Dual-Career Management: Challenges and risks inherent in elite sporting careers
In the last decade, the concept of dual-career management has received considerable attention from all stakeholders of sport in Europe. This was as a result of growing concern that young elite sports persons were finding it increasingly challenging to combine their sport and education while actively competing, often compromising to a large extent their lifestyles and post-athletic career planning. The findings from one of the earlier pan-European research studies indicated strongly that elite athletes often struggle to achieve a balance between sporting, academic and personal life due to the intensive training and competition requirements placed upon them. The grueling physical demands of elite sport coupled with long hours needed in order to compete at a high level can have a detrimental effect on an athlete’s health and well-being. Given the crucial role that sport holds in athletes’ lives, it is rarely the aspect that gets compromised, in turn, other aspects such as education and personal life tend to bear the brunt. The ultimate pursuit of sporting success can lead to varying degrees of compromise often depending upon the sport, the individual and the country they represent.
