Образовање и стручно оспособљавање и усавршавање спортских радника у Европској унији

Abstract

Athletes often face challenges to combine their sporting career with education or work. The aim to succeed at the highest level of a sport demands intensive training and competitions at home and abroad, which can be difficult to reconcile with the challenges and restrictions in the educational system and the labour market. Not only high levels of motivation, commitment, resilience and responsibility from the athlete, but also special arrangements are needed to avoid the situation where talented and elite sportspeople are forced to choose between education and sport or work and sport. Such “dual career“ arrangements should be beneficial for athletes’ sporting careers, allow for education or work, promote the attainment of a new career after the sporting career, and protect and safeguard the position of athletes. Dual career arrangements are relatively recent in the majority of Member States and sports. In Member States where these arrangements have been developed for some time, they sometimes lack solid agreements between the sport system and either the educational sector or the labour market. They may also lack a legal framework or a sustainable governmental policy. Guidance could be helpful to develop and improve the conditions needed for sustainable dual career programmes allowing for tailor-made arrangements for talented and elite athletes throughout Europe, either in their position as a student-athlete or employee-athlete.