DECA Project

The Ministry of the Interior and of Sport Bremen has, in cooperation with the Health Center Harlekin, developed a strategy for athletic training, youth employment and mobility training in theory and practice. The goal is to have an educational partnership with sport clubs from five to six EU-member countries, in which highly talented basketball players, who have the prospect of becoming professionals, will stay in Bremen for three years. During this time, the athletes will be integrated into the German Premiere Basketball League, the ‘Bundesliga’, while at the same time, they are given a vocational education or training preferably in the field of health prevention.

The project addresses the European policy objectives for the dual career of athletes in several ways. It gives promising athletes prospects to pursue their athletic careers, while simultaneously providing them with an education and vocational training to prepare them for employment after their athletic careers. In addition, the project has the potential to alleviate unemployment of youths in Southern European countries by serving as a best practice example for youth mobility and life-long learning.