This expert group was established under the third EU Work Plan for Sport and the main topics under consideration have been coach education, qualifications and skills, and dual careers. The next EU work Plan for Sport will be developed in the second half of 2020 under the German Presidency of the Council of the EU and future of the Expert Group and the place of the education in sport as a topic on the EU agenda is under review.

Yves Le Lostecque, Head of Sport Unit ate DG EAC, European Commission gave a presentation to update on the Commission’s recent activities and the Commission’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. Yves reported that the Erasmus+ sport budget for the 2020 call for proposal is 70.8 million Euros. It was reported that 1145 project applications were received and the results will be announced at the beginning of October. In relation to Covid-19 there will be a dedicated meeting on the future of sport, and a commissioned study on the impact of Covid-19 on the sport sector.

A presentation was also delivered by the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union related to sport. Planned work was impacted by the Covid-19 situation but notable achievements included the production of Council Conclusions on empowering coaches by enhancing opportunities to acquire skills and competences, and a seminar titled: Why does European sport need skilled and competent coaches.

Following remarks from Guy Taylor who had represented the UK on the Expert Group, members were invited to contribute about achievements of the group, and ideas for the way forward.

EOSE contribution to the discussion concerned the importance of people if the sector is to achieve its potential, and the importance of a skilled and competent workforce and the role of education in that. EOSE believes education should remain a priority area in sport for the European Commission and is ready to support future actions in this area.

Finally Agata Dziarnowska from the DG EAC Sport Unit of the European Commission confirmed her upcoming departure from the Sport Unit. Tributes were made to the fantastic work of Agata over the years and everyone wished her well for the future. EOSE would like to formally record thanks to Agata for high quality support and advice given to the organisation and nice working atmosphere created we also wish her good luck in future roles. The Exert Group meeting finished with an online drink.

For more details on the work of the European Commission in sport see:

https://ec.europa.eu/sport/node_en

On the 17^th of June 2020 the partners in the CHANGE project gathered for the 3^rd full partner meeting. The meeting was intended to take place in Amsterdam hosted by project partner Women Win but was held online due to the on-going Coronavirus situation.

The CHANGE project, funded through the Erasmus+ Sport Programme of the EU, will develop professional standards and education in the area of sport for development through implementing the innovative 7 Step Model for lifelong learning and workforce development.

The purpose of the meeting was to review and discuss the results of the research phase of the project. Research included 34 telephone interviews with sport for development organisations from the local to global level, and a literature review of over 100 academic papers, reports and job descriptions.

Simone Digannaro from University of Cassino and Southern Lazio presented the results of the research under key headings including:

• The role of sport
• Recognition of sport for development
• Pathways to working in sport for development
• Challenges and future of the sector
• The role of the sport for development coordinator and activator

Simone also presented draft models of sport for development as understood by the interview respondents and key elements of skills and knowledge needed to work in sport for development which were gathered through the research.

The purpose of the comprehensive research phase was to inform the main outputs of the project and the second part of the meeting focussed on the development of an Occupational Map and Occupational Descriptors for sport for development in Europe.

Geoff Carroll from EOSE presented the structure and main content of the Occupational Map including social value of the sector, organisational structures, occupations in the sector, emerging trends and future projections. Rachel Payne from ISCA presented the key aspects of the Occupational Descriptors for sport for development coordinators and activators, including main duties, skills and knowledge, attitudes and attributes, experience and qualifications.

All partners were active in the online meeting making verbal contributions or using the “text chat function” in the online software.

The main actions from the meeting are to complete the drafts of the Occupational Map and Descriptors and begin work on the Functional Map, Occupational Standards and Innovative education which will be developed for the sport for development sector in Europe.

Partners will meet again online in September 2020.

Full list of partners – European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE); International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA); University of Cassino and Southern Lazio; Leeds Beckett University; General Secretariat for Sports; Greece, Italian Sport for All Association (USIP); Sport Union of Slovenia; StreetGames; Women Win.

Contact – Ben GITTUS – EOSE Director of Standards – ben.gittus@eose.org

These opportunities for funding are amazing tools to tackle important issues facing the sport and physical activity sector.

Do not hesitate to apply !

Sport as a tool for integration and social inclusion of refugees

The potential of sport as a tool for social inclusion has now been well documented. Consequently, the opportunities that sport projects provide to support social inclusion of refugees in host communities are more and more exploited in many EU Member States. As sport is one of the tools that might be used for the successful integration of refugees, local sport projects in particular may have an increasing role in trying to facilitate refugees’ integration into new communities. Across the European Union, at Member States’ level or within European Union programmes, a wide range of initiatives have been taken and innovative projects are already being implemented. This Preparatory Action is a contribution to this effort and to a better integration of refugees through sport.

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/funding/calls/integration-social-inclusion-refugees-2020_en

Deadline: 1 June 2020

Exchanges and mobility in sport

Sport is a powerful tool, bringing people together at international, national, regional and local levels, and developing people-to-people contacts. Cooperation, partnerships and exchanges at grassroots level – inside the EU as well as with non-EU countries – can contribute to the development of new skills and positively influence societal changes. Moreover, sport organisations at all levels are by nature open to international cooperation.

This preparatory action aims to contribute to the efforts of sport organisations by supporting the learning mobility of their staff. Exchanges of people, ideas and good practices can be beneficial for the individuals, for their organisations and for sport and society as a whole.

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/funding/calls/call-proposals-exchanges-and-mobility-sport-2020_en

Deadline: 11 June 2020

Monitoring and coaching, through sports, of youngsters at risk of radicalisation

Sport can play a role in dealing with the challenge of tackling radicalisation, of making people better integrated in society and may therefore contribute to enhance values such as tolerance, integration and intercultural dialogue.

At the initiative of the European Parliament, this Preparatory Action aims at supporting sport-related projects organised by sport organisations, especially umbrella sport organisations, aiming at the prevention of radicalisation. In particular, it will focus on the practise of sport and physical activity as a tool to promote a better integration of populations at risk of exclusion and radicalisation in the society in which they are leaving.

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/funding/calls/call-monitoring-and-coaching-through-sports-2020_en

Deadline: 22 June 2020

The year 2019 was an extremely ambitious and successful year in terms of activities with the completion of the Sector Skills Alliance for the sport and physical activity sector (ESSA-Sport) project and many other transnational activities.

Although we look forward to continuing our work in 2020, you can now look back on our achievements and activities of 2019 in the EOSE Activity Report 2019. This is our key communication tool to showcase our mission and the work we do in collaboration with all of our members and partners.

We hope you enjoy reading it.

Click here for the online magazine version

 Click here to download the PDF version

For instance, one of the main goals of the ESSA-Sport project was to fill a knowledge gap by undertaking the collection and deep analysis of the available data and official statistics on the sport labour market* at both the European and national levels.

Actually, such data have been missing for the sector for many years as the last attempt to formulate a European map of employment for the whole sector was through the VOCASPORT** transnational initiative in 2004. In order to make an impact on the sector and allow it to unlock its recognised potential on society, it was crucial to provide an updated picture of its labour market to better understand its realities, challenges and trends.

ESSA-Sport thus provided a unique opportunity to undertake a series of research activities to quantify and describe in detail the labour market for the full breadth of the sport sector which is still young and developing. This was necessary to provide a precise idea of the size and characteristics of the labour market as well as information about its evolution and tendencies.

We believe that a proper understanding of the characteristics, realities and trends of the labour market is the basis to reskill the workforce with modern, fit for purpose training and qualifications in line with the needs and expectations of employers and the labour market. EOSE is delighted to mention that the official available statistics collated at both national and European level have been used to contribute to the consultation with stakeholders and to the design of relevant and adapted strategic action plans with concrete recommendations to improve the situation in Europe.

The official statistics in question have been collated with invaluable help from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and from National Statistics Offices (NSO). It is important to state that this is the best information from available statistics about the sport labour market but should not necessary be seen as the exact reality of the sector.

In line with the statistical definition used by the ESSA-Sport project presented below, statistics highlighted that in 2018 the total number of people working in paid employment in the sport sector in the EU was 1 765 728 which represented 0.79% of the overall European labour market (all sectors). The sector shows a significant growth rate of 19.2% since 2011 as 1 481 306 people were involved as paid employees in the sector at that time. It is reasonable to think that these numbers are still underestimated and do not capture the whole picture of the sector as it does not include volunteers and unpaid staff for instance. The full breakdown and analysis of the sport labour market can be found within the recently published ESSA-Sport final outputs but we are delighted to provide you a sample of information.

In 2018, whereas more women continue to join the sport labour market, it is interesting to underline that the gap between the females and males has widened in favour of male employment.

Moreover, the majority of the workforce falls into the 25-49 age bracket but it is interesting to highlight that the percentages of young sport workers (15-24 years old) as well as workers over 50 have increased through the period from 2011 to 2018.

In addition, ESSA-Sport findings revealed that the proportion of sport workers with low education has decreased whereas the percentage of those with high education level has increased.

Regarding the type of contracts and employment, the sport sector engages a higher number of workers who are either part-time or self-employed compared to the European workforce as a whole (all sectors) and there has been very little change in that respect over the last eight years.

Furthermore, ESSA-Sport partners and the research team managed to estimate and break down the number of people having a sport specific occupation (ISCO 342***) in both sport and non-sport organisations (NACE****) and this can be found in the final outputs of the project. Such level of data and knowledge is new for the sector and provides a fantastic opportunity to communicate and collaborate on the realities and challenges facing the sector.

To conclude, we are pleased to mention that the work is not finished as EOSE has been successful with an application for a new Erasmus+ Sport project aiming to continue the collection and analysis of relevant data for the labour market of the sector.

This new project is called “Continuing the journey towards a skilled workforce for the sport and physical activity sector in Europe (SKILLS)” and is funded for a duration of 24 months.

The statistical definition used by the ESSA-Sport project

The statistical definition used by the ESSA-Sport project for the collection of available statistics for the sport sector can be summarised as follows

The work carried out through the ESSA-Sport desk research and in collaboration with Eurostat and National Statistics Offices (NSO) was to collate available data and statistics to identify the size and characteristics of:

•  Box 1 = Persons having a sport and fitness occupation (ISCO 342) in an organisation whose main business is the provision of sport (NACE 93.1), e.g. professional athletes, coaches, instructors
• Box 2 = Persons having a non-sport and fitness occupation (Other ISCO codes) in an organisation whose main business is the provision of sport (NACE 93.1), e.g. managers, receptionists
• Box 3 = Persons having a sport and fitness occupation (ISCO 342) in an organisation whose main business is not the provision of sport (Other NACE codes), e.g. a fitness instructor working in a hotel

The addition of the 3 boxes I + II + III would then provide the total employment for the sport sector based on our statistical definition (= the sport labour market).

The document has been signed by a total of 44 organisations all over Europe and beyond.

Click on the following link to have a look at the Position paper:

Position paper COVID-19

The kick-off meeting of the 2019 selected Pilot Projects in the field of sport under the call for proposals “Exchanges and mobility in sport” was organised by the DGEAC Sport Unit on 6th of April 2020. The event, originally postponed due to the exceptional circumstances with COVID-19, was arranged online and was attended by representatives from the 10 selected projects. The event provided the opportunity to receive an overall introduction and update on Sport Policy from the European Commission, to clarify technical and financial issues for the selected projects, and to get a brief introduction from each project leader about the planned activities.

EOSE was represented by its Executive Director, Aurélien Favre, who had the opportunity to give a short presentation of the S2A Sport Mobility project which started early 2020 and has the ambition to support the sport sector in realising its full potential by enhancing the skills of sport administrators engaged as paid staff and volunteers within sport organisations, and to strengthen their future employability and personal development through learning mobility experiences. Indeed, the project will offer the opportunity to 40 sport administrators to take part in a fit-for-purpose transnational training programme on sport administration that will be delivered through 3 modules of 1 week in 3 different Western Balkans countries. A total of 32 participants will come from Western Balkans (Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia) and 8 participants from the European Union. The training programme will be supplemented by a 4 days tailor made national study visit for each participant to undertake a concrete experience abroad and acquire new skills from such learning mobility. The overall goal of the initiative is to enhance the skills of sport administrators but also to contribute to the capacity building of their sport organisations and so the development of sport in the Western Balkans and the European Union.

EOSE was delighted to attend the Expert Group meetings as Observer and to contribute to discussions on the future of skills development in sport in Europe.

The publication aims at “proposing a common minimum set of competences for coaches in Europe. The guidelines are therefore suggesting improvements in the education/training modules and courses of coaches as well as outline core competences a coach should possess in order to be considered as such. This document is addressed predominantly to the coach education providers. In addition, it also targets directly or indirectly policy makers, public authorities, sport organisations and education institutions.”

It is really important for EOSE to see that skills and competences in sport is an important topic at the heart of Europe.

Feel free to download the guidelines and have a look clicking here!

• 21 April 2020 (17h00 Brussels time) for all Erasmus+ Sport Actions (Collaborative partnerships, Small collaborative partnerships, Not-for-profit European sport events). Applications to be sent to the Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

• 23 April 2020 (12h00 Brussels time) for Key Action 2 Strategic Partnerships for School Education (KA201), Strategic Partnerships for Vocational Education and Training (KA202), Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education (KA203), Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education (KA204), School Exchange Partnerships (KA229).

• 5 May 2020 (17h00 Brussels time) for Key Action 3 European Policy Experimentation in the field education and training led by high-level public authorities (pre-proposals). (Original deadline: 21 April 2020, 17h00 Brussels time).

• 7 May 2020 (12h00 Brussels time) for Key Action 1 Mobility of individuals in the field of youth – Round 2

• 7 May 2020 (12h00 Brussels time) for Key Action 2 Strategic partnerships in the field of youth

• 7 May 2020 (12h00 Brussels time) for Key Action 3 Youth Dialogue Projects – Round 2

• 26 May 2020 (17h00 Brussels time) for the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (applications to be sent to the Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency)

Click here to stay tuned about the situation 

The S2A Sport Mobility project is an 18-month initiative which has the ambition to support the sport sector in realising its full potential by enhancing the skills of sport administrators engaged as paid staff and volunteers within sport organisations, and to strengthen their future employability and personal development through learning mobility experiences.

Indeed, the project will offer the opportunity to 40 sport administrators to take part in a fit-for-purpose transnational training programme on sport administration that will be delivered through 3 modules of 1 week in 3 different Western Balkans countries. A total of 32 participants will come from Western Balkans (Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia) and 8 participants from the European Union.

The training programme will be supplemented by a 4 days tailor made national study visit for each participant to undertake a concrete experience abroad and acquire new skills from such learning mobility.

The goal is to enhance the skills of sport administrators but also to contribute to the capacity building of their sport organisations and so the development of sport in the Western Balkans and the European Union.

Hosted by the National Olympic Committee of Kosovo in Pristina, the kick off meeting was organised to ensure partners are familiar with the overall methodology, the work plan and their specific role and responsibilities within the project which will conclude in June 2021.

The partners debated key concepts of sport administration and learning mobility to ensure a common understanding and worked together to underline the main priorities and start the development of the content of the innovative training programme in sport administration. The focus was also on the profile of the participants and the logistic behind the delivery of the weeks of training in Western Balkans.

Aurélien Favre, Executive Director for EOSE said “we are delighted to start work with this unique consortium composed of 50% of organisations from the European Union and 50% from the Western Balkans. Concrete learning mobility activities will be delivered to enhance the skills of sport administrators and create the conditions to the build the capacity of sport organisations”.

Consortium: European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE), University of Chester, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), European Association for Sport Management (EASM), NOC of Albania, NOC of Kosovo, NOC of North Macedonia, and University of Montenegro Faculty of Sport and Physical Education.

Contact – Mr Aurélien Favre – EOSE Executive Director – aurelien.favre@eose.org