Elite sport | UvA concludes new agreement on elite sport
The UvA wants to provide even better support to top athletes at universities in the coming years, particularly in the area of flexible education. Today, the UvA, together with other universities and colleges and the sports organisation NOC*NSF, is signing a new agreement.
The UvA, together with other universities, colleges and NOC*NSF, will continue to work together in the coming years to ensure that top athletes can combine their careers with their studies. This is stated in the updated Flexible Education and Top-Level Sport Action Plan (FLOT) 3.0, which was compiled by the UvA and forms the basis for the new Flexible Education and Top-Level Sport 2032 agreement. The parties signed the agreement in Dordrecht on Friday 28 November.
Flexible education
The main change is that agreements and objectives are now better defined and more firmly anchored in policy, both at educational institutions and sports associations. Adjustments have been made, particularly with regard to the goal of flexible education. For top athletes, this will mean that it should be easier to have specific requests granted, such as changing a working group, postponing the BSA, receiving financial support in the event of study delays or being given an extra opportunity to take an exam.
Little will change at the UvA, writes elite sports coordinator Marjan Kuiper, who is present at the signing on behalf of the UvA. “Ever since the elite sports scheme was introduced, we at the UvA have tried to grant reasonable requests for adjustments to education.” However, if a programme fails to deliver, the student has a better chance of success when submitting an objection.
74 elite athletes
There are currently 74 elite athletes studying at the UvA. The most common sports are hockey, rowing and football. The new action plan applies to the 50 athletes with NOC*NSF or KNVB status. The other elite athletes have UvA project status or are international students.
