Scholarships for Olympians launch MOU between World Olympians Association and World Academy of Sport

World Olympians Association (WOA) has today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the World Academy of Sport (WAoS) to provide Olympians with greater opportunities to learn new skills that can help them improve their lives and the communities around them.

The MOU will enable WOA, an IOC recognised organisation that supports Olympians worldwide, and WAoS, a leader in developing specialist education programmes in the sports industry, to deliver innovative opportunities. A key objective of the new alliance will be to create employment prospects for Olympians.

The partnership will provide immediate opportunities for Olympians with two fully-funded scholarships available to participate in the September 2020 intake of WAoS and University of London’s recently launched Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in International Sports Management. Additionally, there will be one hundred and fifty 50% scholarships available to Olympians for the January 2021 intake. The online course can be completed over a period of up to five years, recognising that Olympians require varying levels of learning at different stages in their careers as many have limited time available.

Included within the MOU, WOA and WAoS have committed to:

Train and certify selected Olympians to become Athlete Friendly Education Centre (AFEC) Assessors. WAoS will contract the selected Assessors to assess potential AFEC schools.

Provide a range of subsidised scholarship opportunities for Olympians to attend or take part in WAoS or WAoS partner programmes, an example of which is the Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in International Sports Management from the University of London.

Study the feasibility of setting up speaking opportunities for Olympians to be run by WAoS.

Work together on other appropriate initiatives such as Olympians’ health, business or job opportunities, or skills acquisition and look for opportunities to enhance each other’s work in their International Federation, National Olympic Committee, National Governing Body and governmental networks.

World Olympians Association President, Joël Bouzou OLY, said:

"World Olympians Association looks to form alliances with organisations around the world which provide opportunities for Olympians to improve their lives and the communities around them. Our new MOU with World Academy of Sport will enable Olympians to acquire new qualifications through applying their high-levels of transferrable skills and participate in WAoS’ leading education programmes.

"I encourage any Olympian who would like to be considered for the available scholarships to apply as this may be the first step towards an exciting new career. As our alliance develops we will work closely with WAoS to offer further exclusive opportunities for Olympians."

WAoS’ Managing Director, Chris Solly, said:

"We are delighted to have expanded our relationship with the World Olympians Association through an MOU and offer scholarships to Olympians in these challenging times who may be looking to enter the sports industry from a business perspective, or enhance their existing post-athlete careers.

"Through initiatives such as our scholarship programme with Olympians along with our global education partners, WAoS is helping the sports industry on the road to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis through our fully online education pathway. This provides opportunities from high school to postgraduate education, with some of the world’s leading global educational institutions as our partners."

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