The “Career After Sports” program provides direct support to all active and former athletes in their transition to the labor market. With the support of Adecco, through conversations, interviews, and seminars, athletes are profiled based on their individual qualities, abilities, and ambitions, while receiving support and guidance for their future professional path.
- “Visa Champions”
VISA launched the “Visa Champions” program, intended for Olympians and Paralympians who have completed their sports careers and are interested in starting a new professional career.
This is an 18-month rotational program (three six-month rotations within the company) in Belgrade, designed to support athletes in transitioning from competitive sports into professional careers. The program offers athletes valuable work experience, training and development, mentoring, networking, and leadership opportunities.
- BlackRock Program
The BlackRock program represents an exclusive initiative for dual-career development, consisting of a six-month paid program tailored for professional athletes, with the possibility of permanent employment afterward.
This program is designed to empower participants, improve their professional skills, deepen their understanding of asset management, and provide them with a strong foundation for a future career in the financial industry.
Four athletes have been employed in the previous period: Tijana Bogdanović (Olympic silver and bronze medalist in taekwondo), Strahinja Jovančević (athletics), Gojko Pijetlović (two-time Olympic champion and Olympic bronze medalist in water polo), through the VISA project, and Nikola Banjac, sailing.
- “Micro Learning Entrepreneurship for Athletes”
During previous years, the Olympic Committee of Serbia was a partner in Erasmus+ projects related to this field. One of them is “Micro Learning Entrepreneurship for Athletes”.
In cooperation with prominent business schools and sports organizations from Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the goal of this project is:
- Preparation of short online lectures on entrepreneurship for all active/former athletes
- Development of online educational materials for acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to facilitate the transition from sports to entrepreneurial careers
- “Financial and Business Literacy in Sport for Athletes and Coaches”
Within Erasmus+ projects, in 2021 an important project entitled “Financial and Business Literacy in Sport for Athletes and Coaches” was launched, implemented in cooperation with the National Olympic Committees of Slovenia, Austria, Lithuania, the University of Ljubljana, and the European Olympic Academies.
This project addressed the issue of low financial and business literacy among athletes and coaches, which can lead to problems of sports integrity, including abuse of position, manipulation, match-fixing, etc.
Athletes and coaches facing financial problems are easier targets for organized crime and criminal elements. These issues may be financial or related to decision-making during and after an athlete’s career, and may include loss of reputation, wealth, and club scandals.
During the project, the following was achieved:
- Development of training and educational materials for athletes and coaches;
- Creation of online learning tools aimed at improving financial and business literacy among athletes and coaches.
The project was presented and promoted through numerous seminars and workshops organized or supported by the Olympic Committee of Serbia, such as:
- Technical course for gymnastics coaches, held in Kostolac, attended by around 70 coaches;
- Technical course for archery coaches, held in Belgrade, attended by 15 coaches;
- Sports Fair 2023, attended by 240 athletes from 29 different sports;
- The first sports-business conference “Peloton”, held in December 2023 in Belgrade, attended by 95 people from various fields surrounding sport.
