (EMPATIA, 2018-2020), and the experience of Unisport-Italia during the COVID-19 lockdown, the event addressed the relevant role of parents in support of their talented child.
Kole Gjeloshaj, Deputy Secretary General of the International School Sport Federation (ISF) and Chair of the Consultative Committee of EPAS-Council of Europe recognized the relevant role of parents in supporting the holistic development of youth athletes and during the ISF events. After having illustrated the main documents of the International Olympic Committee, the Council of Europe, and UNESCO that consider parents/family important actors of the athlete’s supportive entourage, he highlighted the need of a structured recognition and integration of parents in the actions and policies of sports organizations, as well as future studies on the parents’ perception, involvement and experience before and after a multi-sport event.
Mojca Doupona, General Director for Sport of the Ministry for education, science and sport in Slovenia, offered her personal experience as a former elite handball player, university professor, and mother of former student-athlete. After providing a thorough representation of the challenge parents face in supporting their talented child, she presented a video contribution of her daughter Tajda. The latter has been an elite swimmer and currently is a student of medicine. In presenting her personal experience, Tajda effectively summarized many relevant aspects of the parental support to the dual career of their child often acting as the link between the teachers and the coaches, envisaging a specific educational programme for helping parents in their difficult role.
Kairis Ulp, policy officer at the Sports Office of the European Commission, ensured that the European Union in its Work Plan for Sport 2021-2024 will continue considering education through and in sports relevant, as well as the contribution of the stakeholders in the development of the European sports culture. She also contributed to debate the issues that participants presented to the speakers.
Paolo Bouquet summarized the outcomes of the café and envisaged the organization of future “EAS café” to discuss specific aspects of dual career.
The ERASMUS + funded project STARTING11 reaches the next project phase. The meeting started with a review about the last months during which the upcoming testing phase was planned, including the selection of the external stakeholders, the assignment of tools to the testing partners and above all, the development of the guidelines for the upcoming testing phase.
In the main part all project partners were informed about the procedure for the upcoming testing phase. ADH who is responsible for the testing phase planned the next months of testing. Martin Santelmann, Dr. Christoph Fischer and Joerg Foerster, will also monitor the process with the goal of receiving high quality feedback from all testing partners for a good refinement on the very first European Dual Career Toolkit in 2021.
Aiming that each of the involved project partners …
- Amsterdam University of Applied Science (AUAS – Netherlands)
- Athletes as Students Network (EAS – Malta)
- German University Sport Federation (adh – Germany)
- Sportlycee Luxembourg (SplL – Luxembourg)
- Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS – England)
…. will test three tools from the different areas “Manage”, “Train” and “Counsel” in its own operation, supervise at least one external and two internal stakheolders from their own country.
The Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation (Taiwan) organized the 2020 University Sports Club Workshop for the celebration of the International Day of University Sport on September 18-20, 2020.
During this event, Dr Giancarlo Condello, Assistant Professor at the University of Taipei, lectured on “Dual career – Having a vision of the future”, presenting dual career principles, European actions and best practices, the activities of the EAS, and evidence-based knowledge.
In the last years, members of the EAS Executive Board have been invited to share their expertise during the anniversary celebration of the University of Taipei, which is a well-established and well-recognized institute in Taiwan strongly engaged in international cooperations with several educational institutes worldwide.
Dr Condello also presented recent evidence obtained from the FISU-EAS survey administered to student-athletes competing at the Taipei 2017, 29th Summer Universiade. The dissemination of these findings can contribute to enhancing the student-athlete support in developing their sport and education careers.
Indeed, 2020 required all of us to adopt measures to prevent and to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. While physical distance is needed, we will keep staying connected. Thus, for the first time, the EAS General Assembly and Conference are now transformed into a virtual event hosted by the University of Hamburg (Germany).
To meet the dual-career excellence attendees, expect, the online EAS program includes keynote speakers and sessions with interactive Q&A sessions and two workshops.
At the heart of our online program is the cutting-edge information in the European achievements and future activities, and the experiences of EU-funded projects on dual career. Thus, the program will provide various views and approaches that will encourage key dual career actions, policies, and research contributing to the development of the European dual career discourse.
Your online EAS Conference pass will give you exclusive access to:
- Annual General Assembly
- All keynote presentations, sessions, and workshops
- Post-Conference access to presentations
Therefore, the 2020 EAS conference will remain the privileged occasion for the interchange of ideas and stay current in the European dual career field and networking!
We are here for the benefit of athletes as students, and we look forward to seeing you online on September 17, 2020.
Sincerely,
Laura Capranica, President
On July 3, 2020, UNISPORT-Italia (the network of 44 Italian universities interested in sport, and proactive member of EAS) organized the last virtual cafè before the summer break. This event focused on good practices of university sports, including dual career policies and services.
Specifically, Rector’s Delegate for sport Francesco Calvetti presented the Polytechnic of Milan, and Rector’s Delegate for sport and Member of the National Council of the University Sport association-CUSI Claudio Bertoletti presented the University of Bergamo.
The event was a significant opportunity to debate new models of university sport governance and to envisage the implementation of good practices at a higher educational level.
In autumn UNISPORT Italia will propose new events to exchange information useful for the development of university sport. At present, all the past virtual meetings are available on the UNISPORT-Italia new youtube channel UNISPORT ITALIA
May 8 – The dual career of athletes.
May 15 – Sport reopens in safety. The University’s contribution to Italian sport.
May 22 – Safety in sports practices.
May 29 – COVID-19 & University sport, the European approach to the crisis.
June 5 – E-learning and training, the recipe of the young athletes of the future.
June 12 – Sport meets innovation: a fast-growing sector for R&D opportunities.
June 19 – Social responsibility and university sport.
July 3 – Case studies: Good practices of university sport management
On June 19, 2020, EAS was invited as an observer to the 6th meeting of the European Commission Expert Group “Skills and Human Resources Development in Sport”. Due to the COVIS-19 restrictions, the 6thmeeting of the 26 XG HR Members nominated by their respective Member State and the 10 invited observers from invited pan-European sports organisations and networks was held in a virtual room coordinated by Nais Rigolett of the EC Sport Unit. The meeting consisted of three sessions.
IN THE FIRST SESSION, Yves Le Lostecque, Head of the EC Sport Unit, provided a thorough update from the Commission, starting from the development of the ERASMUS+Sport calls for proposals, which are now summarized in the informative brochure on 107 funded pilot projects and preparatory actions in the field of sport for the 2016-2019 period. To note, out of the 37 ongoing projects, EAS is actively involved in:
- AMID (590400-EPP-1-2017-1-AT-SPO-SCP; 2018-2020) for the provision of evidence- and eminence-base guidelines on student-athletes who relocate/migrate to pursue their academic and/or sport careers (www.amid-project.eu);
- EMPATIA (590437-EPP-1-2017-1-SI-SPO-SCP; 2018-2020) for the development of an online educational programme for parents of dual career athletes (www.empatiasport.eu);
- DONA (2018-3716/001-001; 2019-2021), for the investigation, development and testing of a dual career club-based methodology to empower women’s volleyball players;
- Ed-Media (2018-2078/001-001; 2019-2020) for a proactive shaping of a positive image of athletes as students;
- More Than Gold (603346-EPP-1-2018-1-LV-SPO-SCP; 2019-2020) for developing dual career guidelines for higher education institutes;
- SOS (603266-EPP-1-2018-1-IT-SPO-SCP; 2019-2020) for structuring an innovative teaching module for physical activity teachers; and
- Starting11 (60313-EPP-1-2018-1-NL-SPO-SCP; 2019-2021) for the creation of the very first European Dual Career Toolkit for service providers (www.starting11.eu).
In 2020, €70,8 million have been allotted for new projects and 1145 proposals have been submitted (18% Collaborative Partnerships focusing on “Education in and through sport”, including dual career). Results are expected in October 2020.
The Commission launched further calls for Preparatory Actions in the Field of Sport, and the #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards, with nomination open till June 30, 2020, and the three winners to be announced in November 2020 at a special awards ceremony in Brussels.
During the German Presidency, the next EU Work Plan for Sport will be negotiated and its adoption is expected in December 2020.
Finally, the Commission’s responses to Covid-19 crisis were presented, encompassing flexibility offered to the on-going projects, dedicated meeting on the future of the sport to be held in the second half of 2020, and a Study on the impact of the COVID-19 on sports sector to be published next September 2020.
THE SECOND SESSION focused on the achievements of the Expert Group and the way forward. Agata Dziarnowska, Policy Officer EC Sport Unit, summarized the activities of the XG HR, which were particularly focused on coach education, sports qualifications, and dual careers. The XG HR followed a working method mainly based on exchanges of best practices, active discussion on relevant aspects to be addressed, practical visits to get acquainted with the different national realities, and the finalization of the Guidelines Regarding the Minimum Requirements in Skills and Competencies for Coaches.
The effective cooperation and networking determined in the XG HR Members a solid feeling of having focused on the main sport priorities, of having improved the cooperation and coordination between the Member States and sports organizations, and of having introduced appropriate structures and working methods. Thus, resulting in a solid feeling of being part of a European Team in Sport emerged. Hopefully, the next EU Work Plan for Sport will consider the continuation of the Expert Groups and strengthen the European commitment in education in and through sport.
Martina Jeričević, Chair of Working Party on Sport, illustrated the activities of the Croatian Presidency in the field of sport despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the Croatian programme not only focused on the empowerment of coaches through the acquisition of skills and competences, but also on the impact of the pandemic crisis and the recovery of the sports sector. Furthermore, on June 25, the Croatian Presidency will host the Directors General for Sport video meeting, during which a new framework for further cooperation in EU sport and the role and influence of media in the sport will be discussed.
Guy Taylor, National Director of the UK Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), offered his expert’s contribution and his critical view of the past experiences and future directions of the XG HR. Thus, the general discussion highlighted a widespread appreciation for the tremendous work accomplished by the EC Sport Office and provided advice and expertise to the Commission in relation to the preparation of policy initiatives and the upcoming EU Work Plan for Sport.
Following the closing remarks of the meeting, a virtual drink was organized to wish a bright future to the European sport. A special thank for her valuable contribution to the European sport was given to Agata Dziarnowska, who is leaving the Sport Unit at the end of the month to a new position at the Commission. Indeed, Agata Dziarnowska represented a solid pillar of the Sport Unit and a tireless supporter of a European sports culture based on education in and through sport, and always an outstanding speaker at the EAS Annual Conferences.
On June 5, 2020, Laura Capranica presented »The role of parents in the sports careers of young athletes« at the 4th International Scientific Virtual Conference in Physical Education, Sports and Health organized by the Faculty of Physical Education, Sport and Health of the University St. Cyril and Methodius – Skopje, North Macedonia.
Starting from European dual career issues, the findings of the EU-funded Collaborative Partnership EMPATIA (0437-EPP-1-2017-1-SI-SPO-SCP) in relation to the evidence- (e.g., the findings of the systematic literature review on parenting dual career athletes) and eminence-base (e.g., the outcomes of the focus groups and concept mapping researches involving parents of talented and elite athletes) knowledge were summarized.
At present, two EMPATIA scientific contributions are under review at peer-review journals and another is going to be finalized in the next weeks. Furthermore, the EMPATIA Team (Coordinator: University of Ljubljana, SLO; Partners: INSEP, FRA; the University of Rome Foro Italico and the Italian Olympic Committee, ITA;, the University of Coimbra and the Ginásio Clube Figueirense, POR; the EUSA Institute, SLO; the University of Limerick and the Sport Ireland Institute, IRE; and the European Athlete as Student – EAS, the Dual Career Network, MLT) is currently implementing the online educational programme.
EAS Executive Committee members meet online
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, on May 13th the Members of the Executive Committee of the European Athletes as Student met online to discuss the following issues:
- EAS President’s contribution to the FISU Healthy Campus project – (fisuhealthycampus.sport);
- meeting of the Consultative Committee Bureau of EPAS-Council of Europe;
- approve the 2019 activity and financial report of EAS;
- update on the progress of the on-going EU-funded projects AMID, DONA, ED MEDIA EMPATIA, More Than Gold, SOS, Starting 11;
- EAS involvement in the 2020 applications for Collaborative Partnerships in dual-career;
- possible activities to be featured during 2020;
- EAS Conference 2020 (Hamburg) organisation possibility and potential solutions;
- EAS ExCom members agreed that the next online meeting will take place in June.
The EAS Members of the Executive Committee appreciated that the Executive Agency of EACEA will provide responses to possible coordinator’s report of any negative impacts of the COVID-19 on EU-funded projects implementation https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/coronavirus-impact_en
UNISPORT-IT promotes dual career at the Italian university level
On May 8, 2020, the Italian University Sports System Network UNISPORT-IT organized the first webinar on the dual career of student-athletes. More than 50 people representing their respective Universities, the President of the Athletes Committee of the Italian Olympic Committee (Raffaella Masciadri), the President of the EAS network (Prof. Laura Capranica) and the Italian Olympic Committee delegate at Unisport-IT (Paola Mora) attended the webinar confirming the paramount importance and relevance of dual career in Europe.
Prof. Stefano Bastianon (University of Bergamo) presented a thorough description of the relevance dual career and the state of the art in the Italian university system, which includes 89 universities. Based on a survey administered in 2018, out of the 71 responding universities, 22 declared to have adopted a formal dual career programme, 17 declared to have adopted only some measures aimed at facilitating the dual career of student-athletes, 7 declared to be about to adopt a dual career programme and 29 declared to have adopted no programme.
Support services offered to student-athletes were organized in 9 categories:
- financial support (scholarship, fee exemption);
- learning support (tutoring, E-learning);
- flexibility (exams schedule, lessons schedule);
- gap year;
- ECTS;
- part-time;
- accommodation facilities;
- sports facilities;
- job placement.
In particular, tutoring resulted from the most common service provision (19 out of 22), whereas before the COVID-19 pandemic only 3 Universities offer E-learning. Lastly, Prof. Bastianon prioritized three main aspects to be addressed in the near future:
- monitoring (e.g., number of universities involved in dual-career, support services offered to student-athletes, the actual number of student-athletes, level of academic performance of student-athletes);
- development of a dual career culture among the stakeholders (education sector, sports sector, financial sector);
- elaboration of national guidelines on dual-career particularly focusing on the eligibility criteria of student-athletes to dual-career programmes and the minimum quality dual career services for university dual-career programmes.
During the general discussion, the EAS President invited the participants to follow the progress of EU-funded projects relevant for a dual-career at the university level, particularly focused on:
- development of guidelines for higher education institutes (More than Gold);
- a European dual-career toolkit (Starting 11, https://starting11.eu);
- an educational model for dual-career parenting (EMPATIA, https://www.empatiasport.eu);
- migrating athletes (AMID, https://blogi.eoppimispalvelut.fi/amid/);
- on the media representation of student-athletes (ED MEDIA);
- on female student-athletes (DONA).
UNISPORT-IT (https://blogi.eoppimispalvelut.fi/amid/) is a member of EAS with the aim to:
- promote and strengthen the role of sport in scientific research as a source of inspiration in all academic disciplines and in interdisciplinary projects;
- promote new forms of education (formal and informal) that use sport as a tool for developing transversal skills;
- promote sport as a tool for social inclusion, integration, overcoming the ideological and cultural barriers linked to gender and nationality;
- make sport an integral part of the university experience, as a factor of sociality, aggregation, sense of belonging and as a tool for healthy and sustainable lifestyles.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu