Sports management

Sports managers perform tasks that include mediation and management. This group includes the occupations of directors of sports clubs and sports organizations with a small number of employees in the field of sports education, health, recreational, cultural and sports activities, and on their own behalf or on behalf of the owner, they plan, organize, manage and control the activity of the sports club or. organizations.

These jobs include:

• planning, organizing, managing and controlling business;
• assessment of income and expenditure;
• negotiations with suppliers, users and others;
• planning and control of the use of material and financial resources and staff work;
• managing daily affairs;
• owner reporting, if any;
• related businesses;
• planning, organizing, leading and controlling in the activities of sports, recreation and events;
• supervision of other workers

The most general generic competencies at the level of each cycle of education, which must be possessed by every graduated student, regardless of the study program or the institution where he completed his higher education, are defined as:

• Dublin descriptors (Dublin descriptors), which represent a set of criteria on the expected achievements and abilities of students to distinguish different cycles of education, which were proposed by the Joint Quality Initiative (JQI), and which are accepted as the basis of the description of each cycle of education on ministerial meeting in Bergen in May 2005.
• The general framework for qualifications in European higher education (Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education - EQF for HE), which was adopted at the ministerial meeting in Bergen in May 2005.

These competencies are categorized as instrumental, interpersonal and systemic:

• Instrumental competencies include:
  • Cognitive abilities, understanding and manipulation of ideas and thoughts.
  • Methodological abilities to communicate with the environment: organizing time and strategies for learning, making decisions or solving problems.
  • Technological abilities related to the use of technological means, computers and the application of information management skills.
  • Language skills such as written and oral communication or knowledge of foreign languages.
• Interpersonal competences: Individual abilities that include the ability to express one's feelings, social skills such as interpersonal skills, working in teams, or expressing social and ethical commitment. These competencies enable processes of social interaction and cooperation.
• System competencies are those skills and abilities that relate to the entire system. They represent a combination of understanding, sensibility and knowledge, with the help of which a person will be able to see the relationship between individual parts and how they make up the whole. These abilities include the ability to plan changes in order to improve existing systems and create new systems. Systemic competences require prior acquisition of instrumental and interpersonal competences

Qualifications representing the successful completion of the first cycle (180-240 ECTS points) are awarded to students who:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the field of study, which builds on their secondary education and is common at first cycle level, supported by appropriate learning resources at higher education level (university textbooks, information and communication technologies), which includes aspects of knowledge of advanced achievements in a given field of study;
• can apply detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the principles related to a given field of study/discipline in a way that shows a professional approach to work or profession, and possess competencies that are usually expressed by the ability to form and support opinions and positions with arguments and the ability to solve problems within the given field of study;
• have the ability to collect and interpret relevant data (within a given field of study) on the basis of which they make judgments that may also include reflections on relevant social scientific or ethical issues;
• they can apply the basic methods of acquiring knowledge and applied research in a given discipline, and are able to decide which approach to use to solve a given problem, and are aware of the extent to which the chosen approach is appropriate for solving such a problem;
• can present and convey information, ideas, problems and solutions to an audience that is specialized in a given field of study, but also to an audience that is not specialized, using the appropriate language (and where appropriate, one or more foreign languages) and using communication tools technology;
• have built learning skills necessary for further study, with a high degree of autonomy and academic skills and properties necessary for research work, understanding and evaluating new information, concepts and evidence from different sources;
• possess the foundation for future self-direction and lifelong learning;
• have acquired interpersonal and teamwork skills, suitable for employment and/or further study.

Realization of the functions they assume in sports and the social role played by modern sports, requires that managers in sports constantly improve their existing and acquire new specific expert abilities or. competencies. In the first place are conceptual logical thinking abilities that include the power of analysis and clarification of problems. These abilities gain importance with the growth of the manager's level in the hierarchy of management authority. In second place are interpersonal skills or the ability to direct interpersonal relationships, coordinate and harmonize the work of a group/team. Interpersonal skills are required at all levels of management, but their importance increases as you move towards the bottom of the authority pyramid. The third is technical capabilities related to the specific requirements of a specific organization. Their importance is greatest at lower levels of management.

All actions taken by the top management in order to take advantage of opportunities in a timely manner or eliminate dangers arising from the effect of external circumstances belong to the sphere of strategic management. Sports managers, as well as coaches who are a kind of operational managers, must develop all three groups of abilities during their studies, and be trained in the elements of strategic management.

Specific descriptors of sports management studies:

Graduated students of sports management will be trained for the following competencies and qualifications:

• Basics of management: Abilities in the field of business economics and macroeconomics with a special emphasis on sports from the point of view of the following phenomena: business of sports organizations, commercialization of sports in all areas, sports sponsorship, professionalization of sports, etc.
• Management (planning, organizing), project management in sports (leadership, management, consulting, control and development of projects);
• Basic qualifications in the field of sports marketing and sports law;
• Describing, analyzing and understanding (psychosocial) interpersonal relationships and phenomena in sports and the possibility of managing those relationships;
• Competences in the field of developing interpersonal relationships in different social environments;
• Competences in the field of ensuring and guiding the health and lifestyle of different target groups within prevention projects through sports
• Competencies of predicting the development of the lifestyle of sports audiences (under the influence of psychological, social, economic, environmental and cultural factors)
• Competences in organizational-psychological and sociological guidance in order to:
  • Development of teams in sports (both prestigious and recreational sports);
  • Competences in the field of organizational and theoretical sciences (development of personalities, teams and organizations);
  • Competencies of analysis and optimization of organizational and communication structures in sports organizations;
  • Competencies to clarify functions and behaviors in key areas of sport, from coaching systems to organizational systems
• Basic skills of applying biomechanical-anthropomotoric methods in sports practice;
• Basic skills of applying medical and training-scientific skills to sports practice;

Competences in economically based management of sports and recreational target groups and in different environments.

Sports (recreational and elite) and physical culture, as well as all social phenomena and relationships generated by sports, represent an essential part of a community's competitiveness, as well as its economic strength. The economy of sports and collateral activities related to sports is the economy of the tertiary sector and represents a significant social resource or. a significant element of the global and regional positioning of a social group. Since the most important resources in this activity are still human resources, that investment in the so-called "human capital" in the complex of physical culture has the greatest importance, i.e. the economic effects of these investments are significantly greater and longer-term than the effects of immediate material investments in this activity. Investment in "human capital" is mostly an investment in education and information.

The main reasons for establishing a study of this type are:

• Lack of investment in an educational complex of physical culture with a built-in development component, in order to follow global trends through sports education;
• Unsatisfied personnel needs in the field of physical culture, sports and activities related to sports;
• The institutional deficiency of the nomenclature of occupations and the established school system in sports, especially for the occupations of sports manager and sports coach;

Because of this, a whole series of professions in sports remained neglected and underdeveloped, and a whole series of top athletes, after completing their sports and competitive careers, could not properly put their abilities and experience into the function of sports, because they lack formal education that is not based only on personal experience.

• The need for sports and collateral activities related to sports (recreation, tourism, wellness, etc.) are based on high professionalism, in contrast to the enthusiasm and volunteer principles on which they are based locally, which implies a different attitude towards education in sports and the nomenclature of occupations in sports.
• Sports science has been neglected as a systematized scientific work, condensed experience and a value system that should ensure the real social valorization of sport and its further development.
• Marginalizing the application of the results of basic sciences to sports (such as medical sciences, psychology, sociology, pedagogy, economics, management, informatics, etc.) and the development of sports sciences as primarily interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary sciences, such as: phenomenology and sociology of sports, law and ethics in sports, social history of physical activities and sports, sports informatics and statistics, functional anatomy, physiology of sports activities, biomechanics, atropomotorics, economics of sports organizations, sports marketing, psychology of sports, pedagogy of sports, didactics of sports training, financial, strategic and conflict management in sports and management of sports events and sports facilities, sports marketing, etc.
• Spontaneous development of key scientific disciplines in sports science: sports strategy and tactics, game theory, training science, sports didactics and methodology, competition theory and practice, etc.
• Certain types of sports such as health sports, recreational and entertainment sports, sports for target groups (children, the elderly, disabled people, etc.), occupational therapy sports, wellness, sports tourism, adrenaline or. extreme sports and other forms of mass exercise are not systematically organized and studied;
• The discrepancy between the high talent of potential athletes and the low level of expertise of coaches and other sports workers, which can be overcome by systematic higher education and lifelong education of sports workers;
• The demands of high-tech top sports cannot be met by the general knowledge of sports coaches and managers based on work experience, but by the application of sports science in the education and lifelong education of coaches and sports workers.
• Positive experiences in the application of innovative teaching programs of sports sciences in developed countries;
• The need for the field of sports sciences and accompanying scientific disciplines that provide a holistic approach to the function of physical culture, sports, sports recreation and health, to be studied in an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary manner;

Graduated students of "Management in Sport" also possess primary sports skills, since during their studies they must complete two mandatory sports modules (in the 5th and 6th semesters) in which they choose two sports branches or at least four sports within which they master basic and advanced techniques, tactics , physical preparation and training of the given sports (branches), and must achieve the prescribed results for a passing grade.

In addition to these specific sports competencies in the domain of skills, students of "Management in Sport" also possess skills and competencies related to management, economics, organization, public relations, human resource management, etc., essential for their primary profession.

Managers in sports occupy the following functions, ie. perform the following tasks: president and member of the Board of Directors, club director, manager of various sectors of the sports organization (including finance), head coach, director, organizer and mediator of sports competitions and sports events, etc. Sports managers should also manage sports facilities, and organizations and facilities in sports-collateral activities and activities from the wider field of physical culture (recreation, wellness, etc.).

Sports management studies are intended for management and organizational functions in sports organizations such as: management and leadership functions, support for professional processes, coaching, administration, planning and concept development:

• Functions and positions in sports organizations in national and international frameworks (associations, commercial sports-recreational and health organizations, tourist organizations);
• Analysis and optimization of organizational and communication structures in sports organizations;
• Functions in the areas of:
• Health and wellness: management and control
• Sport and economy: work in the sports equipment industry, sport in companies, sport in free time, health sport;
• Sport and politics: cooperation in the development of sports and their national and international organizations
• Sports tourism: planning, organizing, clubs, hotels, etc.
• Leisure sports (recreation): planning, organizing, animation, etc.
• Training processes: planning, organizing, development, etc.
• Support/logistics of athletes and teams. Training teams in sports systems.

Within the studies, the foundations for lifelong professional mobility and permanent professional development were created.