AthletesToBusiness

Guidelines on Dual Career adopted

admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:44:59 +0000

On 30 March 2011 in Budapest, Hungary, in the presence of representatives of the European Commission and national sport ministries, the project participants of “Athletes 2 Business” (A2B) adopted unanimously the guidelines to promote dual careers in Europe. The A2B guidelines are not binding and contain concrete proposals of action which are modeled after good practices to create a better framework and environment for athletes to reconcile top-level sporting achievement with education. They will now be distributed to relevant stakeholders. The A2B guidelines are also available in German and French.

The EOC EU Office led the A2B project in close cooperation with athletes and partners coming from the business world, education and sport. During 15 months, the project team of A2B organized workshops and study visits to collect pertinent information and identify good practices in the field of dual career.

The A2B guidelines are addressed to athletes, businesses, educational institutions, sport organisations and public authorities and highlight what each of them can do to promote dual career. The A2B participants hope that the European Commission and the other stakeholders identified will follow-up on these guidelines and use them extensively to support athletes successfully in their dual endeavours.

Click here to downlowad the presentation of the conference!

A2B Guidelines – please click your language:

English

German

French

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A2B workshop on educational institutions at the IOC

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:12:12 +0000

Around 30 experts including active and retired athletes from all over Europe met on the 26-27 January 2011 at the IOC headquarter in Lausanne, Switzerland, and discussed how educational institutions can create an enabling environment and framework for dual careers.

There is too little cooperation between educational institutions and sport organisations, the workshop participants complained. In order to improve dual career opportunities for athletes, it is vital that these two stakeholders work closely together. Agreements tackling dual career issues such as providing flexible learning and exam schedules, scholarships and structural questions could remedy this situation.

A detailed workshop report on the deliberations and recommendations of this workshop will be published soon on this website.

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A2B Visits Loughborough University

Strauch — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:05:19 +0000

The majority of A2B partner organisations joined a study visit to Loughborough University throughout 17 and 18 November 2010. Loughborough University is a leading UK institution in the provision of combined sports and academic education. It also plays a key role in the preparation of athletes for the London Olympics 2012.

During the seminar, representatives from the University shared good practices in the field of dual career. In particular, the unification of sport facilities, support services and coaching staff proved very positive. Strong commitment from the University board as well as agreements with key stakeholders such as national governing bodies presented additional strengths.

Moreover, Dalarna University from Sweden enriched the meeting with a good practice example on its web based education system providing 65% of students with the opportunity to study in a virtual learning environment. Notably, this offers athlete-students the needed flexibility while training and travelling.

The good practices identified during the visit will form part of the guidelines to be developed shortly.

A2B would like to thank the Loughborough organizers for a very productive seminar.

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Third A2B Workshop on Sport Organisations in the Frame of the 13th ENGSO Forum in Dubrovnik

Strauch — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:49:12 +0000

On 8 and 9 October 2010, A2B has held its third workshop on the topic of Sport Organisations on the platform of the 13th ENGSO Forum hosted by the Croatian Olympic Committee in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Topic of the forum was “Social Inclusion and Education through Sport”, a favourable opportunity to address the subject of dual career in Europe. More than 40 representatives from European sport, notably National Olympic Committees and Sports Confederations were present during this annual meeting and could provide first-hand advice on how to contribute to an enabling environment for dual career in Europe.

In a first session of the A2B seminar, Bart Ooijen from the European Commission presented dual career from an EU angle while touching the controversial issue of future EU sport funding. In addition, ENGSO members had the floor to present national initiatives and best practices related to dual career and education through sport.

In the following session, workshop participants evaluated concrete recommendations on the central question “How can sport organisations create an enabling environment for dual career and what kind of responsibilities should they bear?”.

The results of the discussions are now being evaluated and will be available online within the coming weeks.

A2B would like to thank ENGSO and the Croatian organizers for sharing their platform with A2B and for providing an excellent seminar.

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Combined A2B Study Visit and Workshop in Vienna

Strauch — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:34:21 +0000

On 12 and 13 July, the A2B project team has gathered in Vienna to identify dual career practices in Austria and Eastern countries and to hold its second workshop on the topic of businesses.

Next to the A2B partner organisations, Olympic athletes, participants from companies and the IOC enriched the seminar by their expert knowledge.

While past study visits found that dual career practices are on a positive track in Germany and Finland, the first-day session focused on Eastern European nations conducting sound efforts to establish dual career structures. Members of the Ministry of Education, Universities and NOCs held presentations on dual career in Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia and Serbia. Lacking cooperation and commitment among stakeholders currently remain major obstacles.

At the centre of the businesses workshop on the following day was the issue of how an enabling environment could be created for athletes to successfully enter the labour market. This transition represents a major challenge for athletes as both, specialized programmes and the awareness on the added value of sportsmen are rare among businesses.

In the interest to improve the given situation, workshop participants put forward detailed recommendations which will flow into the A2B guidelines to be developed by the end of the project life cycle.

A2B would like to thank the Austrian Sports Confederation for hosting the event.

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