Talented young athletes at secondary schools are inevitably confronted with difficult and often complex issues relating to achieving an appropriate balance between the demands of education and the time commitment required to achieve and maintain top-level performance. Combining high performance sport with education without any special arrangements is a difficult task and may variously lead to poor educational performance, a failure to develop at an appropriate rate in their chosen sport, or even a drop-out from sport. With the increased importance of elite sports performance many countries have sought to address these issues in a variety of ways – varying from specialist school were sport is at the core of their mission to the development of flexibility curriculum approaches. The most noteworthy problem relates to the allocation of time, followed by competition seasons often overlapping with examination period. Inflexibility often leads to an athlete’s studies being prolonged or even left uncompleted.

The aim of the study was to provide the Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation with detailed information on the various approaches adopted to address such issues. Information was collected from ten countries (both European and Commonwealth countries).

University of Stirling, Department of Sports Studies, Unit: Sports Policy
Zusammen mit: Prof. Dr. Fred Coalter
Laufzeit: 2006 bis 2007
Mittelgeber: Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation

Radtke, S. & Coalter, F. (2007). Sports Schools - Eliteschulen des Sports. Ein internationaler Vergleich unter Einbeziehung von zehn Ländern. Köln: Sportverlag Strauß.

Radtke, S. & Coalter, F. (2007). Sports schools and colleges: An international review. Stirling: University of Stirling, Department of Sports Studies.