INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

This is of crucial importance due to the rare number of athletes
with the required genetic predispositions as well as mental attitude
(Sir John Ron quoted by Tapsell 1999) for a successful career on
today’s mature elite sport stage (especially when considering Olympic
disciplines like athletics, rowing, swimming, etc.). This can however
only represent one challenge in dealing with the problem of short
human resources.
Besides identifying genetically adequate talents and bringing them
into an elite sport system, it is also vital to make the identified
individuals willing to stay. Injuries, changes in the athlete’s career
preferences (especially the conflict between a insecure sporting vs. a
non-sporting career) as well as social pressure from the athlete’s peer
group (e.g. coach, friends, partners, parents) are leading to increased
drop outs, especially in the phase changing from performance to the
(inter-) national elite level. This is due to the exponential increase in
the commitment demanded from the young athletes at this point of
their development (e.g. Alermann and Bussmann 1993, Braun 2000a
and 2000b, Bussmann 1997, Daugs 2002, Hackfordt et al. 1993).
Aiming at the reduction of these social and economic risks of a
sporting career in order to decrease the drop out problem, lifestyle
support systems became one of the most important elements within
an elite sport system, especially for modern societies (Alermann and
Bussmann 1993, Schulz quoted by Bucher 10.10.2003, Bussmann
1997, Digel 2003, Green and Oakley 2001, Hackfordt et al 1993). To
be considered as an encompassing support service for elite athletes
(Baumann 2003, Chelladuari and Riemer 1997) the services to be
offered by such a system could include: career advice, educational
support, vocational training consultancy and support, personal
finance or funding, media and presentation skills training, finance
management and investment consultancy, insurance consultancy as
well as success bonuses (Böhlke 2002, Dauderts and Dauderts 2003,
Emrich and Pfitz 2002, p. 262 Green and Oakley 2001).
5. Strategic Partnerships, Active External Communication
Giving justice to the described dependency of an elite sport
system on other entities of a sport system (i.e. especially that an elite
sport system has to be founded on a broad sport participation
community) as well as on other non-sporting stakeholders (i.e. the
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