Final report on sport coaches’ capacity to use sport as a tool for the development of skills and competencies functional to the Labour market

• Dora Martins (Author) CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic Institute of Porto and GOVCOPP, University of Aveiro
• Isabel Ardions (Author) CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic Institute of Porto
• Pedro Mendonça (Author) CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic Institute of Porto
• Paula Carvalho (Author) CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic Institute of Porto
• Celia Marcen (Author) University of Zaragoza
• Sara Vivirito (Author) CEIPES – Centro Internazionale per la Promozione dell’Educazione e lo Sviluppo
• Nicola Stöcker (Author) Applied Sciences, TUM School of Medicine and Health, Department Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
• Christina Sitzberger (Author) Applied Sciences, TUM School of Medicine and Health, Department Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
• Dominik Gaser (Author) Chair of Preventive Pediatrics, TUM School of Medicine and Health, Department Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
• Paulo Jorge Araújo (Author) Sindicato dos Jogadores Profissionais de Futebol
• João Oliveira (Author) Sindicato dos Jogadores Profissionais de Futebol
• Bence Garamvölgyi (Author) Hungarian University of Sports Science 
• Erika Juhász (Author) BUDAPEST ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL SPORTS

The „Sport4E – Skills through Sport for Employability and Entrepreneurship” project aims to improve educational outcomes by prioritizing skill development in alignment with the EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes. It focuses on empowering young athletes, coaches, and educators by emphasizing working and entrepreneurial skills. The project addresses the perceptual gap between sport coaches and human resources professionals regarding skills relevant to the labor market.

The methodology involved the development of an Entrepreneurial Skills Questionnaire for athletes, based on literature reviews and translated into partner languages. This questionnaire was adapted for coaches and HR stakeholders. The survey involved 202 athletes, 144 coaches, and 120 HR professionals. Evaluation of skills and competencies revealed disparities between athletes’ self-assessment and actual development through sports. Coaches rated their skills higher than HR professionals in some areas, emphasizing the need for a broader set of entrepreneurial skills among athletes.

Focus group interviews with coaches and employers (29 coaches and 31 employers) identified 34 skills in demand in the labor market, with 10 overlapping with those developed through sports. Coaches were recognized as pivotal in transferring athletes’ soft skills for job placement, but challenges included time constraints and lack of comprehensive training programs. Proposed strategies involve effective communication, increased awareness of coaches’ educational roles, and collaboration between coaches, athletes, HR consultants, and companies.

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Citation

Stöcker, N., Sitzberger,C., Gaser,D., Marcen, C., Ardions, I., Carvalho,P., Martins,D.,Mendonça, P., Vivirito, S., Garamvolgyi, B., Araújo, P. J., Oliveira, J. (2023). Final report on sport coaches’ capacity to use sport as a tool for the development of skills and competencies functional to the Labour market. Edições CEOS.

ISBN 978-989-9168-08-4
https://doi.org/10.56002/ceos.0087b

This is open access content distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.