Dual-Track Careers for Para-Athletes

Project Reference:

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613684-EPP-1-2019-1-EL-SPO-SCP

Dual-Track Careers for Para-Athletes

The PARAdig program is a European program implemented by nine organizations based in European Union countries.

Summary

Background

Despite the EU guidelines on dual careers for athletes, it is a challenge nowadays for athletes in EU Member States to combine their sports career with their studies with a view to employment after their sports career ends. In particular, people with disabilities usually face more barriers to combining sports careers and studies both in terms of issues related to society (such as accessibility and social acceptance) and issues that the disability itself creates for the athletes.

Objectives

The mission of the present project accords with the quest for “fairness” expressed in the 2010 Code of Sports Ethics. The project partners agreed that cross-disciplinary research should be implemented for the first time regarding the dual careers of talented and elite athletes with disabilities in their countries and an online course that would provide athletes with disabilities with knowledge and ideas for entrepreneurship as vocational rehabilitation.

Implementation

The project started on schedule in January 2020 and was completed in September 2022, 9 months behind schedule. The delay was solely due to the pandemic and the spread of the corona virus, a fact that shocked and uncoordinated the operation of the organizations participating in the consortium. However, all actions and deliverables were implemented as planned except for the second transnational project meeting which was implemented online.

Results

The first output was the Research Report on Dual Careers for talented and elite para-athletes in seven countries (Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Ireland, Serbia, Croatia, Sweden). The second output was the creation of a handbook with good practices on how those countries support athletes with disabilities. The last 2 deliverables were the creation of an online platform for the provision of online courses and the implementation of an online course related to the entrepreneurship for para-athletes.

Results

Handbook of good practices

Description

Handbook of good practices is a spotlight on Dual-CAREERS for talented and elite athletes with disability.

Based on the findings around best practices described in IO-1, but highlighted and described in greater detail, and with a stronger focus on the benefits and possibilities of linkages between all of the stakeholders: institutional sport system, private sports entities, social services, educational authorities and institutions, and explaining how linkages facilitate information exchange around an emerging para-athlete.

Type

Handbook, Textbook

Handbook - Good practices

Online course: Basic Business and Entrepreneurship Knowledge for Athletes with Disability

Description

The aim of this training program is to help talented and elite athletes with disability with their transition to the workplace and to teach them all the basics of the Business and Entrepreneurship world.

There are 6 modules in this training program:

Thinking like a business: Looking for Market Gaps, and Moving from Ideas to Action.
Why write a Business Plan, how should it be structured, and what Should it Cover?
Investor Typologies – Angels, Venture Capital Investors.
Marketing and Advertising in the 21st Century, Competing for Eyeballs on internet.
Are you temperamentally suited to being self-employed and under pressure in a start-up?
Understanding the Power of Data and Analytics for the Entrepreneur

Type

Tutorial

Legal framework Entrepreneurs with disability in 7 countries

Guide to setting up your company in 7 countries

Description

This file contains a guide for entrepreneurs with disability how to set up their company in Greece, Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Sweden, both in English and in the national language. A useful tool for new entrepreneurs.

Type

Guide

Guide to setting up your company in 7 countries

Good practices, case studies in 7 countries

Description

This file contains good practices/case studies for entrepreneurs with disability in Greece, Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Sweden, both in English and in the national language. A useful tool for new entrepreneurs.

Type

Tutorial

Good practices, case studies in 7 countries

Research material bringing forward the reflection in the sector

Research Report

Description

the overall research will consist of two main parts:

POLICY CONTEXT ANALYSIS. The aim here is to examine the broader context in which para-athletes’ DCs take place. More specifically, we shall review existing DC support structural arrangements, legislative provisions, regulations, policies and practices in the seven partner countries concerning young talented and elite para-athletes’ DC.
EMPIRICAL FIELD SURVEY. Clarifying the definition of para-athletes: those who are part of the Paralympic or Deaflympic movement (i.e. promoting elite sport achievements) Defining the scope of para-athletes being studied (target groups):
Talented/elite athletes with any kind and degree of impairment who participate in organized training activities and sport competitions at national and/or international level. They should be members or registered athletes of recognized sport organisation at local, regional or national levels.
Young talented para-athletes are considered th