Athletes and competitors

Reconciling high-level sport and business school

Excelia Business School welcomes athletes and competitors from a wide range of disciplines, whether they come from a sport-study programme or are discovering university club life, and organises their schooling around their training and competition calendar. Club, training centre or French national team: the school builds with you a pathway that takes account of your constraints rather than asking you to give them up.

The dual project refers to this simultaneous pursuit of a management course and a demanding sporting practice, in which internships, examinations and competition trips never stop at the same time. Excelia Business School treats it as a recognised commitment, on the same footing as involvement in a student society, rather than as a constraint to be managed on an ad hoc basis, a recognition that opens access to our other student engagement schemes.

Schooling adjustments, scheme by scheme

Three schemes structure the support given to athletes and competitors at Excelia Business School: distance learning classes that allow an adjusted timetable, up to 100% of the course depending on need; individual weekly follow-up with lecturers; and a programme adjustment, built together with each student.

Following classes remotely makes it possible to train or go to competitions without missing lessons, while the weekly meeting with the teaching team keeps the link alive and allows you to go over the key points before gaps can build up. The programme itself is then adjusted, on a case-by-case basis, whether for the Bachelor in Business or for our Master of Science (MSc) programmes. These adjustments aim for the same academic goals as for other students, not for them to be postponed: they support the dual project, they do not put it on hold.

Léa Pintat, a Bachelor in Business student and accomplished horse rider, sums up what this changes on a daily basis: "What I particularly appreciate is the school's understanding of my sporting commitments. They set up adjusted timetables and helped me justify my absences for competitions. This allowed me to focus fully on my studies while pursuing my sporting goals." Morgane Lereverend, a student on the MSc International Event Marketing and Management programme, says something similar: "Thanks to Excelia's flexibility, I was able to adjust my timetable around my competitions and travel, which allowed me to pursue my sporting dream while staying focused on my studies."

If the competition calendar and the programme are out of the ordinary, for you or for your child, you can contact your student engagement coordinator, Virginie Amiot, directly at [email protected].

Partner clubs and training centres

Excelia Business School works with sports clubs and training centres, which allows students to carry out their dual project within a supervised framework. Many of these organisations are based in La Rochelle, Tours or Orléans, close to our campuses.

• Basketball: Stade Rochelais Basket
• Boxing: Samurai Boxing Camp, Boxing Club Nieulais
• Football: Tours Football Club, ESO Football Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon
• Weightlifting: Union sportive de Tours d'haltérophilie
• Handball: Chambray Touraine Handball, Saran Loiret Handball
• Artistic swimming: CSG Natation artistique
• Skating: Skating Club La Roche-Posay
• Rugby: Stade Rochelais, Niort Rugby Club, Rugby Club d'Orléans
• Twirling: Twirling « L'Étoile d'or » Les Herbiers
• Squash: Pôle France and Pôle Espoir Aix-en-Provence, Squash Club La Rochelle
• Sailing: Pôle France Voile La Rochelle
• Horse riding: Écuries des Noues, Écuries du Cercle d'Or

This list is not exhaustive: if your discipline is not featured, we will still look at your situation on a case-by-case basis.

These partnerships bring three concrete benefits:

• a recognised dual academic and sporting project
• personalised follow-up combined with an adjusted timetable
• a professional network useful for life after a sporting career