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SEK Education Group – SEK International Schools and Camilo José Cela University- and the Higher Sports Council (CSD), within the framework of the Athlete Care Programme (PROAD), have signed a collaboration agreement with which they will promote the incorporation of high-level athletes into the educational system during their degree and at the end of it.
With this agreement, signed today at the CSD by the rector of Camilo José Cela University, Emilio Lora-Tamayo, and by the Secretary of State for Sport, José Manuel Franco, athletes who wish to study at Camilo José Cela University will be able to combine their sports training and academic activity through the SEK International Sports Academy. This program allows athletes to combine their academic commitments with training and competitions.
The objective of the CSD PROAD is to create a structure that supports High-Level Athletes (HLA) and High-Performance Athletes (HPA) from autonomous regions attached to the program so that they also have the facilities to reconcile both facets, sports and training.
Thanks to this agreement, interested athletes will be able to combine their sporting and academic activities through the SEK International Sports Academy and, among other benefits, will enjoy discounts enrolling in Higher Level Vocational Training Cycles, Degrees, Masters and UCJC Degrees offered by Camilo José Cela University (UCJC).
The CSD PROAD programme and SEK Education Group began their collaboration in 2016. Since then, over 50 athletes have studied or are studying at their educational centres and more than 170 actions have been carried out with this entity.
“Students who combine their sports preparation with their academic education make an extraordinary effort that must be recognised and supported from all areas. And, as an educational institution that has an innovative and unique programme in Spain in its high-performing schools, we are aware of this,” said Emilio Lora-Tamayo, rector of Camilo José Cela University.
Meanwhile, José Manuel Franco, president of the CSD, explained that with the signing of this agreement “we aim for athletes to attain new and higher goals through academic education, in my opinion, as or more valuable than sports training”.
“I am extremely grateful to SEK Education Group for signing this agreement, because it reinforces our PROAD programme and allows athletes to build their professional projects and have a solid plan for their transition to the world of work.”
The signing ceremony of the agreement was attended by José Javier Hombrados, former goalkeeper of the Spanish handball team and current director of Sports at SEK Education Group, and the goalkeeper of the Spanish football team for the blind, Pedro Gutiérrez León, student at Camilo José Cela University.
About SEK International Sports Academy
SEK International Sports Academy is the SEK Education Group scheme aimed at students who wish to combine their studies with high-level sports training and competition. The main objective of the initiative is to ensure the full all-round development both in sports and academically and personally, thanks to Individual High-Performance Sports Programmes.
Camilo José Cela University houses the UCJC Sports Club on its Villafranca Campus, a sports complex of over 40,000 m2 tailored to elite athletes for the practice of tennis, swimming, golf or horse riding. It also caters to winter sports at SEK Les Alpes.
In addition to continuing their studies as normal, students receive training in nutrition, mental training, coaching and specific physical preparation adapted to each sports discipline, in close collaboration with the schools of Health and Education at UCJC. Other subjects related to sports ethics and values are also taught –with the support of the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport–, and training is provided to students in the use of new technologies and technological development in sports, thanks to the agreement reached with the Global Sports Innovation Center.
UCJC Sports Club is also the headquarters of the High-Performance Swimming Centre and Tennis Competition Academy of Camilo José Cela University and SEK-El Castillo. It has hosted training for several tennis players and swimmers who have competed in the Olympic Games and in various European and world championships.
SEK Education Group, which has a historical link to sport and a firm commitment to its practice, was the first private educational institution in Spain to offer high-performance sports schools. As a result of this trajectory, which combines studies and sports, it received the National Sports Award twice, in 1988 and in 2010. In addition, it annually allocates over 2 million euros in scholarships to programs related to physical activity and sport.
