Dual careers: important for athletes and for society

#THIS ARTICLE IN DUTCH is written by Leo Aquina | translated by Liesbeth Wallien

For prominent athletes it is all about performing on the field. But what happens off the field could be just as important. At a knowledge event of TeamNL@work at Papendal on 29 November 2022, Wolfgang Stockinger was the main speaker. He spoke about dual careers. This inspired Sport Knowhow XL to ask the Austrian specialist to expand on the subject. ‘If you do not support the dual careers of top athletes, much talent will be lost’, he emphasized. ‘Sports organisations should be aware that in many cases sport no longer comes first. If a combination is not possible, many athletes will go for a regular career and leave sports early.’

Between 2013 and 2018 Wolfgang Stockinger headed the national development program for dual careers at KADA, the Austrian NGO that concerns itself with this subject. In 2019 he founded TWIN, an international consultancy agency for policy makers in sports, education and the employment market.

Injured yet happy
Stockinger’s interest in and knowledge of dual careers stem partly largely from personal experience. While a professional football player he also attended university. ‘After graduating from an Austian school for sports I studied social economics at Linz University. At the same time I was playing in the Austrian Premier League. I had first-hand knowledge of the advantages of a dual career. Advantages that go far beyond getting a diploma.’ When he was 24, a severe knee injury forced Stockinger to retire from professional football. He had just transferred to BV Veendam. During his rehabilitation he studied at Groningen University.

‘‘As an athlete, I was devastated, but at the same time this was one of the periods in my life that formed me most. Looking back that has to do mostly with the interaction between my life as a football player and my active academic and private exposure to life to the field, and the stability and meaning that gave me. Many years later, when I was an advisor of TWIN, I was working with an athlete who worded it perfectly: “I learned that I could be happy, even though I was injured".’

Golden opportunity
As a living example of what a dual career can do for a top athlete, Stockinger devoted himself to the subject professionally in 2012. First as a athlete counsellor and later as head of dual career development at KADA. ‘At the time I saw an awareness process being set in motion in many European countries. Sport-political developments in the European Union played an important part, and I was increasingly working internationally.’ In 2019 Stockinger’s international work led to the foundation of TWIN. ‘The opportunities for athletes to have a dual career strongly depends on the entire system surrounding them’, clarifies Stockinger. ‘To offer athletes opportunities, we have to reinforce their surroundings. Various factors play a part: the different stakeholders in sports, education and the employment market; multiple disciplines such as coaching, training, jobs, psychology, and so on. A 2017 study of the European Commission showed that 35% of European member states assessed their own status and development in dual careers a negative and I saw a golden opportunity.’

With TWIN Stockinger wants to bring top sports and social development closer. ‘Our mission benefits individual athletes, the sports system and the international community as a whole’, the Austrian explains. ‘Dual careers are part of our corporate core activities. We advise institutions, athletes and coaches. Our customers are regional and national governments, Olympic committees, sport federations, professional clubs, universities, sport schools and employers in sports.’

TWIN also offers individual counselling to athletes and coaches. What does Stockinger believe are the biggest bottlenecks when it comes to combining top sports and regular careers? ‘That’s a tough question, because of the huge differences between sports, the stage of his/her career where someone is at, and cultural background, both in terms of specific sports cultures and country of origin. But obviously there is a common denominator. The point is whether someone is able to make well-considered choices, to take control over his or her pathway, and to find the balance between sport and education, and private spheres of life. In counselling athletes we always look for the right choice for that individual. We also help athletes with enhancing self-management, as a dual career calls for specific competencies where it concerns flexibilization, periodisation and setting priorities when it comes to sports or academic challenges.’

More than a safety net
Stockinger is convinced that the importance of a dual career should not be underestimated. ‘A dual career is so much more than just a safety net for athletes when they retire from sports. It acts as a motor for their personal development. From the athlete’s perspective it revolves around cultivating a variety of talents and flourishing as a personality, from society’s perspective it offers advantages in terms of employability, inclusion and participation. And, thinking one step further, this is linked to social contribution, social cohesion, and social transformation.'

Stockinger points to quite an important side effect that is often overlooked: ‘A good preparation for a life after sports also has a positive impact on an athlete’s performance. No surprise here, as it is a generally accepted psychological fact that people who have a broader knowledge base and values are more stable and are better at handling crises. Along those same lines scientific studies have demonstrated that there is a connection between activities off the field and sports performance. It would be good if athletes and sport organisations would recognise the importance of dual careers as one crucial part of holistic athlete development.’

In Stockinger’s opinion sports organisations should concern themselves more with dual careers: ‘So far this was something driven and narrated mostly by education, but sports should take more responsibility.’ Together with TeamNL@work NOC*NSF has taken the lead. Stockinger asked his Dutch audience to think about the best next question to be answered by the Dutch dual career system. He kicked off: ‘If the structures surrounding dual careers in all their complexity want to make the next step in development, they will have to optimize the way in which the different institutions cooperate.’

For more information: twin.sport
Read also: Geslaagde tweede editie Kennisevent TeamNL@work