NEWS
On October 14, 2021, the University of Pisa, Italy hosted the “Dual Career – Modernization of the University”.
Paolo Maria Mancarella, University Rector and Michele Conti, Major of Pisa welcomed the participants, whereas Marco Gesi, Pro-Rector for Sport and organizer of the event introduced the evolution of a dual career in Italy and at the University of Pisa, envisaging more structured strategies at the national level.
Antonio
Dima, President of CUSI – The Italian University Sport Association, underlined the relevance of synergies between institutions to achieve common goals.
Laura Capranica, EAS President, illustrated the progression of a dual career in Europe and envisioned the challenges for future development of dual career, also including coaches, referees, sports managers, and employee-athletes/coaches.
Paolo Bouquet, President of Unisport Italia, emphasized the role of the association of Italian Universities interested in sport in contributing to the advancement of an Italian discourse in dual career and pointed out the opportunities for universities to broaden their horizon in and through sports.
Salvatore Sanzo, a Member of the Board of the Italian Olympic Committee, recalled his personal experience as a student-athlete at the University of Pisa and substantiated the importance of a dual career in the Italian Olympic agenda.
Sara Morganti, a bronze Paralympic medalist in Tokyo 2020, offered her experience regarding the difficulties and barriers she encountered in managing her dual career as a student-athlete and as an employee-athlete.
Finally, Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian Olympic Committee highlighted the multi-faceted dual career environments with a variety of actors having distinct and peculiar responsibilities in supporting the holistic development of athletes and in establishing an effective dialogue to ensure cultural progress in the sport. At the end of the event, CONI merits were awarded to sportsmen and sportswomen.
On October 11, 2021, the meeting of the Bureau of the Consultative Committee of EPAS was organized in a hybrid format, with Chair Kole Gjeloshaj (ISF), Laura Capranica (EAS), James Ogilvie (UEFA) and Francine Raveney (EPAS) in presence at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and Tone Jagodic (EOC), Louis Mustakas (ENSE), Janez Sodrznik (TAFISA) and Michael Trinker (EPAS) in a telematic modality.
During the meeting, the need to improve communication with the Members of the Consultative Committee has been highlighted and possible actions have been envisaged. In particular, introductory sessions for new CC members have been proposed. Among dissemination activities, face-to-face and online conferences and webinars on specific issues have been considered relevant, as well as the dissemination of Conference results, such as those of the EPAS diversity conference 2021 (https://rm.coe.int/draft-conclusions-and-recommendations-dc2021-sf-18092021rev/1680a3ea2e).
The Bureau also discussed upcoming events, including the planning and selection of the topics of the next webinars, starting from February 2022. Upcoming events encompass the Conference on integrity in sport, to be held in Rome, Italy, on 6/7 December 2021, a launching event on the European Sports Charter (https://rm.coe.int/recommendation-cm-rec-2021-5-on-the-revision-of-the-european-sport-cha/1680a43914) to be expected next November 2021. To note, Members of the Consultative Committee will be involved in the upcoming evaluation visits on the European Sports Charter expected in North Macedonia and Albania.
Finally, the relevance of the projects “Joint project: Hate speech in sport”, “Start to Talk”, and “Child Safeguarding in Sport” has been mentioned, also in light of the planning for future project proposals.
On September 20-22 the 2021 EAS Annual Conference was organized in Lisbon, Portugal, by the University Institute of Lisbon – ISCTE. The three-day event was organized in a blended format, with 40 participants from 12 different countries in the presence and others attending online.
On September 20, the Conference focused on Dual Career Policies, with Vítor Pataco reporting on the 2021 Portuguese EU Presidency, and Mojca Doupona describing the ongoing activities of the Slovenian EU Presidency.
- Tomasz Francowsky, Member of the European Parliament, anticipated an extension of dual career to sport staff in the upcoming Report on EU Sports Policy of the European Parliament.
- Yves Le Lostecque, Head of the European Commission Sport Unit, illustrated the future opportunities provided by the European Commission. The durable links of EAS with the European policymakers supporting dual career was testified by the participation of Agata Dziarnowska as a special guest.
- With respect to the Portuguese policies, Rui Vieira and Josefina Cruz presented the case of Ginásio Clube Português and António Figueiredo informed on the Portuguese University Dual Career Policy.
- The presentations of 2020-2021 Bengt Nybelius Scholarships winners Malene Knudsen and Natasa Verk ended the first morning session.
In the afternoon, the session was dedicated to dual career best practices in different settings and countries.
On September 21, the morning session focused on Dual Career in football and was hosted at the City of Football in Oeiras, home to the Portuguese Football Federation.
- After José Couceiro, Vice-president and National Director of the Portuguese Football Federation, welcomed the EAS guests, presentations by André Seabra – Director of the Portugal Football School, Pedro Dionísio – Dual Career Manager Course from ISCTE, and Aida Ramos – a psychologist from the Sporting Clube de Portugal Academy, followed.
- In the afternoon, the EAS General Assembly took place at ISCTE. After approving the EAS 2020 and ongoing 2021 activity and financial reports, the Assembly was notified of the resignation of Joerg Foerster as a Member of the Executive Committee due to his new position at EUSA and commitment to the organization of the Universiade. The Assembly recognized the tremendous work accomplished by Joerg Foerster since the establishment of EAS and hoped that he will establish new and fruitful cooperation on dual career on behalf of EAS. To replace the vacant position, the Assembly unanimously voted as a Member of the Executive Committee Prof. Antonio Sánchez Pato from the Universidad Catòlica de Murcia, Spain.
At the beginning of the last day, the final event of the EMPATIA ERASMUS+ Sport Programme took place.
- Laura Capranica and Viktorija Pecnikar-Oblak reported on the evidence- and eminence-based knowledge employed to develop the EMPATIA educational programme designed to help parents/guardians of student-athletes to support their children. Thus, the participants had the opportunity to navigate and evaluate the presentations were the multilingual EMPATIA platform (https://edu.empatiasport.eu/eng/).
- The last session encompassed presentations of the ERASMUS+ Sport projects AMID, PARA-LIMITS, DONA, SCORES, STARTING11, YODA Mentors, and More Than Gold. Finally, President
Laura Capranica thanked Duarte Nuno Lopes, Tiago Samuel da Silva, and ICSTE for their courage, efforts, and hard work in organizing such a tremendous 2021 EAS Conference despite the day-by-day challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic and invited the EAS Members to attend the 2022 EAS Annual Conference in Spain.
On September 29, 2021, the University of Limerick – Ireland, coordinator of the ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnership “BRAnd Values Align
ment through Dual Career (BRAVA-DC)” (622824-EPP-1-2020-1-IE-SPO-SCP), organized online the second project meeting with the partner’s University of Rome3 – Italy, University of Ljubljana – Slovenia, European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI) – Belgium, Elite Sport Academy Aarhus (ESAA) – Denmark, Human Age Institute Foundation (FHAI) – Italy, University of Niš – Serbia, European University Sports Association Institute (EUSA) – Slovenia, and the European Athlete as Student Network – Malta).
The project progression was discussed, including the achievements, future actions, and dissemination activities. In particular, the primary focus of BRAVA-DC is on the enhancement of a dual career of employee-athletes and employee coaches in business-oriented companies.
To define a solid basis for supporting dual career in the workplace and facilitate appropriate brand alignment strategies and Corporate Social Responsibility policies, the scientific literature was analysed. In particular, a conceptual manuscript on dual career elements to be aligned to successfully manage sustainable strategies and practices of corporate brands has been awarded the 2020-2021 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship and will be presented at the 2021 FISU World Conference on December 13-14, 2021.
A further collection of information on the athletes’ and coaches’ needs and barriers of dual career at the workplace was planned. This collected evidence- and eminence-based information will be used to develop a European framework and guidelines.
After more than 2.5 years of implementation, the Erasmus + Sport-funded project EdMedia ends this September, with the main goal of proactively changing the attitude towards an athletes’ dual career by deliberately shaping a positive image and encouraging sports organizations to pursue the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes.
Partners from different EU countries have contributed to this goal: Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania (LSU), University of Rome Foro Italico, Italy (UNIROMA), European University Sports Association, Slovenia (EUSA), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania (UAIC), University of Valencia, Spain (UV), German Sport University Cologne, Germany (GSU), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (UL), European Athlete as Student (EAS) Network.
A detailed analysis was carried out during the project to assess the extent to which the EU Guidelines for the Dual Career of Athletes are being implemented in the participating countries, with particular emphasis on 7 of the 36 recommendations related to a systematic approach to dual careers. The results of the project are available on the project coordinator’s (Lithuanian Sports University) website: https://www.lsu.lt/en/project-edmedia/.
During the project, implementation was developed an online platform where athletes, coaches, sport journalists and other stakeholders can find information on what a dual career is for athletes, why it is important and how to use social media to raise awareness of a dual career beyond athletes, but also among the general public, which is shared by athletes from different countries. It is important to mention that the focus was not so much on presenting the importance of the dual career itself, but also on creating a video-based learning platform for athletes seeking a dual career where they can find tips on how to present themselves on social media.
So we invite athletes to actively use the online platform developed during the project to create their own story with EdMedia ….
On September 1, 2021, the President (Laura Capranica) and the Treasurer (Mojca Doupona) of EAS were invited to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Oulu region academy of sports (ORAS) established in 2001, which has a leading role in a new approach of dual career not only in Finland but also in and beyond Europe. Thanks to the vision of Risto Keskitalo, Head of coaching at the Kastelli Upper Secondary Sports School of Oulu (established in 1986), initiator of the first sports academy ORAS and EAS founder, the term dual career entered the European sports vocabulary, later adopted worldwide. Furthermore, with the help of Bengt Nybelius (Falun, Sweden), he organized the first European meeting on dual career and our Network was established.
During the past 20 years, dual career grew stronger in Finland, and the Oulu Sports Academy is leading the Finnish Sports Academies. The relevance of this event was testified by the participation of 60 distinguished guests from the city of Oulu (the Mayor Mrs. Päivi Laajala and the Chairman of the City Council Mr. Juha Hänninen – former Olympic athlete), the Finnish Olympic Committee (Antti Paananen and Jarno Parikka), the Rectors and study guiding persons of sports school from all over Finland, the Finnish baseball federation and local club Oulun Kärpät, and Jussi Jokinen, a former professional NHL ice hockey player who attended the Kastelli Upper Secondary Sports School.
The City Mayor, Mrs. Päivi Laajala informed the guests of the relevance of Oulu for innovative projects, including the designation of Oulu as the 2026 Capital of Culture. Furthermore, past, actual, and future activities in the sports area have been presented.
The President of EAS had the opportunity to thank the founder of our Network for initiating the European dual career adventure and contributing to the development of a European discourse with his dedication as a lifetime member of the EAS Executive Committee. She illustrated the EAS aims, pillars, activities carried out at institutional levels, and its involvement in the ongoing Erasmus+ Collaborative Partnerships EMPATIA for the provision of an online educational programme for parents of dual career athletes (https://edu.empatiasport.eu), SOS for the implementation of physical education at high school level, STARTING 11 for the provision of an online platform to assists institutions in sport, education and the labour market to boost the implementation of dual career services for athletes (https://starting11.eu), DONA for the implementation of dual career for female volleyball players, More than Gold for the implementation of dual career policies at higher educational institutions, ED MEDIA for the promotion of athletes’ dual career through the social media (https://www.lsu.lt/en/project-edmedia/edmedia-online-platform/), BRAVA-DC for the alignment between dual career and brand values, ELCAMP to develop a sports-focused entrepreneurship programme for talented, elite and retired athletes, and Para-Limits to empower dual career para-athletes (https://paralimits.eu).
At the end of her presentation, EAS invited all the guests to attend the 18 Annual Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, next September 20-22, 2021 (https://eas-lisboa2021.iscte-iul.pt).
Following the recent publication of the European study “EU Sports Policy: Assessment and Possible Ways Forward” (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/236742/PE652-251_Study-EU-Sport-Policy.pdf), last June 29 and July 1, 2021MEP Tomasz Frankowski, Co-Chair of the European Parliament Sports Group, organized online consultations with several stakeholders.
The meeting was opened by Luka Živić, Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Floor Van Houdt, Head of Unit for Sport, European Commission, and Stanislas Frossard, Executive Secretary EPAS, Council of Europe, followed by short presentations by Ronan O’Laoire, Head of the UNODC Programme on Safeguarding Sport from Corruption and Crime, and Rafał Piechota, Director, Office of the President, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Then, the representatives of the sports organisations shared their views on priorities and provided recommendations for European policies. In particular, EAS deemed relevant to consider:
- Continuous support of the role of education in and through sport, especially in promoting social values and economic benefits for the Member States.
- A new edition of the European Year of Education through Sport (EYES) to encourage a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which strongly affected the sport and education sectors.
- A continuous defence of the fundamental rights of sportspersons to combine sport and education by extending the EU dual careers recommendations to all the actors engaged in structured sport (e.g., athletes of all levels, coaches, sport managers, and sports media).
- Inter-sectoral cooperation for the inclusion of education in and through sport in the corporate social responsibility policies and strategies of for-profit companies.
- Support of research and monitoring of different aspects of the European sports phenomenon, including the education and career paths of the athletes, coaches, managers and media, also in light of an implementation of the qualification frameworks in sport at national and European levels.
- A full rights of citizenship for sports in the European research area by appointing a sport scientist in the European Research Council (ERC) and by including sport in the keywords of the ERC evaluation panels.
On June 24, 2021, the Catholic University of San Antonio Murcia UCAM – Spain, coordinator of the ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnership “Dual Career of Student-Athletes with Disabilities as a Tool for Social Inclusion – PARA-LIMITS” (622213-EPP-1-2020-1-ES-SPO-SCP), organized online the second project meeting with the partner’s University of Rome Foro Italico – Italy, the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu – Portugal, the National Physical Education University of Bucharest – Romania, the University of Limerick – Ireland, the Collective Innovation – Norway, the European Paralympic Committee and the European Athlete as Student Network – Malta).
First, the findings on the state of the art of dual career of student-athletes with disabilities were analysed. Then, a 
further collection of information on the obstacles, needs and barriers of this special population in relation to their sports and academic career was planned. In particular, a multi-lingual online survey and national focus groups will be organized during the fall. The collected evidence- and eminence-based information will be used to develop a guide to boost the dual career among athletes with disabilities, and to create an innovative course for the training of university staff as sports mentors specialized in student-athletes with disabilities. (more…)
On June 3, 2021, Kole Gjeloshaj (Chair of the Consultative Committee dell’EPAS – Council of Europe and Deputy Secretary General of ISF) chaired the webinar “Checking criminal records as a tool to protect children in sport”, which examined how to prevent sexual abuse in sport by implementing safe recruitment processes of people who work with children. As a member of the Consultative Committee Bureau, the President of EAS moderated the high-level panel encompassing Elda Moreno (Head of Children’s Rights and Sport Values Department of the Council of Europe), Melanie LANG (Senior Lecturer in child protection in sport, Centre for Child Protection and Safeguarding in Sport at the Edge Hill University, United Kingdom), Vivien RIMMER (Head of Safeguarding, Rugby Football Union, United Kingdom), Håvard B. ØVREGÅRD (Adviser, Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, Norway), Richard FEWKES (National Coordinator Non-Recent Child Sexual Abuse, NPCC – Operation Hydrant, UK), Anton Toni Klancnik and Cathal Delaney (EUROPOL – European Cyber Crime Centre) and Dieter Braekeveld & Uri Sadeh (INTERPOL).
Further information on the webinar and its conclusions are available at https://rm.coe.int/43-conclusions-cc-webinar-criminal-checks-14062021/1680a2dcb7
On June 15, and 16 June 2021, the annual joint meeting of the EPAS Governing Board and the Consultative Committee was held online to discuss the EPAS programme of activities. The new elected members of the EPAS Governing Board are Alexandre Husting (Chair, Luxembourg), Andrea Carletti (Vice-Chair, Italy) Alexey Morozov (Region 1, Russian Federation), François Tricarico (Region 2, Belgium), Viktoria Slavkova (Region 3, Bulgaria), Kolë Gjeloshaj (Representative of the Consultative Committee, ISF) and Tone Jagodic (Representative of the Consultative Committee, EOC). During the meeting, the revised European Sports Charter was approved to be transmitted to the Committee of Ministers for possible adoption during the next fall.
Further information on the meeting is available at https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/-/2021-annual-meeting-of-the-epas-governing-board-and-consultative-committee
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