Table 2. List of statements to guide the development and/or implementation of dual career (DC) academic support and services Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) for student-athletes (S-As).

Content Units	Statements	Philosophy	Examples
Student-athlete	DC eligibility for talented and elite athletes	S-As status for both elite athletes and athletes committed to organized sport within their respective sport federations and engaged in demanding training and competitions independently from the competition level	“The one who spends most of his time doing a sport whose goal is to reach the highest level”
			“It is not necessary to be selected by the national team to be eligible”
	Support from the athlete’s personal entourage (family, peers)	Relevant supportive roles of family (parents, siblings, couple) and friends	“I support myself in the people around me, but the most essential are my family and closest friends”
	Support from the athlete’s sport entourage (coach, manager, federation)	Relevant supportive roles of coaches, sports directive, institutions, partners	“Very important pillars and they are always there of course, my team, coach and players that in the end become a second family, I am nothing without the support from all of them, because they trust me and that gives more confidence in myself”
	Support athlete’s from the academic entourage (teacher, classmate, DC tutor)	Relevant supportive roles of teachers, classmate, DC tutor	"The support from the DC Tutor and teachers was awesome"
			“My university has been an important source of support”
			“My classmates help me a lot. When I can’t go to class, I get a lot of help.
	Professional expectations	S-As have high professional expectations for their sports career but they were aware that their competitive years would naturally come to an end and about the importance of higher education to improve their chances for future employment	"To have a training session and to be able to live from the sport"
			“I hope to finish my sport career and after to be able to dedicate myself to what I have studied”
Assistance/tutorship	Adaptable DC programmes (based on specific contexts)	Specific and flexible DC programmes, conceivably capable to anticipate the needs of S-As	“Be a little more flexible with the exam changes, that even if you arrive at the exam date, understand that you have been competing for the whole previous week outside of my country and that you have not had time to study. I think that is a reason enough to be able to modify the date of an exam.
			“Our competitions coincide with weekends, which is when people study and do their tasks”
	Integrated DC programmes (based on intra- and inter-departmental cooperation and professional services)	To overcome the existing fragmentation of DC support structures and to at least partially resolve the lack of dedicated DC programmes or services, intra- and inter-departmental cooperation was foreseen	“It is necessary to establish an athlete’s office at the university. From here we could facilitate the follow-up of the dual career by establishing more clear and detailed programs for the follow-up of the dual career. At present, not all departments and professors act in the same way”
	Proactive DC programmes (capable to act autonomously, even anticipating needs)	To train student service personnel with topics relevant for athletes	“There are teachers who are not related with sports and do not understand our situation"
			“I would like that the sport tutor or the athlete’s office teach professors and staff about the needs of S-As and how to help them”
	Psycho-social support	HEIs may provide services to enhance the student’s experience and to secure graduate employment (e.g., academic orientation, consultation, career and personal counselling, nutrition, medical, and psychological support)	“Diet is a difficult aspect in my case. I practice a weight-class sports but there are times when I can’t get the right amount of food because of class schedules. It would be good to have counselling at the university in order to achieve balance in my DC”
			“We need psychological support”
			“It could be good to receive a physiotherapy treatment”
	Tutorship/mentorship (Specific DC methodologies)	Establish an informal relationship with a tutor/professor, also taking advantage of social means of communication considering on-line reception and support, and e-learning services	"Send an email and they answer you instantly, it’s awesome"
			"Thanks to these tools, you do not feel like you are not attending at class"
Curricula requirements	Distance learning	S-As’ need for distance learning, especially when they face conflicting schedules due to sport commitments	“Training schedules sometimes complicate study schedules”
			“The trips and the trainings are the most difficult aspect to coordinate athlete career and studies”
	Individualized study plan	S-As’ need for flexible curricula and individualized study plans	“S-As may have an extra time to send their work during the competition season"
			“I have a number of advantages that facilitate many things: Changes in exam dates and non-compulsory attendance to theoretical classes, among others”
	Recognition of the sport career for academic credits (ECTS)	Recognition of their competences and qualifications acquired through non-formal and informal sports education as a part of or in addition to their formal education	“Sports should be popularised. The practice of sport has many benefits and the University does not give them the necessary promotion and they are not included in the educational programmes. They seem to be secondary”
			“It is necessary to view and recognize the sport career in academic life”
	Untraditional learning strategies (e.g., creating digital portfolios, using social networks)	Assessment and use in the assignment of non-traditional learning strategies (e.g., creating digital portfolios, using social networks)	“To ease the DC, the demands of the exams need to change. I believe that studying for the exam is not the best way to learn. Use of other tools such as portfolios or tasks may allow better learning”
Financial support	Scholarships	Need of scholarships especially if engaged in non-revenue sports	"I am a privileged person, and I do not want to waste the opportunity that has been given to me, and that many colleagues have not been able to enjoy"
	Remission of tuition fees	Need of remission of tuition fees especially if engaged in non-revenue sports	“The university would need to change to ease the DC, by giving scholarships to S-As, especially when the athlete does not have a salary”
	Salary	Provide them a position of financial security especially if engaged in non-revenue sports	“The most difficult aspect of my DC is financial issues. There are a lot of expenses from both the academic and sporting side, plus living away from home”
	Others (e.g., sponsors)	A demanding financial burden of DC was reported when HEIs do not provide subsidy actions to sustain enrolment and living costs of athletes, especially in absence of financial support from sport clubs or federations to cover the costs for equipment, training camp, and travel	“We have a lot of travel and living expenses that are often not covered by anyone”
			“I need economic support from the University because I don’t have it from the sport”
Logistics	Access to educational facilities (e.g. gymnasium, internet, e-mail services, e-libraries, labs, research centres)	University services should be located near from the sport centre and properly conditioned	“To move from the sports centre to the campus is the most difficult aspect to coordinate my DC. I need accessible structures closer”
			“The University facilities should be more accessible for athletes on wheelchairs”
	Accommodation facilities for S-As	Implementation of the transport system and living near from study and training centre	“The balance between my sporting life and my academic life is extremely difficult due to transport. It is something that needs to be improved”
	Economic investment for university facilities	Necessity of economic investments for university facilities as sport	“There is a lack of accessibility to some university structures”
			“Sports facilities should be available for S-As”
			“We need free access to sport facilities at the university”
	Sport facilities	Construction of sports facilities within the HEI	“I don’t have a gym in the campus, so I need to move out”
			“The university should have its own stadium”
Social support	Institutional DC committee	Institutional DC committees for the dialogue between DC actors (e.g., teachers and academic staff, coaches, parents, students) could be established	“The DC office should let the coach/team director communicate with the sport tutor”
	Local to international seminars, workshops, and meetings on up-to-date DC issues	Information on DC issues could be disseminated by means of seminars, workshops, and meetings	“The university should organize events about dual career”
	Peer to peer support	HEI services facilitating friendships with non-athlete classmates with, for example, peer-to-peer tutoring	“My student tutor and several athletes have a Whatsapp group, and we are friends”
	Publicity for S-As representing university	HEIs could publicize their team or individual sports accomplishments	“I would establish a hall of fame for S-As in each university”
			“I think we can have an acknowledgment on the university web page”
	Publicity on the S-As and their characteristics suitable for the labour market	S-As can be valuable resources for their HEIs in fund-raising activities, promotion of events, representing their university in public events, or connecting with trends of the labour markets to establish virtuous cooperation also with the private sector	“At my university the most famous S-As are used to promote the university’s advertising, especially in recruitment campaigns.”
	Seminars, workshops, meetings with parents and coaches	S-As can be role models providing inspiration and publicity for the actual and prospective student body, attracting larger pools of qualified student bodies	“Having S-As at your university is a win-win for both parties. There is no better publicity to raise funds for the university than having well-known athletes”
Policies	National DC policies	Need of clear DC policies at national level, which are needed to establish a coherent framework for the combination of sports and education	“I would like that services for dual career will have regulations”
			“Changes in legislation are necessary, including at the faculty and university level”
	Special access contingent (reserved for actual or ex high sport performance practitioners)	Observatories could start collecting information regarding the sport participation (e.g., type of sport, competitive level, sports commitment) of university students, which could allow large-scale monitoring	“It would be easier if there was someone, a support centre, whom to trust and ask for a help to solve a variety of organizational issues both in studies and sports”
			“There is a need for the S-As service to be centralised to allow for a proper follow-up of S-As”
	Sport observatory of the university (controlling and monitoring the application of the DC statute)	At individual HEI, academic monitoring could also encompass direct consultation of the S-As or their DC tutors with faculty members to confront perspectives on strengths and weaknesses	“All universities and departments should hold such discussions to find out what is not working in their dual degree programmes and to improve them”

DC: Dual career; HEI-s: Higher education institutions; S-As: Student-Athletes.