EAS Cafe

On September 22, 2025, the 18th EAS Cafè was organized to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the #BeActive programme and the 2025 European Week of Sport (EWoS).

In welcoming more than 60 participants from European countries and Brazil with different backgrounds, encompassing students, academics, and sports professionals, Prof. Mojca Doupona (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and EAS Treasurer) highlighted the very special milestone of the 10 year anniversary of EWoS as a driving force in helping millions of Europeans becoming active and discovering the countless benefits of a lifelong approach to sport to boost health and mental wellbeing, reduce stress, and bring people together across generations. She also addressed the significant role of the media and different campaigns in raising awareness of the society on growing economic and social impacts of sport, as well as to create positive change. In this respect, EAS has a relevant role for the dual career community.

President mr. Massimiliano Monnanni, and Project Manager mr. Francesco Titotto presented the public body Asilo Savoia and its Talent & Tenacity program, which was finalist in two editions of the #BeActive Award for managing sport programs in confiscated facilities of organized criminal organization, transforming urban peripheries into place of growth in partnership with local institutions. Through sport, Asilo Savoia built an ecosystem with long-term impacts to support youth, women, older, and disabled individuals. In the last 10 years, the Talento & Tenacia (Talent & Tenacity) program aimed to fight school dropout among young athletes in peripheral areas of Rome by offering individualized education plans, scholarships, vocational training, voluntary work, and community involvement. This project gives athletes opportunities to succeed in life independently from their sports career, and revitalized entire peripheral areas of Rome by creating safe and vibrant spaces where young people and the entire community could grow through a real social and urban regeneration that values education, legality and mutual growth. By investing in individual growth and personal development, also remarkable sports results were achieved, with the Montespaccato football team, a club also confiscated from organized crime, has been awarded several Fair Play prizes and achieved the Serie D championship, which is the entry point for the professional path. Finally, many former athletes have transitioned into roles within the sports sector, turning their athletic journey into a professional pathway for a strong and sustainable community for the future.

Dr. Duarte Lopes, Chief of Staff, Secretary of Sport of Portugal, organized two annual conferences of EAS and his involvement in dual career contributed to his personal growth as well as to that of the dual career community. He reminded that the celebration of the anniversary of the European Week of Sport is linked to the European values of inclusion, health and wellbeing, where dual career is part of the legacy of the European Union and the European Community. Dr. Lopes illustrated how Portugal is trying to increase the dual career programs in different ways. Since 2009, several legal papers supporting dual career programs have provided a legal framework for high performance athletes in different conditions. In 2019, the universities were required to create their specific dual career statute to support student-athletes, also in cooperation with the Olympic Committee and the national sport federations. In 2009, a national dual career program in schools was initiated, which has expanded last year through a pilot phase for higher education institutions to guarantee university students a support also at the national level hopefully in the next academic year. Dr. Lopes provided also some good examples in place in Portugal. In cooperation with the National Athletes Commission in the Olympic Committee, dual career measures and opportunities are published and explained in detail in their newsletters to help the student-athletes deciding their best pathway. Furthermore, some national sport federations, like football, golf, and Olympic handball, issue a certification to clubs based on the quality support they provide to young athletes, encompassing also the monitoring of academic achievements, and the organization of meetings with schools and universities. This certification is required when clubs wish to apply for financial support from municipalities. A step forward will be the inclusion in the sport clubs or sport federations of a sport tutor, which is already recognized by the professional qualification system in Portugal. These synergies between the central government, academic institutions, national federations, and municipalities create an ecosystem to support dual career programs. Dr. Duarte concluded with two quotes, one from a former National Olympic Committee President who said: “Sport is a public good that worths to society more than it costs” and his personal one: “Debates about dual career might lose their relevance in the next 10 years if dual career programs will be secured in all nations and all sports for all and each athlete in Europe”.

Dr. Francesca Salvia, a former water polo athlete and mother of two elite fencers and an international pentathlon referee, presented the EduChampDC project, which aimed to bridge the gap between education, sport and society. Envisioned by master’s student in sport management at the University of Rome Foro Italico, EduChampDC was launched at the end of 2024 to raise the awareness on dual career of policy makers, teachers, coaches, and student-athletes, and proceeded with 7 workshops organized in two high schools of Rome, with a further event organized today to celebrate the European Week of Sport through a refreshment course for high school teachers and principals. During the EduChampDC activities and the refreshment course, the advancement of dual career in Italian schools and universities was presented, useful outputs of ERASMUS+Sport projects for teachers (Starting11, Talent, and DC Mentor), parents (EMPATIA), athletes (Springboard, ELCAMP, and Smart Start 4 DC), and university orienteering (Find Me) have been illustrated, whereas the experiences and suggestions of 11 elite student-athletes as ambassadors provided useful information to the 293 participants, and to the 40 policy makers. The positive feedback from the open and direct dialogue between the students, parents, teachers, coaches, and policy makers allowed to envisage a further development of the EduChampDC at Italian level as well as the application to an ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership, which received a positive evaluation.

A special thank to mr. Marco Pinchera and mr. Pierpaolo Calandri who translated the speeches in visual-gestural language for the deaf community.

The 18^th EAS cafè also informed on the upcoming 2025 EAS Annual Conference to be held on October 6-8, 2025 in Riga, Latvia  (https://eas2025.lu.lv) where updates in dual career initiatives in Europe will be presented.

The 16th EAS Virtual Cafè on “Sport Innovation: Promoting employability of student-athletes and sport professionals” will be held on Monday May 19, 2025 (from 13:00 CET).

Technology plays a relevant role for employabiity in sport, and the key aim of the ERASMUS+Sport COMPATH project (101050955). 

13:00 Welcome – Hakon Ege, Colin Collective Innovation, Oslo, Norway

13:10 Wearables, technology and supporting Student Athletes – Eleni Mageirou, MSc, NYSA Sweden, Jönköping, Sweden

13:25 Esports and EGaming of university student-athletes – Christopher James Keating, PhD, ACSM-EP, UCAM, Murcia, Spain

13:40 Smart Science: How Technology and Data Shape Performance at Parma Calcio – Mauro Mandorino, PhD, Parma Calcio, Parma, Italy

13:55 General discussions and concluding remarks

We look forward to meeting you for this important dual career event

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

“Military Sport: Dual Career Opportunities and Challenges”

December 9, 2024 (from 13:55 CET)

13:00 Welcome

Roberto Recchia, Italian Navy Captain, Secretary General of the International Military Sports Council (CISM) since May 2022. He accomplished his academic degrees in Maritime & Naval Science at the University of Pisa and in Political Sciences at the University of Trieste, has been the Principal Staff Officer of the NATO Naval Mine Countermeasures Force and Commander of the Italian Navy’s historic and iconic training ship Amerigo Vespucci, which is Ambassador of UNESCO and UNICEF.

13:10 Nina Christen, Swiss sports shooter and athlete of the Swiss Armed Forces, Olympic bronze and gold medalist (Tokyo 2020) with a CISM World Record at the 54th World Military Shooting Championship (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2023), and flag bearer for Team Switzerland in Paris 2024. She was awarded the CISM Athletes of the Year 2023.

13:25 Maruša Štangar

Slovenian judoka and athlete of the Slovenian Armed Forces, two-time Olympian (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), 5^th place at the Military World Games (Wuhan 2019). She achieved a Master’s degree in Food Science at the University of Ljubljana, awarded with Certificate of distinction for academic achievement.

13:40 Alberto Arpino, Italian fencer and athlete of the Italian Firefighting Corp, gold medalist at the FISU University Games (Chengdu, 2021) and Master’s degree graduate in Management and Business Consulting at the San Raffaele University of Rome defending a thesis on dual career. He received the “Excellent Athlete, Excellent Student” and “Alfiere della Repubblica” awards.

13:55 General discussions and concluding remarks