KEDGE Sport Community: A New Era of Support for Elite Student Athletes

Summary: This article explores the KEDGE Sport Community, KEDGE Business School’s dedicated initiative designed to support high-level student athletes. Learn how it promotes dual-career excellence through workshops, elite facilities, and role models, while aligning with global trends in student support.

Empowering Student Athletes with the KEDGE Sport Community

KEDGE Business School is reinforcing its mission to nurture academic and sports excellence by establishing the KEDGE Sport Community. Launched on the Bordeaux campus, this initiative provides an innovative support system for high-level student athletes who balance challenging academic paths with competitive sports careers.

Beyond offering flexible timetables, the Community fosters a collaborative space that caters to the specific needs of athletes striving to succeed in both assignments and arenas.

This unique focus on personalized and sustainable support contributes to equality in education and opportunity, a growing priority among leading global institutions.

A Diverse and Inclusive Athletic Network

The KEDGE Sport Community convenes 27 top-performing student athletes from a wide variety of disciplines, including athletics, surfing, judo, and motorsports.

This diverse representation highlights the school’s ambition to sustain a broad athletic talent pool within a shared ecosystem of understanding and support. Instead of simply accommodating students' schedules, KEDGE promotes meaningful peer connections, experiential exchanges, and real-world adaptation strategies to harmonize education and elite sports.

Initiatives like this mirror the commitment to customization we see in innovation-focused programs like Innovation and Project Management.

Workshops That Elevate Mindset and Skillset

A cornerstone of the KEDGE Sport Community is its series of practical and empowering workshops. These sessions focus on critical areas such as public speaking, professional social media presence, mental preparation, and other essential tools to ensure students thrive both in class and competition. These activities cater to the sharply dual-paced rhythm of a student athlete’s life, where a lapse in focus or preparation could affect academic success or athletic readiness.

This holistic model strongly aligns with modern educational priorities seen in areas like Human Resources Management, where personal development plays a central role.

Leading by Example: Axelle Berthoumieu’s Ambassadorial Role

Axelle Berthoumieu, an international French rugby player and KEDGE alumna, was chosen as the ambassador for the Sport Community’s first cohort. Having firsthand experience managing a dual career at high intensity, she emphasizes the vital importance of structured, empathetic support. Berthoumieu’s journey serves as a compelling beacon for today’s student athletes, underscoring the reality that academic and athletic excellence can go hand in hand with the right system in place.

This form of leadership closely mirrors the value-added mentorship models adopted in fields such as Leadership development.

A Vision from the Top: KEDGE’s Institutional Commitment

From an administrative standpoint, KEDGE’s CEO Alexandre de Navailles celebrated the presence of these exceptional student athletes as a strength not only for the individuals but for the entire school community. He emphasized that the dual engagement of these students enriches KEDGE itself and that the Sport Community serves as a tangible example of the school's proactive strategy to help students reach their academic and athletic goals without sacrifice.

This example of strong leadership sends a meaningful message to institutions worldwide, much like the values supported in discourses around AI innovation in education.

Advanced Sports Facilities That Support Every Student

KEDGE’s physical infrastructure aligns with this initiative in practice. Across its campuses, the business school boasts exceptional sports facilities including cardio and weight-training centers, multisport complexes, and wellness spaces for yoga and fitness classes. These spaces are accessible to both students and staff, ensuring that sport and well-being are central aspects of campus life—supporting overall performance mentally and physically.

The school’s offerings complement both high-performance training and wellness-driven activity, similar to programs in Wellness Management that aim to integrate productive living into educational and work environments.

KEDGE MSc in International Sport & Event Management

Additionally, KEDGE furthers its sports education ambitions with the acclaimed MSc in International Sport & Event Management. This specialized program integrates sport-specific legal frameworks, marketing, management strategies, and leadership development with a global perspective. Students also benefit from customized coaching and unparalleled networking opportunities with industry stakeholders, boosting their careers in the professional sports business sector.

This program’s alignment with career-readiness and experiential learning is also seen in top programs in Sports Management.

Global Trends Reinforce KEDGE’s Pioneering Blueprint

KEDGE’s model aligns effectively with international movements that champion support for dual-career students—those who aspire to champion both their intellectual and athletic capabilities.

Key emerging trends include multi-disciplinary support, integration of well-being into curriculum, and engagement through alumni role models. These best practices reflect a profound understanding of how success across fields is rarely linear—it needs collaboration, infrastructure, and encouragement.

As KEDGE continues to innovate, its Sport Community becomes a meaningful case of how institutions can transform career challenges into unmatched opportunities—mirroring the shifts we’re seeing across top schools globally, like the expansion of global educational hubs.