THE DUAL CAREER OF STUDENT‐ATHLETES IN FOOTBALL: GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION

By drawing on primary scholarly literature on the dual career in sport, this article aims to identify the key features and problems concerning the development and implementation of programs promoting school and university education for young footballers. The paper highlights the importance of bridging the gap between professional sport and learning in young footballers by promoting dissemination actions within dual-career programs. To implement these actions, the authors have investigated and examined by comparative, historical, and hermeneutical methodology the role that team manager may play to support programs that, in the context of Italian legislation and regulations, encourage the development of specific skills in young footballers. These skills deal mainly with coping with transitions affecting athlete-students and student-athletes’ sports experience and post-career years. The paper will conclude with a list of educational principles to be developed as practical actions to implement dual-career programs for young footballers attending high school or university.