Athletes have an outstanding potential to become high-performing business men and women. In their sporting career, they acquire extraordinary skills that are also crucial to entrepreneurial success. The compact training of AtLAS offers athletes across Europe the chance to combine high-level sport and top-class entrepreneurship education.
Athletes make great entrepreneurs
Skills cultivated on any playing field serve athletes beyond their sporting careers, also when it comes to entrepreneurship. AtLAS – funded by the Erasmus+ sport program of the European Union – is a pioneering entrepreneurship training for athletes. An innovative start-up course serves to enhance both the theoretical and practical competences of high-level athletes across Europe who are considering to found their own business; now or at a later stage of life. The training approach offers athletes a most flexible and hands-on study approach to learn new skills and advance their careers.
Just as in sport, AtLAS focuses on what is essential to success. Athletes will be provided with the most innovative methods in entrepreneurship. The blended learning concept will consist of obligatory online and optional on-site training. The virtual modules are delivered via a 5-weeks MOOC, freely accessible for athletes across Europe and beyond. The optional on-site courses are held at 6 selected European universities in Austria, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, Scotland and Slovenia. Graduates of the full program are awarded an EQF 4 certificate.
Moreover, an accompanying mentoring programme in cooperation with European athlete entrepreneurs will support the participants in further shaping their business ideas. The final AtLAS pitching event in Amsterdam will give an extraordinary stage to the most thrilling business ideas of European athletes.
Overall, the main objectives of AtLAS are:
- to strengthen athletes’ knowledge about starting and running a business,
- to foster entrepreneurial spirit among European athletes and sport governing bodies,
- to connect spheres of higher education and sport to foster dual career pathways of athletes, and,
- to increase the number of well-prepared company creations.
The consortium
AtLAS represents a joint venture of academics in the field of sport and entrepreneurship and dual career practitioners, uniting the following international institutions:
- University of Applied Sciences Joanneum (project leader)
- Aarhus University
- Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
- Edinburgh Napier University
- National OIympic Committee Slovenia
- University of Turin
- World University Service (each project partner)
- TW1N (project consultant)
Become an early bird
AtLAS will run its first course free of charge in early 2022. If you are an athlete interested in joining the program, you can either get in touch to obtain further information on AtLAS or already sign up as an early bird for the training via email.