The project, financed by the EU, will develop cooperation in sport through job exchanges for the staff and volunteers at player associations in Europe and South Africa. It will improve the skills and knowledge base of key personnel at player associations thereby enabling them to better support their athletes. The project includes 16 partners, 20 PAs from 13 countries covering 8 sports and representing over 10,000 elite athletes.
The two-year project, running from January 2021 until the end of December 2022, will see 25 job shadowing exchanges between player associations in Europe and South Africa. These will help the Player Associations improve:
* Player recruitment and engagement
* Player personal development
* Commercial development and Marketing
* Communications and media
* Best response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
It is based upon the principles of bringing associations together to share experiences, learn from each other and develop good practice. This will be supported by an expert steering group. Participants will have to produce written reports prior to and after their exchanges to encourage self-reflection as a valuable learning tool.
25 job shadowing exchanges lasting 5 days between player associations in Europe and South Africa will take place between May 2021 and May 2022. The results will be shared at a dissemination conference in Italy (June 2022) which will feed into the production of a best practice booklet. The booklet and project results will be further disseminated through a social media campaign. The participants in the project (and the wider player association movement) will benefit from improvements in the way they operate, support players, communicate and generate income. These will lead to improved conditions for elite athletes in Europe and South Africa.
By improving the operation of player associations, the outcome of the project will be long lasting as the institutions develop through best practice and are better placed to continue their vital role supporting elite athletes.
