The sports management professions that touch on digital technology should emerge stronger from the crisis.

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Coach, player agent, project manager in a federation, equipment supplier ... The list of possibilities is long when you want to get into sports management, and in times of pandemic questions are rife on the future of the sector.

"It is clear that in 2020 the exercise of our professions has differed from previous years", notes Christine Duchamp, national technical director at the French Ice Hockey Federation.

Data manager, data analysts, key positions

Yvan Le Mée, footballers' agent, gives an example: “To travel, it's hellish in terms of logistics.

"So, he reinvents his job with" a lot of Zoom conferences, phone calls and voice notes on WhatsApp, "he explains.

While it is still "too early to assess the impact of covid-19 on the sector in the long term", the time has come more than ever for "adaptability", adds Christine Duchamp.

In recent years, we have thus witnessed the "development of new tools at the service of management and we need people to manage them", remarks Eric Champ, former president of the Toulon rugby club.

All professionals agree that data management, that is to say the management and use of digital data, is on the rise.

“In ice hockey, we carry out a lot of analysis of data, statistics and images from automatic recordings,” says Christine Duchamp.

For Patricia Costantini, former national volleyball coach and co-founder of the Egal Sport collective, there is also a “need for supervisors” to support athletes of all levels.

She cites as an example the practice of parkour, "very popular with young people", that local communities seek to secure.

The fight against discrimination, a work in progress with opportunities

As for physical and mental trainers, they are still very popular and are even becoming "more and more hyperspecialized," says Christine Duchamp.

An observation shared by Yvan Le Mée because “in this period, athletes really need support on a physical, mental, but also nutritional level.

"Everything that surrounds high-level sport continues to function, at least from a distance", adds Patricia Costantini, before adding that "the values ​​of sport must be taught in order to be respected".

According to her, there is therefore a real need for trainers in the fight against discrimination.

The founder of Egal Sport also notices a "slow but notable evolution" in the place of women in sports management.

The former player now specialist in rugby, Eric Champ, is ultimately reassuring: “If the situation is difficult and the sector hit hard, we must keep hope because the opportunities are there.

"And major deadlines are coming, such as the" qualifying tournaments for the 2022 Winter Olympics ", recalls the former captain of the France ice hockey team.

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