EDUCATIONAL COUNSELING IN THE DUAL CAREER OF ATHLETES-STUDENTS

The issue of combining the dual career of the student-athlete, and the inevitable and sometimes unpredictable phases of transition that the student-athlete faces, are among the key themes of current European policies. The objective of this study is to reflect, according to the outcomes of several international investigations, on the impact that counseling, intended as a tool to implement individual skills and competencies, can have on student- athletes’ guidance at school and at University. This study focuses on the advantages of helping student-athletes through the support of guidance experts and professional counselors. Moreover, it explores the advantages of applying a holistic paradigm centered on a psycho-pedagogical approach for enhancing life-skills and adaptation capability through sport skills in student-athletes. Actually, the application of this paradigm allows combining sport skills and life skills, by encouraging the studentsathletes to develop fully in their multiple dimensions, avoiding the risk of a unilateral development of identity.