2004 was declared the European Year of Education through Sport by the European Commission (EC). Among the 10 community-wide projects granted co-financing by the EC was the European Athlete as Student Network (EAS Network) project, coordinated by Risto Keskitalo, representing the City of Oulu, Finland. The aim of the project was to improve opportunities for athletes who wished to combine high performance sports and academic education. The project was very successful. 2 seminars were held, one in Darmstadt, Germany and the other in Oulu, Finland. During the few months that the project was running, the project partners managed to involve expertise from 20 European countries and it was obvious to everyone present that the Network was really filling a gap in the development of high performance sport in Europe. The result was that at a third follow-up conference in Falun, Sweden in 2006 it was decided that the EAS project should be continued as a Network.

When launching its White Paper on Sport in 2007, the EU Commission stated the necessity of ensuring reintegration of professional sportspersons into the labour market at the end of their sporting careers. The EAS Network was represented at the Paper’s preparatory hearing. The Commission emphasised the importance of taking into account, at an early stage, the need to provide a “dual career” for young sportsmen and sportswomen and to provide high quality local training centres to safeguard their moral, educational and professional interests (White Paper, 2.3). The possibility of a “dual career” is of utmost important as only a very small percentage of talented athletes aiming at high performance sports careers reach their ultimate goal. Although some of them are capable of supporting themselves during their sports career, they need a stable background when they leave the sporting arena. The majority will have to leave their sports careers much earlier than expected and they will definitely need education or vocational training.

The necessity of providing combined opportunities for high performance sport and education is not only a question of safeguarding the future of top athletes, it is also an important part of the development of high performance sport in Europe. This is a fact that has been totally neglected in many European countries, where famous athlete/students have managed to win Olympic and World Championship titles, not due to the studying/training conditions at their home universities but despite them. Too often, talented athletes have had to make a choice between an academic degree and a career as a top athlete. It has been important for some parts of the academic world, in fairness to other students, to ensure that top athletes are treated like everybody else. Unless they win an Olympic medal of course. This has also meant that Europe, in some disciplines, has been drained of its talents, since the general opinion has been that the only way of combining sport and education would be to go to other parts of the world, where university sport is considered important, such as the United States of America (USA).

The situation, however, is changing for the better. There has been a continuous change in perception of the academic world towards high performance sport. At the beginning of July 2008, a Swedish newspaper posed the question: What is it that makes Swedish people ecstatically happy, when Carolina Klüft, Stefan Holm and Susanna Kallur, win their medals? These three athletes, who are top international track and field athletes, are students of Swedish universities, where they have had really good conditions for developing their talents. The EAS Network promotes the idea that it should be the obligation of every country to support its top athletes financially and socially, as long as they are representing their country. Supporting the absolute top is, however, not enough. Without a broader support scheme, too few athletes will get a chance to reach the absolute elite, so it must become possible for talented students to become Olympic and World champions when studying in their home countries. The national sports federations and education authorities, which are not already doing so, must make the necessary efforts to organise the appropriate conditions. Which country does not want Olympic medallists?

In 2005, Olaf Tabor and Norbert Schütte of the German University Sport Federation, surveyed the German Olympic team participating at the Summer Games in Athens. 34% of the athletes were students and 43% of the team had undertaken an academic exam. These students contributed to 46% of the German medals, a result that was quite surprising. In 2005, Dalarna University in Sweden celebrated the 20th anniversary of its program that combines sports and studies. At this time, Dalarna students had won 62 Olympic, World and European Championship medals. Today, the number is 80.

These facts make the importance of the EAS Network evident. There is an absolute need for closer dialogue between the educational institutions and the national sport federations and national Olympic Committees in order to improve the conditions for talented athlete/students. This conclusion is especially valid for the Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) but also for sport academies and schools. The EAS Network, which is rapidly growing, is a perfect platform for developing these ideas. At its annual conferences, you will find professional experts as well as enthusiasts from HEIs with genuine knowledge of high performance sports, and European coaches from the highest levels. Participants from other parts of the world are also welcome. The educational systems are quite different from country to country and recent experience from these gatherings shows that participants learn a lot from seminars, lectures and not the least from the reports from these different countries. Informal discussions are also valuable. Building a network of knowledge about sport and education can in this way contribute to the development of high performance sport in Europe. It must also be taken into consideration that HEIs have enormous research resources, which to a greater extent could be used for the development of High Performance Sport. The presence of top athletes at these universities can make research in the field of sport more fruitful. By networking within the EAS Network, academic exchange starts.

Let us look at some crucial features for the development of young talents in HEIs: First of all: A good environment for high performance sport at the university is necessary, including specially adapted counselling, opportunities for flexible study systems, good coaching and staff experienced in distance learning. Of course, there must be good conditions for the sport discipline in which the athlete is practising. Furthermore, the synergistic effects of practising related disciplines in the same environment should not be underestimated and therefore stimulated.

Regarding study programs, the student has to consider if the combination chosen is realistic. Some universities only open a few programs for combination, where the organisers know that the combination will be fruitful.

The athlete/student needs professional counselling from a person who understands academic systems and high performance sport as well. The knowledge of sport is essential. Without knowledge of the conditions for a top athlete, it is not possible to give good advice. A study counsellor and a coach working together is also a method that is practised. A main problem for young talented athletes is that most of them are not yet at the top level and are often just leaving the junior age categories, which means that they cannot totally support themselves through their sport.

Since the combination of studies and sport must have a long-ranging perspective, students chosing courses that they are not really interested in, with the sole purpose of using the study financing system of their country for developing their sporting talents, must be avoided. In some countries, we have seen that students have ended up in debt, having to repay the state for useless studies. These students are fortunately the exceptions. Generally, the experience is that athlete/students are very successful, since they are in perfect physical condition and are trained to plan their time effectively.

The flexibility of studies is essential. A talented athlete should not have to choose between World Championships and a university test. Such clashes can easily be avoided. Especially for young talents, where situations can change very rapidly. They can suddenly be selected for their national team, which makes studies more difficult, or they can get injured, which (unfortunately) might give them more time for study. Also, in such cases, appropriate counselling has to be available on short notice.

Coaching systems must be developed according to the conditions in each country. Combining sport and education is only at its inception in many European countries, but there are other countries with extensive experience, so all kinds of systems are to be found. Some examples:

Distance learning is definitely facilitating university studies for athletes. Those who are outside of the educational systems are often not aware of all the benefits that distance learning can give to athletes who have to be away from their universities for a long period of time. Today, you can take a test almost anywhere in the world, if the university has flexible routines, which are necessary for athletes and which most universities have in their basic structure.

Students who study programs with numerus clausus should have the opportunity to be transferred to a university where there are good conditions for practising their discipline, otherwise they are excluded from the chance of gaining this dual career, which the EU Commission White Paper on Sport is recommending.

As already stated, the combination of sport and education has a long tradition in some countries. INSEP, the French National Institute of Sport and Education, funded by the government, has been around since 1945. In the former socialist countries, the combination was one of the normal ways of developing high performance sport, and in some of these countries, the old systems still exist. During the last few years, we have seen interesting initiatives like in the UK, where we have TASS, the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme, also funded by the government. In Germany, the German University Sport Federation, AdH, has organised the initiative “Partnerhochschule des Spitzensports”, a contract system with certain obligations for the signing universities. In Finland, sport academies have opening, in which the Finnish Olympic committee has taken a great interest. There are also sponsored initiatives in private as well as state universities. In many countries like in Sweden, the organised combination of high performance sport and university studies is the result of local initiatives at different universities, often supported by their host regions or cities.

In order to realise the improvement of conditions for the combination of high performance sport and education, more member institutions for the EAS Network are needed. A network of institutions from across the whole of Europe will provide a solid basis for discussion with the decision makers in order to make Europe still attractive for the development of high performance sport, while at the same time, the athletes are offered a secured future.

The EAS Network objectives are primarily:

The network is based on an institutional membership and is run by an executive committee representing Sweden, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Risto Keskitalo from Finland, the initiator, is honorary member. The coordination office is at Dalarna University at the Borlänge Campus, Sweden. All institutions, whether education or sporting, interested in developing cooperation between high performance sport and education, are welcome to join.

Our young sports talents deserve a good future. The member institutions of the EAS Network,
www.eas-network.eu, will do their utmost to support them.