During the last few days, some EU Athletes members have gathered in Melbourne together with other colleagues from player Unions from around to world to participate in the first ever international Player Development Manager conference, organized by UNI world Athletes.
The purpose of the conference was to share knowledge and best practices on the best way to support dual career of athletes and the role of PDM (Player Development Manager)
From qualifications of PDM, to measurement of success and effectiveness, the sessions targeted a large range of issues in indoor the improve the support to players.
EU Athletes used the opportunity of the conference to distribute amongst participants his latest Guidelines developed during the course of his last EU financed project (Preparatory action in the field of sport)
Using the term “maximizing the athletes’ time in the sport” instead of “career transition” is one example about how the players association for Australian football players (AFL) has reached the players more easily to help them understanding the importance of planning for the future.
Participating organizations have been from Australia, New Zeland, Japan, Slovenia, UK, Ireland and Sweden. More experienced organizations have generously been sharing documentation and expertise to those ones who has started more recently.