Back on Track : New Ways - Review of the European Network of Sport Schools Conference 2021

Presenters from 3 continents, participants from 30 different countries: The virtual ENOSS Conference 2021 “Back on Track : New Ways” united the world of secondary athlete education and talent development models.

In the COVID-19 crisis, institutions across Europe were asked to come up with new strategies to navigate their systems through wild waters. The ENOSS Conference on 1-2 December 2021 aimed to help sport and education institutions share, discuss and exploit the manifold innovation that has been created across the globe during this difficult period.

Making it possible for a maximum amount of European practitioners to join, #enoss2021 took place online. Simultaneously, the conference managed to create a most interactive virtual event to enable practitioners to exchange expertise and experience – even in digital form.

LIVE FROM LUXEMBOURG

Two rich days of keynotes, workshops and a round table marked the cornerstones of the second ENOSS Conference. Co-hosted by Sportlycée Luxembourg and TWIN, the event gave stage to innovative international approaches in the core areas of system development, psychology, student athlete counselling, and talent development.

“As this year’s host, we wanted different professional backgrounds to come together in this conference. Looking at our programme, we were proud to present such a variety of topics and experts. Bringing in sport school perspectives from other continents was the icing on the cake of this event.”

Pascal Schaul, #enoss2021 host

ENVISAGING THE SPORT SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE

In the conference keynote, South African expert Ruan Schlebusch took a close look at modern fundamentals of student athlete support. Do these look different in a post-Covid world to what they did in 2020? He proclaimed that the time we were in was a golden opportunity for institutions to reflect, reset and move forward to make a positive impact in their unique setting.

“In this time of rapid change, there must be inevitable rapid change in the student-athlete support landscape too.”

Ruan Schlebusch, #enoss2021 keynote speaker

Bringing together a consortium of experts representing versatile professional backgrounds, the Round Table “Envisaging the 2030 sport school” (watch the recording here) lid up spaces of dual career support with particular potential for optimisation, leering at an ideal institutional picture of the future.

“Sharing an ethics of support across the different stakeholders within their system, building an overall concept and then living this concept is key for sport schools and talent development models.”

Raymond Conzemius, #enoss2021 panelist

Thank you to all international participants for making the ENOSS Conference 2021 a remarkable get together in difficult times!


Making the next step - An insight into the European Network of Sport Schools Conference 2019

From 7-8 November 2019, the first ever ENOSS Conference entitled “The Next Step” was held in Berlin, Germany. Like-minded professionals in education and sport from 16 European countries followed the invitation of the ENOSS consortium to network and exchange best practice.

Day 1 of #enoss2019 was dedicated to the topic of health. International experts, namely Markus Flemming (SLZB, Germany), Andreas Hülsen (Olympiastützpunkt Berlin, Germany), Laurent Carnol (LIHPS, Luxembourg) or Jürgen Dietrich/Andrea Stegmann/Claudius Schäfer (Brillat-Savarin Schule, Germany) shared multi-sided insights into their routine with talented athletes, spanning health-related dimensions such as sport psychology, dual career or nutrition.

Day 2, conducted in the spectacular location of the Olympic Stadium of Berlin, pursued the mission to initiate a European Network of Sport Schools. In his opening keynote, ENOSS co-initiator Wolfgang Stockinger (TWIN, Austria) emphasized the necessity of strategic European cooperation. Following, the international delegates concretized the requirements for the further development of a European network in the form of expert work groups.

“The quality of services provided by sport schools in cooperation with policy makers and sport bodies is of vital importance for sustainable pathways of aspiring athletes, in amateur as well as in professional sports. A network like ENOSS can be an important catalyst for innovative dual career practice across borders.”

Wolfgang Stockinger, ENOSS initiator

Thank you to all international delegates who made the 1st ENOSS Conference a big success!