Athletes Friendly Education project underway

Athletes Friendly Education project underway

The Olympic Committee of Slovenia hosted a successful three-day meeting in Ljubljana this week to kick off their two-year project Athletes Friendly Education, of which the EUSA Institute is a partner.

Funded by the ErasmusPlus programme of the EU, this transnational project is focused on the promotion of dual careers of athletes and the support of innovative educational approaches and good governance in sport, in relation to the objectives of the EU policies in the field of sport and in pursuit of the objectives from the EU Commission Guidelines on Dual Career of Athletes.

The aim of the project is to spread awareness and good practices among educational institutions that support athletes in their dual careers by determining the minimum quality standards of educational and training institutions at the EU level, and then establishing a certification system to recognise the efforts made by dual career-friendly institutions.

The greater goal is to then raise awareness on the importance of education of athletes at national levels and offer tools for athletes, managers, coaches and parents to take responsible decisions about education, with the project’s certified list of educational programmes able to guide them in their dual career path.


Along with project coordinators Olympic Committee of Slovenia, partners in the project include the National Olympic Committee of Portugal, the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee, the German Olympic Academy, the Croatian Olympic Academy, the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Organisational Sciences, the University of Rijeka’s Faculty of Maritime Studies, the Volleyball Federation of Macedonia and the European University Sports Association Institute.

Present at the kick-off meeting on behalf of the EUSA Institute was Assistant Sports Manager Liam Smith and Communications Officer Fabio De Dominicis.
After a short introduction by the host and partners, participants at the kick-off meeting then discussed the project’s characteristics and action plans, before sharing past experiences and best practices in relation to dual career programmes.

Liam Smith at Athletes Friendly Education kick off meeting

The second day of meetings took place at the Slovenian Olympic Education Centre, where those present were given a short tour of the displays at the Centre, the most eye-catching being the display of all the Olympic medals won by Slovenian athletes over the years.

The project’s budget, activities and predicted outcomes were then discussed, before all five work packages were presented and deliberated in great depth.

The final day of the meeting included discussions over the project’s dissemination and visual identity as well as each partner’s tasks in the coming months, before a visit by media from national Slovenian television and radio stations gave each project partner the chance to convey their interest and ambitions for the project to a wider audience, helping in the promotion of the project.

Media interviews at Athletes Friendly Education kick-off meeting

Partners of Athletes Friendly Education will next meet in Portoroz, Slovenia on March 19-20, 2020.