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On May 19, 2025, the 16th EAS Cafè “Sport Innovation: Promoting Employability of Student-Athletes and Sport Professionals” was organized in cooperation with the ERASMUS+Sport COMPATH project (101050955) and attended by approximately 70 participants from diverse backgrounds, including students, academics, and sports professionals.

Mr. Hakon Ege (Colin Collective Innovation, Oslo, Norway) illustrated the aims and outcomes of the COMPATH project (101050955), introduced the speakers, and moderated the discussion on how emerging sports technologies are reshaping career opportunities within the sports industry.

Ms. Eleni Mageirou, MSc (NYSA Sweden, Jönköping, Sweden) presented practical examples on the wearable technologies used in field sport evaluation, which also nurture advanced skills of athletes involved in their personal and team data collections and interpretations. Dr. Christopher James Keating, PhD (ACSM-EP, UCAM, Murcia, Spain) gave an overview of the Esports and EGaming of university Spanish teams participating in national and international competitions, which are provided full logistic, psychological, and dual career support, being eSport athletes officially included in dual career university paths. Finally, dr.  Mauro Mandorino, PhD (Parma Calcio, Parma, Italy) highlighted the opportunities provided by smart science and how technology is used, and data collection is organized at Parma Calcio for shaping professional soccer players performances.

The shared expertise of the speakers inspired attendees to delve deeper into topics of interest and foster meaningful discussions around dual career pathways, making this event a success and looking forward to continuing these valuable discussions in the future.

The event also informed on the upcoming events encompassing the 2025 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship (deadline July 1, 2025; https://www.dualcareer.eu/call-for-papers-bengt-nybelius-scholarship-2025/) and the 2025 EAS Annual Conference to be held on October 6-8, 2025 in Riga, Latvia. These announcements were met with enthusiasm, further underlining the growing importance of dual career initiatives in sport.

Further information about the COMPATH project – Promoting Employability of Young Student-Athletes through ‘‘Competence Hub’’ on Sport Innovationis – is available at https://sportsinnovationshub.com

COMPATH 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.