NEWS
On September 8, 2020, during a blended meeting organized on-site (Strasbourg) and in a virtual modality, EAS has been re-elected as a Member of the 2020-2022 Bureau of the Consultative Committee of EPAS – Council of Europe.
The 2020-2022 Bureau of the Consultative Committee is chaired by Kole Gjeloshaj (International Sport School Federation- ISF), with Tone Jagodic (European Olympic Committees-EOC) acting as Vice-Chair, and Laura Capranica (EAS), Louis Mustakas (European Network of Sport Education-ENSE), James Ogilvie (Union of European Football Associations-UEFA), and Janez Sodrznik (The Association for International Sport for All-TAFISA) as bureau members.
In providing a platform for co-operation between the public authorities of its 39 Member States and 25 sport organizations, EPAS contributes to the development of the European sport culture through the promotion of the values of the European Sports Charter.
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 July 1, 2020, the EMPATIA Team (Coordinator: University of Ljubljana; Partners: EUSA Institute, Ginásio Clube Figueirense, INSEP, CONI, Sport Ireland Institute, University of Coimbra, University of Limerick, University of Rome Foro Italico, and EAS) participated to a virtual meeting aimed to refine the education material of the online programme for parents of student-athletes, which has been developed on thorough evidence- (Tessitore et al., under revision), the eminence-based knowledge collected from 115 parents of dual career athletes (Giaka et al., under revision), and a concept mapping procedure involving 489 parents from six Member States (e.g., France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Slovenia) to develop a dual career parenting education framework.
In the next months, the EMPATIA Team is going to collect the parents’ feedback on the usefulness of the educational programme before its official launch at the end of the project.
On July 2, 2020, in the Olympic torches hall Giovanni Malagò – President of the Italian Olympic Committee/CONI, Antonio Dima – President of the Italian University Sports Association/CUSI, and Paolo Bouquet – President of the UNISPORT-ITALIA network signed a protocol on dual careers at the presence of President Raffaella Masciadri and Secretary Raffaella Chiussi of the Italian Athletes Commission, representatives of the Unisport-Italia Board Marco Barla, Marco Gesi, Maurizio Marano, Giovanni Forconi, and Laura Capranica President of EAS, the European Dual Career network.
To implement this dual career protocol, further steps encompass concrete actions for the establishment of collaborative networks of relevant stakeholders and a governmental working table for the definition of national dual careers guidelines.
On June 15 and 16 the regular project meeting of the project “More than gold” was organized. It was initially planned to be held in Coimbra, Portugal, but due to the current Pandemic situation and travel restrictions, it was decided to organize the meeting virtually.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the process of finalizing both intellectual results, including ideas for guidelines design and other necessary improvements.
During the meeting, the results of the university survey were presented – the opinion of the university representatives on the possibility to adapt the guidelines in their organization. The results of a survey on feedbacks from COVID were also presented – how the Pandemic has affected the daily life of athletes’ dual sports careers – training and studying processes.
The main aim of the project “More than gold” is to create dual career guidelines for higher education institutions (HEI) and strengthen dual career policies in all EU countries, especially in the countries, where dual career policy is at an early stage.
“More than gold” is going to collect the best practices about different activities for students – athletes, which can help youngest students (for instance career centre services, psychologist services, mentoring program for young students etc.) to start studies.
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 8-10, 2020 the Centres de Ressources, d’Expertise et de Performance Sportives – CREPS Toulouse hosted the Partners of Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (coordinator), ADH, EAS, Sportlycée Luxembourg, TASS, and TW1N for the virtual meeting of the Starting11 project (60313-EPP-1-2018-1-NL-SPO-SCP).
To stimulate national, regional and local dual career delivery in the EU, Starting 11 aims to create the very first European Dual Career Toolkit for service providers.
During the three days, the Partners engaged in the refinement of tools in 4 areas of dual career service:
“Management”, which focuses on promoting the political, theoretical and infrastructural know-how to implement and administrate dual career services;
“Framework”, which targets programmes at a school and higher education level to contribute to conditions in which dual careers can successfully be realized;
“Dual career counselling”, which aims at inter-personal counselling services to foster the coping, decision-making and planning ability of an athlete within times of fundamental change and transition; and
“Communication”, which caters to the identification of efficient communication towards the most relevant dual career stakeholders.
The meeting ended with a virtual tour of Toulouse!
More information on Starting 11 is available at www.starting11.eu
On Friday, June 5th, 2020, the weekly virtual coffee meeting of the UNISPORT Italia presented a the gender-specific approach to dual career “E-learning and training: The recipe for female youth athletes of the future”.
President Paolo Bouquet introduced the speakers Raffaella Masciadri (President of the Athletes’ Committee of the Italian Olympic Committee), Alessandra Ortenzi (Sport Web Journalist, Digital PR and Sport Strategist) and Federica Stradi (Scuola di Pallavolo Anderlini, Partner of the DONA project), who presented their unique and innovative efforts to address several essential development stages and major dual career transitions of female athletes.
The 42 participants were informed on the development of an e-learning education programme tailored for female athletes as well as the aims and progression of the DONA project focused on the holistic development of youth female volleyball players. During the general discussion, the opportunity to connect with other related projects to enhance the effective development of a dual career in Italy was envisaged. In particular, the expected outcomes of the Starting 11 (the European toolkit for dual career service providers) and the EMPATIA (the online educational programme for parents of dual career athletes) projects were particularly appreciated.
As a Member of EAS, the proactive dual career attitude of UNISPORT-Italia represents a valuable good practice to advance the European sports culture.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu