The final session of advanced Sports Management course organised by the National Olympic Committee of Lithuania (LNOC) took place last Friday in Vilnius. During six sessions of the training course, two dozen experienced administrators from sports organisations were learning about strategic planning, team dynamics and communication

All participants were presented with certificates of completion at the LNOC headquarters and each of them expressed their satisfaction with the experience gained. During the project, they were divided into teams and had to complete a number of tasks before parting. During the presentation of the results, the participants radiated great energy and emphasised the benefits of teamwork and of new contacts.

“We really wanted people from different sports organisations, sports federations, private and municipal sports clubs and municipal sports departments to talk to each other, to realise that they all share the same problems and could look for solutions together. During the four-month training, we touched upon ten different topics in sports management and tried to improve personal competences of the participants, which they will be able to apply in their work,” said Agnė Vanagienė, Deputy Director of the LNOC Olympic Sport.

A. Vanagienė (V. Dranginio nuotr.).

According to the organiser of the training, this year’s training focused on social media marketing and communication.

“Social networks and other communication tools are very important at this time, especially when developing your organisation’s brand,” Ms Vanagienė said.

Each year, 20 people are selected for this project, while the number of applications is much higher. For this reason, we will continue organising this training in the future.

“We have indeed received a lot of information during the training that we will be able to apply in our own activities. There were extensive discussions about communication and attracting sponsors; we also looked into possible strategies of promoting our activities,” said Aušrinė Bučinskytė, a representative of the Lithuanian Paralympic Committee.

The sports administration training is characterised by the fact that the theoretical material is accompanied by practical sessions.

“What I liked most was the activity on creating my own company. We could all dream of having our own big companies, for which we had to put together a strategy. It was very interesting because we come from different fields and every suggestion has to be taken into account,” said Ms Bučinskytė.

It is noteworthy that a number of former and still active professional athletes who already perform other functions in their teams choose to attend this LNOC training. One of them is Robertas Vėževičius from Gargždai Banga football club.

“I had participated in the LNOC training for beginners and enjoyed it very much, so I wanted to continue this training cycle. Interesting trainers, many practical tasks, which are very engaging and supplement sometimes boresome theoretical material. I would definitely recommend this training. I am not yet sure what I will be doing in the future, I might have to play football for one more season, but in the future I intent to stay close to it, to engage in the invisible managerial activities, therefore I hope to apply the knowledge I have gained at this training,” said Mr Vėževičius.

R. Vėževičius (V. Dranginio nuotr.)

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Solidarity funds three sports administration training session a year: for managers, coaches and advanced specialists. The latter training is targeted at experienced, senior sports administrators. All this training is free of charge.

The LNOC has been organising advanced sports management training since 2018.