The aim of the project is to incorporate the 6 priority courses in English into the sports management education of the three participating universities, using innovative e-learning techniques, which would provide students and teachers with important and useful knowledge in sports science education. As a result of the project, curricula are created that can be used immediately by the participating institutions and can be published as an optional lecture by enriching their education portfolio. The project is also the first step in a longer-term process in which the full programme of a complex 4-semester master's degree programme will be developed with additional curricula for sports manager education which is not the subject of current project. This will allow the Polish and Serbian partners involved in the project to accredit the programme as well as to upgrade the Hungarian partner's existing sports manager education in Hungarian and to launch the same education in English. This will enable the three partner institutions to play a decisive role in the field of sports manager education in the region and niche education can be launched especially in Serbia and Poland. It is also a long-term goal to develop double-degree educational programs among partner institutions whereby students in sports management education study lectures in different institutions during their educational period getting a diploma issued jointly by the partner institutions. The main task of the project is to establish a strategic partnership with the unity of three universities for the purpose of unified sports management education. In fact developing the curriculum for sports manager education, preparing e-learning materials (IO 1-6), educating teachers (IO 8) and creating an e-learning platform (IO 7) are priorities of the project. After creating the learning materials in text format, video and graphic demonstration materials will be created to expand the scope of use. The project's e-learning platform will not only include open access knowledge sharing among partner institutions and other institutions that may become involved, as well as flexible learning opportunities for students but will also prioritize learning opportunities for people with disabilities.
The objective of the project was to develop and attempt to implement 6 priority courses in English and in three national languages (Polish, Hungarian and Serbian) for sports management education at the three participating universities, using innovative e-learning techniques that would provide students and teachers with important and useful knowledge in sports education. The project is also the first stage of a long-term process that intents to develop a complete 4-semester second-level (Master's) degree programme in sports management education. Our project is a kind of introduction/beginning of this activity. It will allow the Polish and Serbian partners involved in the project to accredit the programme, as well as to update the existing sports manager education programme in Hungarian and launch the same programme in English. This will enable the three Partner institutions to play an important role in sports manager education. The gap in the education field can be filled especially in Serbia and Poland. The long-term objective of the project is also to develop educational programmes with an affiliated diploma from the three Partner universities.
The sports industry has undergone a complete transformation following the political and economic changes in the Central and Eastern Europe. The socialist model of sport management handled sports associations, clubs and sports organizations in a centrally controlled way. However, with the emergence of market economy at different levels of sports governance, a new approach is needed. There is a huge shortage of professionals in the sector who have an insight both into the specifics of sports activities and to the operating processes of business organizations and are able to integrate these two areas in their works. Sports management education as a relatively young field in sports science education in the CEE region. Although MSc education of sports managers has already begun in Hungary in the last decade, the same cannot be said for other countries in the region such as Poland and Serbia. This project fills this gap in the sports science education by providing curricula that include relevant theoretical and practical knowledge for future sports managers.