PDM and Dual Career

Improving Dual Career Support for Players

The project aimed to improve the way athlete and player associations in membership of EU Athletes offer support and advice on dual career to elite athletes in 12 countries. The participating associations increased their focus on dual career issues and equipped themselves to deliver related support to athletes and players.

Over the course of the project, the Best Practice governance model of Player Development Managers (PDMs) was agreed and promoted throughout the membership via the exchange visits, final dissemination conference and booklet designed for athlete and player associations.

The exchange visits allowed key staff to learn from different associations and improve their own services – both structurally and through the skill-set of staff. This was supported by a training seminar in February 2014 that maximised the usefulness and appropriateness of the exchanges.

In early 2015, a three day conference for all members of EU Athletes was held in Finland to share the best practice developed during the exchanges and to promote the concept of PDMs and EU Guidelines on Dual Career.

Finally, Dual Career Booklet on the PDM model of governance for athlete and player associations was produced and published in English. The document contains examples of good practice and is a powerful tool for promoting change in support provided for professional athletes.

Overall, the project promoted dual career support amongst the different associations in the membership of EU Athletes and led to the publication of the booklet which became a valuable learning tool for athlete and player associations, governments, and sports movement as a whole.

More downloadable materials, including the outputs of the PROLead project aimed at improving dual career opportunities for professional athletes, are available here.

‘Improving Dual Career Support for Players’ project, co-financed by the European Commission, started in January 2014 and finished in January 2015.