Aug 19, 2022
About Tom
Tom Parsons is the CEO of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and an EUA board member since 2022. He was a long-serving mayo midfielder who retired from inter-county football in 2021.
Q&A
1. What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
I believe in the power of the collective voice, and that players want to be change agents when it comes to the future of sport. I want to help harness that collective voice between athletes and player associations at national and international level.
2. In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
The coming together under one collective structure of player associations in Europe and forming a body that defends, protects and advances player rights and interests.
3. What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
The voice of athletes heard as key stakeholders within National Governing Bodies & federations in Sport still remains the biggest challenge.
Aug 18, 2022
EMPLOYS (‘ERASMUS+ Understanding, Evaluating, and Improving Good Governance’) is a collaborative project which aims to improve good governance in the employment relations of athletes in Olympic sports. It does so by providing, evaluating and sharing evidence based information, practices and recommendations in sport and governance. EMPLOYS runs from January 2020 to December 2022.
As part of the project, a number of transnational project meetings (TPMs) have taken place.
The seventh TPM is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, 19 and 20 September 2022. It will take place in Warsaw, Poland. During the TPM, the project partners will prepare the publication of the Final Report and the Final Event which will take place in Brussels later this Autumn.
More information about EMPLOYS is available here.
Aug 12, 2022
About Alessandro
Alessandro Marzoli is the president of Giocatori Italiani Basket Associati (GIBA), the Italian basketball players association, and an EUA board member since 2015.
Q&A
1. What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
As a Board member of EU Athletes, I am striving to improve the work and life conditions of every single athlete in Europe.
2. In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
The most important achievement of EU Athletes has been the implementation of European projects that involve athletes and create better opportunities for their future.
3. What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
The biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022 is the direct involvement in crucial decisions that will affect sport sector and athletes in the future.
Aug 5, 2022
About Camille
Camille is the adviser to the president at Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnel (UNFP) and an EU Athletes board member since 2017. With educational background in law, Camille is working for UNFP since 2013.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
I would like to contribute, at my level, to the continuity of the mission of EU Athletes: to convey this open-mindedness necessary to the members, the associations and the people working for athletes in Europe. To promote this curiosity about what our colleagues are doing beyond our borders. Being interested in others often makes us realize that we are not alone. I would also like to continue to raise awareness of the strength of the collective. The actions initiated by EU Athletes do not replace the daily projects and struggles of the members, but complement them on another scale. This complementarity is essential.
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
Without a doubt, the ISU Case. The support that EU Athletes provided to the main people concerned – aware of the stakes for hundreds of athletes after them – marked a turning point in the visibility of the structure.
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
To constantly renew ourselves, to live with the time and not to stand still regardless of our achievements. Moreover, to adapt to our members and to maintain our proximity with them.
Jul 29, 2022
About Simon
Simon Keogh is the CEO of Rugby Players Ireland (RPI), the representative body for professional rugby players in Ireland, and an EUA board member since 2013. Simon has a background as professional rugby player and is a qualified solicitor.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
I would like to be part of a movement that ensure players’ voices are heard and a respected stakeholder at the table. By facilitating knowledge sharing across player associations, we can learn from shared experiences and ensure that we are in the best possible position to provide meaningful representation.
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
I think the facilitation and implementation of existing Erasmus programmes and being part of the application process of potential new programmes. I have seen the direct benefit in Ireland of the ProMobility and ProLead initiatives and look forward to being part of future projects for the benefit of our athletes.
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
Recognition. I think regardless of how organised athletes are through their player association, their voice as valued stakeholders can slide down pecking order when other interests are at play.
