Entrepreneurship, Education, and Athletes: Entrepreneurship Within European Dual Career Programmes

Balancing competitive sport and post-athletic career development is an inherently challenging endeavour for European athletes. In response, numerous countries and sport federations have developed dual career support policies and programmes. These programmes have principally focused on connecting athletes with education or employment opportunities or developing more general life skills. There has also been a growing focus on entrepreneurship’s potential as a dual career pathway. University and advocacy work has called for the integration of entrepreneurship, and many pan-European projects have emerged on the topic. Nonetheless, entrepreneurship is mostly absent from dual career policies and programmes. This absence is especially notable given the potential of entrepreneurship as both an economic driver and a viable pathway for athletes. Using extensive findings generated from the SENTA project, this chapter, therefore, argues for the relevance of entrepreneurship within the context of athlete dual careers. In particular, we highlight how athletes may be uniquely well-positioned to thrive as entrepreneurs and how entrepreneurship can actively contribute to economic growth. Correspondingly, we suggest numerous solutions to better recognise and integrate entrepreneurship with dual career programmes, ranging from educational offers to post-career support. Finally, we conclude by proposing future avenues for research and discussion around this topic.