“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Have you ever wondered why great sports stories are so engaging? Like our lives, they are authentic and unpredictable. In this world of complexity, what can sport teach us?
Sport gives us the tools to face this complexity. Or at least, it inspires us to train to the best of our potential and to harness our curiosity to learn something new each day. I firmly believe that sports can be the way to develop new skills in young generations.
The sports world: where are we?
Prior to the pandemic, the global sports industry was valued at over $480 billion USD in 2018 and had been growing at an annual rate of 4.3% since 2014.
In the last three to four years, the market has been hit by significant changes deriving in part from digital disruption as well as the shift in fans’ behaviour and the growing competition in capturing their attention.
This has generated many challenges, in particular the need for a workforce with the new skills to manage the present and the future of sports.
In sports management, there is a skills gap that, before the pandemic, was filled by professionals coming from sectors outside the sports industry with those already in the industry showing little concern. But now the world has changed.
The pandemic has raised questions about the state of employment today. The issue of a deeper professionalisation in sports has come to the fore: the need to understand the context and how to seize the opportunity, rather than suffer the obvious threats.
The pandemic accelerated digitalisation across many industries, though its actual impact on the social and economic system is still unknown today. For many stakeholders, the effect will be disruptive: an innovative and collaborative approach will be the only way to save the entire system.
On the other hand, the latest news speaks of a recovery for the sport system with potentially more significant growth than in previous years.
The pandemic has shown how inherent sport is in human society and its development and sustainability.
Beniamino Savio
Education for the sports industry: clear needs and a vision
Given the lack of sports professionals and affordable quality teaching in sport, education needs to be transformed and digitalised: we have a responsibility to find the way to solve these unmet needs.
This quality education needs to be available to everyone and must guide young people towards real sport-related job opportunities, while supporting the professionalisation of the whole sector.
We need to start from the foundation of the system: young people and their education.
The core values and teachings of the world of sport make this particularly clear:
- Sports professionals require constant training,
- the desire to improve and enjoy themselves,
- understanding how to play as a team while striving to always be at the top of one’s game.
I like to imagine a world where the new generations have all the tools they need to build their own future: a world where they can choose the better path among many possibilities thanks to a support system that guides them and helps them find their direction.
A world where working also means living on one’s greatest passion.
Game-based learning to make the difference
The education sector is a symbol of democracy, development, and equality. Current innovation in the field will revolutionise this sector. For example, the game-based learning sector is growing and evolving rapidly, opening up a continuous flow of new business opportunities.
Game-based learning is defined as a method for the transfer of knowledge that uses “game play” with some form of competition (against oneself or others) and a reward/penalty system that essentially functions as an assessment method to quantify mastery.
All educational games are designed for behaviour modification (a synonym for learning), pedagogical intervention, and/or cognitive remediation, basically improving the way we think.
By rethinking how we train the sports professionals of tomorrow, we can make a difference in many young people’s futures as well as the future of society as a whole.
Why invest in education for the sport industry
A couple of years ago, I got in touch with an innovative Portuguese start-up and decided to begin my path in the world of education, investing money and a lot of time, in its ambitious project that embodies the intersection of three growing industries: sport, education, and gaming.
Play Your Future aims to reach two objectives: to offer young people in emerging countries – but not only – an accessible education and provide them with concrete job opportunities in sport.
Education is the basis for socio-economic development.
Ensuring inclusive and equitable access to education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all is the fourth United Nation’s sustainable development goal to contribute to poverty eradication.
Education level has a direct link with factors such as prosperity, health, satisfaction, and quality of life, with higher levels of education typically translating into better job opportunities.
In today’s technologically advanced world, new ways of delivering education are required.
I’m confident that the sports industry represents an arena full of possibilities for digital education:
- Digital spending in education and training is expected to grow to USD 404 billion by 2025.
- Online education is more accessible, scalable and flexible. It will increase the number of students just as low-cost airlines have increased the number of passengers (‘supply-side incentives’).
- The overall level of education in emerging countries remains below that in the OECD area. As a result, a large proportion of future students will come from developing countries.
- According to the World Economic Forum’s, 65% of children starting primary school today will do completely new jobs that don’t exist yet.
With the digital learning platform AKTO, Play Your Future provides quality content on the world of sport to all young sports enthusiasts looking for education and orientation.
The content is accessible through a game-based mechanism that eases the learning process, enhances user engagement, measures their competencies, and offers them concrete job opportunities.
I believe that education is one of the most critical challenges for a sustainable future of our planet. I also strongly believe in the values of sport and want to do my part.
By rethinking how we train the sports professionals of tomorrow, we can make a difference in many young people’s futures as well as the future of society as a whole.