As part of the CEU Athlete Support Programme of the three CEU Universities, designed to successfully balance sports and academic careers, allowing them to enter the job market once their sports career has concluded, the event ‘Sports, Excellence and Talent’ took place, which brought together sports personalities and a number of students at the Madrid Talent headquarters of the Madrid City Council.

Dedicated to sport and academic excellence, as well as to the values linked to sport that are part of CEU's DNA, such as effort, loyalty and teamwork, this programme is a commitment by the CEU Universities that combines academic training and elite sport and aims to increase employment opportunities for these students.

During the inauguration of this meeting, which, for the first time, brought together top-level athletes from all CEU Universities, the rector of CEU USP, Rosa Visiedo, pointed to the positive reception of the CEU Athlete Support Programme whose academic offer has been increasing: "in addition to 150 undergraduate degrees, students can choose from more than 120 master's degrees and 7 doctoral programmes". She also stressed that educating at all levels involves caring, which is the goal of the programme, allowing students to develop both academically and in sport. Finally, she encouraged the students to continue to put their heart and soul into every competition and every exam "with passion and enthusiasm, two key elements required to thrive in any activity in life".

For his part, the Director General of Human Resources Planning of Madrid City Council and Director of Madrid Talent, Antonio Sánchez, made reference to the values public employment and talent share with education and sports. "In Madrid Talent we want to have the best professionals at the service of the city of Madrid in two ways: on the one hand, by attracting new professionals and, on the other, by taking care of the people who work for our citizens" and - he concluded - "the shared values between the university and public talent are a reality with which we work at the City Council".

Lastly, Carlos Vargas, coordinator of the Minor’s Program within the in the Athlete’s Care Program of the Higher Council for Sports, pointed out that "being a high-performance athlete is a plus when it comes to finding a job now that you can combine sport and studies, being able to compete at a high level without losing sight of your future career".

Awards ceremony

The best students from the three CEU Universities and the CEU Cardenal Spínola (Seville) have received the Academic and Sports Excellence Awards for the 2021-22 academic year. The winners were: Ignacio Rodríguez Mazón, part of Spain’s National Field Hockey Team, student at CEU San Pablo University in Madrid; Anna Gómez Igual, part of the Women's Basketball team at CEU Cardenal Herrera University in Valencia; Andrea de Sentmenat Rivero, winner of the European Universities Golf Championship, student at Abat Oliba CEU University in Barcelona and Ghizlane El Amrani Tchana, tennis player at CEU Cardenal Spínola in Seville.

Round table

In addition, a round table moderated by Luis Villarejo Alonso, Director of Sports at Agencia EFE, was organised with the participation of CEU Alumni, Mandy Goyos Ball, former player for Spain’s national golf team, highest performing Law student of her class, and Adolfo Juan Luna, Spanish universities golf champion, journalist and caddy for the LIV Golf tour, together with Alicia Martín, Managing Director of Sports of the Madrid City Council, and Patricia de la Orden, Deputy Director General for the transformation of management and inspection of Madrid’s City Council.

By way of introduction, Villarejo praised the discipline of elite athletes as a striking and valuable quality for companies and the Administration. For their part, the CEU alumni shared their professional and personal experiences and reflections they have had to face throughout their lives. Both Goyos and Ball emphasised the importance of having all aspects of their lives in place and all doors open for their professional future, as well as the great values that sport has to offer.

CEU Athlete Support Programme

The goal of this programme is for high-performance athletes to be able to combine sports and studies to facilitate a balance between both careers, a commitment by the CEU universities, in collaboration with the University Wellbeing Service (SOU), the Sports Service and the Higher Sports Council, which is attracting more and more attention, as shown by the increase in the number of students (at CEU USP alone, this number has risen from 25 to 45 this year, reaching a total of 100 students between the three universities and the centre in Seville).