The IOA acts as coordinator for the National Olympic Academies which are its branches, functioning as transmitters and amplifiers of the Academy's ideas by means of the National Programmes of Olympic Education. The Olympic Programmes must provide incentives for young people to study foreign languages and the cultural traditions of other nations, as well as provide information on environmental and peace issues, and on matters of the economy, health and education. The programmes must encourage the active involvement of young people in sporting activities and be useful to the educational systems of the various countries.

The IOA also assists NOCs in establishing National Olympic Academies, with the aim to inspire people and promote the Olympic Philosophy and Ideals. It provides guidelines for the promotion of the Olympic Programmes of the IOA taking into consideration the fact that educational systems differ among different countries and that the structure and operation of NOCs and NOAs reflect those differences.

National Olympic Academies should cooperate with various organisations in order to develop Olympic Education Programmes: with the IOA, National Federations, the Councils for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education, local authorities, Bid Committees for hosting the Olympic Games or with the Organising Committees if their country is to host the Olympic Games. The objective of the NOAs should be to approach Olympic Education from a practical rather than from a theoretical perspective. The programmes should be flexible enough to respond to the needs of the young, adaptable into both printed and electronic forms of speech and addressed to the whole society.

The first National Olympic Academy was founded in Spain, in 1968. Spain’s example was followed by other countries and in the ‘80s and ‘90s respectively, 43 and 60 National Olympic Academies were established all over the world. Today, there are 149 National Olympic Academies in the world. The IOA’s International Session for Directors of National Olympic Academies and Joint International Session for Directors of National Olympic Academies and Officials of National Olympic Committees provided the main impetus for the creation of National Olympic Academies. During these Sessions Olympic Academies are given the opportunity to exchange views and experiences on Olympic education issues, and cooperation between them and with the NOCs is encouraged. The role of the IOA’s President, Nikos Filaretos (1986-1992, 1997-2005) has been decisive in this process, as he had set as his primary objective the creation of National Olympic Academies in every country that has an Olympic Committee.

NOAs Relations

Alexandra Karaiskou
Tel: +302106878953
Fax: +302106878720
Email: a.karaiskou@ioa.org.gr