Collective conceptualization of parental support of dual career athletes: The EMPATIA framework

Abstract

Background This study aimed to use a concept mapping methodology to develop a European framework of the needs of parents/guardians (P/G) for supporting athletes combining sport and education (dual career, DC). Methods By means of a concept mapping methodology, 337 French, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, and Slovenian parents sorted and rated 80 potential statements associated to parenting DC athletes. Results Five distinct clusters emerged: 1. P/G’ roles, needs and awareness to support athletes, including 22 statements (mean:3.7; range: 3.2–4.2 pt); 2. Requirements for effective planning of DC pathway, including 19 statements (mean:3.7; range: 3.2–4.5 pt); 3. Educational opportunity, including 13 statements (mean:3.5; range: 3.1–4.0 pt); 4. Policy and provision for DC, including 19 statements (mean:3.7; range: 3.1–4.2 pt); and 5. Athletes’ lifestyle & self-management, including 7 statements (mean:4.0; range: 3.5–4.5 pt). Estimates of effect size (Partial eta-squared) were calculated for ANOVAs to assess the degree of variability on the statement importance ranking as the dependent variable accounted for by the demographic data. The concept mapping showed good validity (stress value: 0.11) and high reliability (rSHT: 0.99, rSHM: 0.98; rRR:0.98). One-third of the statements indicated differences (p<0.05) in relation to the P/Gs’ gender and the athletes’ education level, competition level and sport typology. Conclusion In synthesizing the opinions, experience and needs of P/Gs of DC athletes the present framework provided sound theoretical underpinnings to inform the development of an online educational programme for empowering parenting DC athletes (https://edu.empatiasport.eu/eng/), as well as be a foundation for future Pan-European DC research on how these statements interact with each other, in different European contexts.

Development of an Online Multilingual Educational Programme for Parents of Dual-Career Athletes: A Participatory Design

“…Based on the sound triangulation of the different data collected in the background phase presented in the introduction (Gjaka et al, 2021;Tessitore et al, 2021;Varga et al, 2021), during a 2-year period, four iterations (i.e., rounds) were considered necessary to develop the EMPATIA education programme through qualitative approaches and to reach an agreed degree of consensus through qualitative and quantitative methods (Genzuk, 2003;Hsu and Sandford, 2007). In particular, the EMPATIA team was entitled to select wisely the key informants from the parents' perspectives and to use them carefully for developing a manageable online educational programme, whereas the parents of athletes as students and the dual-career experts represented the insiders to cross-evaluate that the researchers organized effectively educational material without omitting to include the essential aspects for empowering parents of dual-career athletes (Genzuk, 2003).…”

“…Independent from nationality and sport, at a personal level, elite athletes highlighted the crucial role of their parents, who provide emotional, motivational, instrumental, material, social, informational, and financial support (Condello et al, 2019). However, the personal experiences and opinions of parents regarding their supportive role of their dual-career children have been presented, and the complex parenting demands at individual and interindividual levels in relation to the family, sport, and academic environments have been systematized recently Knight, 2009, 2015;Harwood et al, 2010;Bean et al, 2014;Clarke and Harwood, 2014;Dorsch et al, 2017;Gjaka et al, 2021;Tessitore et al, 2021;Varga et al, 2021). To help parents facilitate relationships with dual-career stakeholders of family, sport, and educational entourages, the elaboration of a specific education programme appeared as a strategical necessity (Thrower et al, 2016;Capranica et al, 2018;Gjaka et al, 2021).…”

“…Thus, the parents condensed into 80 statements their perceived needs and opinions on the most relevant content of an educational programme for parenting dual-career athletes, mainly related to the parental support athletes' needs, the parents' relationships with the sports and academic entourages of the athletes, the parents' need of information on dual-career policies/services, and educational resources for parenting dual-career athletes. Finally, to uncover the cultural perspectives on which parenting dualcareer athletes is based, the 80 statements were further integrated and visually and numerically represented in a concept mapping, which resulted in the composite thinking of 334 groups of parents of elite athletes as students around the complex dual-career phenomenon (Varga et al, 2021). The findings presented a fivecluster framework on the parents' roles, needs, and awareness to support athletes; requirements for effective planning of dualcareer pathway; educational opportunity; policy and provision for dual career; and athletes' lifestyle and self-management.…”

“Sport and Anatomy”: Teaching, Research, and Assistance at the University of Pisa

“…In line with this, the Education Model for Parents of Athletes in Academics (EMPATIA) was also considered [31]. It is a European Collaborative Partnership within the Erasmus+ Sport Program, with its different activities (traineeship, free mover, etc.…”

Construction of Selection and Evaluation Algorithm for High-Level Tennis Students in Colleges and Universities Based on Random Matrix Model

“…Hodges et al [14] used the index of segment scoring rate and processed the index of segment usage rate to analyze the competitive performance of highlevel tennis students in tennis matches. On the technical level, Varga et al [15] believe that, in tennis competitions, the scoring rate of the stalemate on serve needs to be improved, and the competitive performance at this stage a ects its competitive performance to a greater extent; on the tactical level, when the technical level remains unchanged, the high-level tennis students increase the utilization rate of the return and serve stalemate, drag the return and serve game to 4 shots, and conduct multiround competition, which has higher practical value for their competitive performance. According to the evaluation requirements of students' ability, the researchers constructed the evaluation index system of college students' ability, including seven rst-level indicators such as work and salary, and re ned them into ten second-level indicators.…”