ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living, 12 May 2025

Sec. Sports Management, Marketing, and Economics

Volume 7 - 2025 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1580625

This article is part of the Research TopicMultidimensional development of student-athletes: new perspectives on dual-careerView all 11 articles

The talent project and the validation of standards for the identification of student-athlete talent


Domenico Savio Salvatore Vicari,Domenico Savio Salvatore Vicari1,2Antonino Bianco
Antonino Bianco2*Martina AlbaneseMartina Albanese2Laura Capranica,Laura Capranica3,4Mojca Doupona,Mojca Doupona4,5Epameinondas KoutavelisEpameinondas Koutavelis6Georgia AlexandrouGeorgia Alexandrou6Olia TsivitanidouOlia Tsivitanidou7Tea Gutovi&#x;Tea Gutović8Ivica Zeli&#x;Ivica Zelić9Draen ularDražen Čular10Dino MujkicDino Mujkic11Sini&#x;a Kova
Siniša Kovač11Damira Vranesic- HadzimehmedovicDamira Vranesic- Hadzimehmedovic11Zoran Milanovi&#x;,,Zoran Milanović12,13,14Nenad Stojiljkovi&#x;Nenad Stojiljković12Nemanja Stankovi&#x;Nemanja Stanković12Ana Kezi&#x;
Ana Kezić10
  • 1Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
  • 2Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
  • 3Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
  • 4European Athlete as Student (EAS) Network, Ghaxaq, Malta
  • 5Department of Sport Sociology and History, Faculty of Sports, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 6Health Promotion and Wellbeing Unit, KMOP Education and Innovation Hub, Athens, Greece
  • 7School of Sciences, University of Central Lancashire Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 8Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Split, Croatia
  • 9Center of Excellence of Split Dalmatia County, Split, Croatia
  • 10Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
  • 11Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina
  • 12Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, Niš, Serbia
  • 13Science and Research Centre Koper, Institute for Kinesiology Research, Koper, Slovenia
  • 14Incubator of Kinanthropology Research, Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia

Introduction: The aim of the TALENT project is to promote equality in education, prevent exclusion, support dual careers (sport and school), create new role models for the benefit of young talents and prepare them for lifelong learning and professional sport from an early age. It is promoted by a European consortium of 7 partner institutions and runs from December 2022 to May 2025. It consists of five work packages. In the first work phase, developing the WP2 (from December 2022 to October 2023), under the coordination of UNIPA, NIS University, KMOP and EAS standards for talent recognition were identified and validated.

Methods: Initially, 12 focus groups were conducted with teachers (77 teachers) and coaches (73 coaches) on creating talent identification standards; subsequently, workshops were held with dual career experts to validate these standards. This was a key piece of work that enabled the establishment of clear guidelines and protocols to identify and support talented young people in their dual careers.

Results: A final list of 41 shared statements was identified: 20 related to teachers and 21 related to coaches. For example, teachers emphasized the need for multidisciplinary approaches and early identification of talent, while coaches underlined the importance of psychological readiness and collaboration with schools and families.

Discussion: These statements not only provide structured reference points for talent identification but also highlight actionable needs across educational and sport systems. As such, they represent a solid foundation for developing standard operating procedures in talent recognition and dual career support.

Introduction

Reconciling high-level sporting activity with education is one of the main problems of the student-athlete who often risks abandoning one of the two activities or not practicing them successfully (13). The Erasmus + project Cloud Based Education for Creative Sports Talent1 (TALENT) supports dual careers and prevents sports and school dropouts by working on the development of the system for young talents (Figures 1, 2). The partner composition is diverse and thus covers all necessary areas of the TALENT project activities, outputs and results. The consortium consists of seven partner institutions: Higher Education Institutions (University of Palermo and University of Nis); Research center (Center for Social Innovation); Education institution Centar izvrsnosti Splitsko-dalmatinske županije (CI SDZ), and NGOs Kentro Mermnas Oikogeneias Kai Paidiou (KMOP) and Sarajevo Meeting of Culture (SMOC) as well as The European Athlete as Student (EAS) network established with main aim to to support European athletes in combining high performance sport and education. Project aim is to promote equal education, preventing exclusion, supporting Dual Careers, creating new pattern of behavior for the benefit of young talented children's and preparation for Long Life learning and professional sport from childhood. TALENT Project focuses on standards for recognition and awareness increase about sporting talent and the spread of the dual-career concept from the first grades of school talented sport youths from 12 to 16.

Figure 1
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Figure 1. Official logo of the TALENT project.

Figure 2
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Figure 2. The Erasmus+ logo.

To achieve proficiency and to perform at the highest level, talented sports or performing arts youth need to engage in a minimum of 10 years, or 10,000 h of deliberate practice in their chosen field, which requires an early childhood skill development through specific and demanding quality training (46). In the developmental years, talented youth encounter several challenges in accommodating concurrent and reciprocal interaction between the demands of school and training commitments (i.e., dual career) (7, 8). Even though children hold the burden of developing their talent, several stakeholders have been identified as supportive entourage at the meso (e.g., parents, peers, teachers/employers, coaches, sport managers), the macro (e.g., sport clubs/federations, educational institutions, and labour market), and the policy (e.g., national and European governing bodies) levels of dual career paths (813).

Despite not a single person, institution, or specific context have the main responsibility to help youth improving their personal resources, parents, coaches, and teachers have been recognized a crucial supportive role in enhancing the talented youth's motivation by providing role-models, encouragement, financial support, and logistics (14). However, teachers, coaches, and parents need to be aware and ready to cooperate for fine-tuning their support in relation to the different challenges of dual career paths (15, 16). In fact, it is important to understand specific talent development trajectories. Therefore, to ensure a dual career success the various interested groups involved with nurturing youth need to establish a solid alliance in relation to the specific dimension of talents. The aim of this study was to address the existing gap in dual career research by developing and validating a set of context-sensitive standards and guidelines for talent identification among student-athletes, with the broader objective of strengthening early recognition practices and systemic support across educational and sporting domains.

Materials and methods

During the first project work phase (WP2) the standards for talent recognition were identified and validated. To ensure diverse perspectives, separate focus groups were held with teachers and coaches during the initial phase of standard development for talent identification, and subsequently, a workshop was organized with dual career experts for the validation of the aforementioned standards. The thematic areas explored during the sessions included participants' professional backgrounds and experiences, current practices and strategies for talent identification in youth sports, and the criteria they consider relevant when assessing children's potential. Further topics addressed included the availability and perceived usefulness of existing guidelines or protocols, the role of collaboration between professionals, the involvement of families in the identification process, and the challenges faced in supporting talented children. Finally, participants were invited to provide suggestions for improving existing systems and to share additional insights based on their practical experience. This stage runs from December 2022 to October 2023, under the coordination of UNIPA, NIS University, KMOP AND EAS standards for talent recognition were identified and validated. Initially, 12 focus groups were conducted with 77 teachers and 73 coaches on creating talent identification standards; subsequently, workshops were held with dual career experts to validate these standards. In each country, the teachers and coaches participated in the focus group using their native language and the final results were translated into English.

A final list of 41 shared statements was identified: 20 statements related to teachers and 21 statements related to coaches on talent identification. This list of statements could help coaches or teachers identify talent. The study was conducted in accordance with the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki for the involvement of people in research and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the University of Nis (04-215/2).

Focus groups

Participants

Each partner, except 1 (EAS2), conducted two focus groups: one with at least 12 sports coaches and one with at least 12 teachers. To be recruited, the coaches had to have a background of at least 5 years of field activity. We have tried to recruit a fair number of team and individual sports coaches. As regards teachers, to be recruited, they also had to have at least 5 years of school activity at different levels of education. One hundred fifty (150) participants contributed their valuable insights and experiences, with 77 teachers/educators and 73 coaches. The findings from the focus group discussions in Greece, Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Croatia collectively shed light on the complex landscape of identifying and supporting talented student-athletes. While each country provided unique insights based on its specific context, certain common themes and needs emerged across these diverse settings.

Procedures

The focus group interview consisted of 8 open-ended stimulus questions. Questions for the focus group with teachers are shown in Table 1. Questions for the focus group with coaches are shown in Table 2. The duration of the focus groups was 60 min. The focus group was conducted in a comfortable room in a convenient location, responsive to the needs of the participants. Participants were seated in a circle with some participants connected remotely as agreed at the TPM in Palermo by all partners. Before proceeding, all participants signed an attendance and consent form. All participants were notified that the meetings were being recorded. Each focus group was led by a moderator and an assistant moderator. The moderator promoted the discussion and debate, and the assistant took notes. All partner countries used the same questionnaire model for each target group (coaches and teachers) in order to have a common basis for the analysis of the results. Once the focus groups were carried out, a report was created for each partner summarizing the results collected from the focus groups. By collecting this data, it was possible to comprehensively understand the results of the focus groups and use them to identify standards for gifted children.

Table 1
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Table 1. Questions for teachers.

Table 2
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Table 2. Questions for coaches.

Workshop

To further emphasize these statements’ significance and reach a consensus on their relevance, importance, and necessity, a pivotal workshop was convened in Gaeta (Latina) on 3 and 4 October 2023, by the project partner European Athlete Student (EAS). The EAS Conference represents the annual meeting point for international experts to discuss and share policies and initiatives to support the compatibility of sports and academic/work careers (e.g., dual career) of the sportspersons, including lectures, workshops, and round tables on relevant aspects of dual career.

Participants

A group of 25 people (academics, members of International Sports Organizations, members of the Paralympic Committee, and members of the EAS) international experts on the topic of dual careers participated in this workshop.

Procedures

The workshop was held on 3 October 2023 from 17:00 to 18:00. The workshop was introduced by two contributions framing the talent project and the pathway developed within WP2. This introductory phase was followed by the questioning of the experts. Through the Mentimeter software and the sharing of two QR codes with the audience, the experts had the opportunity to evaluate, according to the RELEVANCE criterion, each statement produced. First, the statements taken from the focus groups conducted with the teachers were evaluated, and then the statements taken from the focus groups conducted with the coaches.

Before going on to present the results of the workshop, we would like to briefly illustrate the process that led to the formulation of the statements to be submitted to the experts for validation. The partners discussed the statements through a shared excel file in which each partner produced its own statements concerning the results of the national focus groups developed.

They then followed the standards developed by each partner.

The statements above were synthesized and analyzed. The criteria followed in constructing the summary statements were recurring statements between the partners, complementary aspects on talent identification, summary, affirmative form.

A final list of 41 agreed statements were identified: 20 statements related to teachers and 21 statements related to coaches on talent identification. Analysis of the results led to a reorganization of the standards in order of relevance. No standard was excluded as no statement was deemed “not relevant”.

Results

Focus group with coaches

The focus groups in Greece, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, and Bosnia and Herzegovina provided valuable insights into the challenges and strategies for identifying and nurturing talented children in sports. Common themes emerged, underscoring the importance of a holistic approach to talent development. Across these countries, coaches faced challenges related to the lack of formal guidelines and protocols for talent identification, parental expectations, and coordination with the school system. They recognised the significance of character traits, early exposure to sports, and psychological readiness in identifying talent. Coaches also emphasised the need for better infrastructure, cooperation among sports clubs, and multi-stakeholder collaboration involving parents, schools, and sporting organisations. To improve the talent identification process and support talented children effectively, coaches called for standardised parameters and standards, dual career options, and measures to ensure the long-term development of young athletes. While each country had unique experiences and challenges, the collective insights highlighted the importance of addressing these issues to create an environment where young athletes can thrive and fulfil their potential in sports and education.

Each partner developed standards, in the form of statements, summarising the content of the focus groups conducted. An overview of the results country by country is shown in Table 3.

Table 3
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Table 3. Standards developed by each partner.

Common findings include the urgent need for teacher training and the call for better school-sport collaboration. These recurring themes reinforce the need for systemic interventions and serve as reference points for policy implementation.

Focus group with teachers

Across Greece, Italy, Serbia, Cyprus, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the focus group discussions underscored common challenges and unique aspects of identifying and nurturing talented children within their respective education systems. Common challenges included the lack of a structured system for talent recognition, financial constraints, the role of technology in distracting students from physical activities, and the need for improved communication between schools, parents, and sports clubs. Educators in these countries emphasised the importance of early identification of talent and the need for multidisciplinary approaches to support talented children in their dual careers. While each country had its unique context and practices, some shared recommendations emerged. These included advocating for professionalization in coaching, creating opportunities for extracurricular activities, involving parents constructively, and developing systematic approaches to talent identification and development. In conclusion, fostering the development of talented children in sports and other domains requires concerted efforts across the education system, sports organisations, parents, and the wider community. Implementing structured systems for talent recognition and support, along with improving communication and collaboration among stakeholders, are essential steps toward nurturing these young talents' potential and helping them succeed in their chosen fields. The full results are reported in the Table 3.

Common themes

• Communication and Cooperation: In all countries, there was a consensus on the necessity of improved communication and cooperation between educational institutions, sports clubs, coaches, and parents to provide holistic support for talented student-athletes.

• Structural Challenges: Participants highlighted challenges related to infrastructure, financing, and resources in both sports clubs and educational institutions. Addressing these structural deficiencies was considered crucial.

• Parental Involvement: The role of parents in the talent development process was acknowledged as crucial but also challenging. Striking a balance between parental support and undue pressure on children was emphasised.

• Standardisation and Training: The need for standardised methods and training programs to streamline talent identification and support processes was a recurring theme.

• The statements above were synthesized and analyzed. The criteria followed in constructing the summary statements were:

• recurring statements between partners,

• complementary aspects on talent identification,

• summary,

• affirmative form.

Workshop

Unified statements are according to the explicit criteria and ordered according to the highest score obtained in relation to the “RELEVANCE” criteria and are reported in the Table 4.

Table 4
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Table 4. Unified statements achieved in terms of percentage.

Discussion

Standards for the recognition of students’ talent emerged from the course developed. Among other things, the discussion with experts also brought out standards that are more relevant than others. A limitation of the investigation carried out might be that the results arrived at would differ depending on the point of view with which one looks at the issue. This means that probably if the standards had been analysed by the coaches or teachers, different conclusions would have been reached. However, the involvement of the experts, academics and scholars on dual careers could represent a desire to look at the issue through the eyes of those who are super partes in order to give relevance to the person experiencing the dual career condition.

From the results of the focus groups (Table 3) and the standards generated (Table 4) it is possible to see some divergence or agreement between the different groups involved in the production of the document. Indeed, these results underscore the importance of recognizing the multifaceted nature of talent identification and development.

The cross-national results, particularly the high relevance scores attributed to statements such as “Creating opportunities to identify talent” (teachers, 7%) and “Coaches” experience is crucial' (coaches, 8%), highlight key priorities for real-world application. These findings provide not only conceptual insights but also practical guidelines that institutions can adapt to enhance dual-career support for young athletes.

Bridging the gap between sports clubs and educational institutions, establishing formal guidelines, fostering cooperation, and providing adequate resources are key steps toward effectively meeting the specific needs of talented children, ensuring their holistic development, and nurturing their academic and athletic potential. The gap between sports clubs and educational institutions was frequently mentioned, with participants from both groups citing communication breakdowns and lack of cooperation These gaps often result in fragmented support systems for talented children and contribute to early dropout risks (17, 18).

The insights gained from these diverse perspectives offer valuable input for future research and policy formulation in the field of talent identification and support.

An additional point worth considering is the potential dynamic nature of standards for recognizing talent, which may evolve over time and differ significantly across cultural and institutional contexts. While the study highlights the value of expert perspectives in defining these standards, it also implicitly underscores the need for inclusive and continuous dialogue involving all relevant stakeholders — including students themselves, families, coaches, and educators. This broader involvement could enrich the framework by incorporating practical insights from those directly engaged in the day-to-day realities of dual careers (13).

Moreover, the tension between objective criteria and the subjective nature of talent identification raises an important methodological challenge. Standardization, while beneficial for comparability and policy alignment, must be balanced with the flexibility to adapt to individual pathways and the diverse trajectories that talented students may follow. In this sense, the dual career model should be seen not only as a structured support system but also as a living ecosystem that needs to be responsive to personal growth, emotional well-being, and long-term aspirations beyond sport or academia alone.

Therefore, the current findings should be seen as a foundation rather than a conclusive endpoint. They serve as a springboard for further interdisciplinary research and dialogue.

Conclusion

Talent identification plays a key role in sports and school dropout prevention measures. Therefore, validation of these standards provides an opportunity to work in accordance with the SOP (standard operating procedures) methodology, i.e., to think in terms of clear and unambiguous models and information about the meaning of “talent”. Although the concept of “talent” is inherently complex and sometimes ambiguous, the inclusion of concrete examples, such as students showing rapid acquisition of sport-specific skills or consistent demonstration of psychological traits like perseverance, leadership, and adaptability, helps to clarify its meaning.

The project's main takeaway is the urgent need for structured, collaborative, and context-sensitive approaches that address both the sporting and educational needs of student-athletes grounded in the voices of coaches, teachers, and experts across Europe.

The need to create standards for the recognition of talented children on the one hand, it might be limiting to discuss in terms of standards if one assumes the complexity of the issue, the contexts and the person as such (15, 19, 20). However, it turned out to be a necessity to proceed according to the SOP (standard operating procedures) methodology, i.e., to think in terms of clear and unambiguous models and information. Although the phenomenon is hardly verifiable and there is a certain degree of uncertainty, through reasoning mediated by the SOP methodology, secondary bias is excluded. Thus, having concluded that there is no consensus on what is to be understood by the term “talent”, a shared methodology could significantly contribute to the study of, on and for talent (2123).

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the University of Nis. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Author contributions

DV: Writing – original draft. AB: Data curation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. MA: Writing – original draft. LC: Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing. MD: Writing – review & editing. EK: Writing – review & editing. GA: Writing – review & editing. OT: Writing – review & editing. TG: Writing – review & editing. IZ: Writing – review & editing. DČ: Writing – review & editing. DM: Writing – review & editing. SK: Writing – review & editing. DV-H: Writing – review & editing. ZM: Writing – review & editing. NSto: Writing – review & editing. NSta: Writing – review & editing. AK: Methodology, Project administration, Writing – review & editing.

Funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This research project has received funding from the European Union with the Erasmus+ Sport programme under Grant Agreement No. 46819 (Project TALENT – “Cloud-based education for creative sport talents”).

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the partners of the Talent consortium, who with diligence and self-sacrifice went out of their way to conduct the research and study process. This work is the result of the joint effort of all partners. In addition, we would like to thank all the sports coaches and teachers who were involved and who contributed their experiences, viewpoints, needs and issues.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Generative AI statement

The author(s) declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Footnotes

1. ^Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

2. ^The EAS Network is committed to optimising training conditions for athletes/students, but also to securing their future by making education or vocational training possible, so that they have a secure platform from which to start again once their sports career is over. EAS's reach is Europe-wide and has no specific country of reference this is why EAS did not conduct FGs.

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Keywords: dual career, talent, coaches, teachers, standards

Citation: Vicari DSS, Bianco A, Albanese M, Capranica L, Doupona M, Koutavelis E, Alexandrou G, Tsivitanidou O, Gutović T, Zelić I, Čular D, Mujkic D, Kovač S, Vranesic- Hadzimehmedovic D, Milanović Z, Stojiljković N, Stanković N and Kezić A (2025) The talent project and the validation of standards for the identification of student-athlete talent. Front. Sports Act. Living 7:1580625. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1580625

Received: 20 February 2025; Accepted: 21 April 2025;
Published: 12 May 2025.

Edited by:

Michael Romann, Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen, Switzerland

Reviewed by:

Corrado Lupo, University of Turin, Italy
Dilson Borges Ribeiro Junior, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil

Copyright: © 2025 Vicari, Bianco, Albanese, Capranica, Doupona, Koutavelis, Alexandrou, Tsivitanidou, Gutović, Zelić, Čular, Mujkic, Kovač, Vranesic- Hadzimehmedovic, Milanović, Stojiljković, Stanković and Kezić. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Antonino Bianco, YW50b25pbm8uYmlhbmNvQHVuaXBhLml0

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.