ProgressDC - PROfessional GRowth through Education

Professional athletes spend many hours training extensively and consume the greatest part of their life in their sporting career, often making big sacrifices at a very young age. However, sporting careers are relatively short and for some athletes they can be even shorter due to injuries, financial difficulties or many other reasons. The transition from the sporting career to the post sporting career is difficult for most professional athletes. The European Union has recognized the importance of promoting a ‘dual career’ the “EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes” (published in 2012). It is imperative to implement policies and initiatives in order to support athletes' dual careers. These may be established within sport organizations in which the athletes are involved or through national initiatives. It is also necessary for the athletes themselves to understand the need of working towards a dual career orientation. PROGRESS DC focuses on professional football players. It works on three different levels: 1. On the level of the sports organisations (football teams or other sports organisations) that through the project will acquire a qualified with ISO17024 career adviser (DC Adviser). The project will develop the curricula, materials and will train and certify people in the football teams or other organisations to become DC Advisers. 2. On the level of professional football players that will receive training (in a flexible form) on missing transversal skills for employment (including digital skills) as well as career advising and the possibility of job tasting or placement programmes. 3. On the level of all stakeholders and policy makers, through building awareness on the importance of dual careers for football players (and of course athletes in general) through awareness workshops The project will develop a platform, the PDC platform, that will act as an one stop shop for the trainings but also the rest of the materials developed. that is published through this page expresses the views of the project beneficiaries only and it does not represent the views of the European Union or the European Commission. It shall not be deemed to constitute legal or official notice on behalf of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for this content nor the use thereof made by any third parties. Page 2 of 2