Abstract
This research examined the motivation towards dual career of Norwegian and Slovenian elite Nordic athletes who compete in specific sports disciplines (cross-country skiing, ski jumping and biathlon) where winter conditions are essential. Due to preparations, trainings and competitions these athletes are often far away from their place of residence and education and make every effort to coordinate their sports career and their education. The sample consisted of 51 Norwegian (female: n = 18, age: 25.2 ± 3.7; male: n = 33, age: 23.6 ± 3.6) and 66 Slovenian athletes (female: n = 31, age: 22.9 ± 5.82; male: n = 35, age: 22.0 ± 4.59) who participate in the elite competitions. We have examined the links between three types of motivation (for study, sports and dual career) and socio-demographic characteristics. The factor analysis of the SAMSAQ-EU questionnaire demonstrated a three-factor model and the Crombach's Alpha reliability test confirmed the reliability of the measurement of three latent dimensions of motivation: AM (alpha = 0.878), SAM (alpha = 0.738) and CAM (alpha = 0.694). The results showed that female athletes are more motivated towards education than male athletes and that Slovenian athletes are more motivated towards sports careers than their Norwegian peers. The parents of the respondents from Norway (fathers as well as mothers) tend to have higher education than the parents of the Slovenian athletes, whereas the mothers have higher education than the fathers. More educated (Norwegian) parents contributed significantly to their children's involvement in sports, whereas Slovenian athletes would generally choose their sports career by themselves. Our research did not show significant links between the factor of motivation towards education and the factor of motivation towards sports. Although Norway and Slovenia both experience the lack of structural measures for education of elite athletes in higher education, student-athletes of both countries are highly motivated towards academic and sports career.
Highlights
The term "dual career" was introduced in 2007 when it was first written down in official documents (European Commission, 2007)
The SAMSAQ-EU questionnaire had 39 closed questions for measuring the motivation of the responding athletes for study (AM), sports (SAM) and dual career (CAM). 30 questions were taken from the original questionnaire (Gaston-Gayles, 2005) whereas 9 questions were taken from the Italian version SAMSAQ-IT (Corrado et al, 2012)
Some respondents have participated in the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup races (56 % of Norwegian and 62 % of Slovenian athletes) whereas the others took part in the Continental and Scandinavian cups, which are second most important right after the World Cup competitions
Summary
The term "dual career" was introduced in 2007 when it was first written down in official documents (European Commission, 2007). It indicates the career of the athletes who coordinate their sports activities with education during their sports career, i.e. during their active trainings and competitions. The term "dual career" can indicate athletes' activities and their life after the end of their sports career when former athletes actively participate in after-sports life and build new life careers (Lavallee, Grove & Gordon, 1997; Wylleman, DeKnop, Ewing & Cumming, 2000; Torregrosa, Boixados, Valiente & Cruz, 2004; Stambulova, Stephan & Japhag, 2007; Stambulova, 2010; Moesch, 2012; Park, Lavallee & Tod, 2013). The EU Work Plans 2011-2014 and 2014-2017 covered the development and support measures for the employment, education and trainings of young elite athletes (Guidotti, Curtis & Capranica, 2015)
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