For an athlete, a dual career is the bridge between the world of sport and professional life after its end that connects two goals: fulfillment in the field of sporting achievements and caring for professional future. We know that combining these two worlds can be difficult on a daily basis. Through the European project “Olympic Committees for Dual Career” (OCDC), our objective is to meet these two precise goals.

The OCDC project is run by the Olympic Committees of Poland (project coordinator), Greece, Turkey, Lithuania, Slovenia and the European Network for Innovation and Knowledge specializing in sports research.

The overall goal of the OCDC project is to promote dual career knowledge and understanding among athletes competing in Olympic sports and National Sports Federations (NSF).

Specific objectives of the project are to identify and understand the issues of dual career and the needs of Olympic athletes (junior and senior) based on research that will take place in the five NOCs where the project will be implemented. They include the analysis of best practices, the establishment and pilot implementation of a Single Point of Contact on Dual Career dedicated to one NOC and one NSF in each participating country through the creation of a roadmap to implement it in the form of Handbook. Also, the awareness on dual career’s importance will be raised thanks to the digital innovation and participation in Massive Open Online Courses.

At the kick-off meeting of the project, held at the end of May 2022 at the Olympic Center in Warsaw, all partners expressed their belief that this initiative will bring tangible benefits to many athletes in their countries, but also across Europe. The Hellenic Olympic Committee representatives at the kick-off meeting were the Chairperson of HOC Athletes Commission, Ms. Voula Kozompoli, the EU Project Manager, Ms. Georgia Papathanasiou and the person in charge for the dual career programs in the HOC, business psychologist Ms. Christina Nikolopoulou.

The OCDC project has a duration of two years and is funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union for Education, Training, Youth and Sport.