Athletes do not move in a vacuum. For their personal, educational, professional and sporting development, appropriate framework conditions are essential. Ideally, the positive effects of these conditions extend far beyond their sporting careers.

The promotion of top-level sport in Germany is based on the primacy of independent athletes who can pursue their sporting careers under humane and doping-free conditions, without having to disregard post-sporting prospects to an inappropriate extent. In view of the increasing amount of training required in international top-level sport, the demands on an optimised model of the so-called dual career are constantly growing. The aim is to combine sporting requirements with the demands of school, study and work in the best possible way. The aim is to prevent premature dropout from the athletic career and to ensure a smooth transition from the athletic to the post-athletic career.

The athlete is always at the centre of these improvements. However, they also include the coaches and all supporting institutions and individuals. Questions of quality management in national sports associations, of support structures, of resource allocation and personnel development in competitive sports, and of the professionalisation of the support system document the complexity of a structural field of action. Scientific advice is therefore a necessary and effective instrument for the optimisation of this field of action.

This action area includes the following themes:

• Support structures and resource allocation in competitive sport
• Personnel development in competitive sport / Attractiveness / Enhancement
• Optimisation / professionalisation of the support system
• Dual career (follow-up and top-level training)
• Participation and co-determination of athletes and coaches
• Quality management in sports associations