Combining school and sport is difficult for many aspiring elite athletes. In addition to dedication to their sport these talented athletes will have to meet the standards of the Dutch educational law, which includes attending school for 1040 hours per year. To help aspiring elite athletes achieve the highest possible level in both their sport and education Topsport Talent Schools (TTS) were founded in the Netherlands, similar to the development of Elite Schools of Sports (ESS) in other countries. TTS offer several facilities to talented athletes, including dispensation from courses, a flexible timetable, and guidance of a coordinator at school. Studies of ESS in Germany and Flanders showed that attending a TTS might slightly positively influence their sports achievements, but may lead to a lower educational degree (De Bosscher & de Croock, 2008; Emrich, Fröhlich, Klein & Pitsch, 2000). The purpose of the research is to analyze the influence of TTS on sport and school sport performance of aspiring elite athletes. A retrospective study was conducted amongst (former) athletes who were identified as `talents` during the years 2004-2008 by seven selected national sports federations. These talents were invited to participate in an on line questionnaire. Only those talents that had finished their secondary school were included in the analyses (N=242). 30 percent of this group had attended a TTS. Results indicated that athletes who have attended a TTS do not attain a significant higher sport performance level compared to those who attended a mainstream secondary school. Irrespective of the type of school attended, nearly half of the talent group had completely dropped out from high level competitive sports. A third of the talents was still active at a national level. Of those attending TTS, 24 percent participated at an international level, of whom nine percent at top level; of those attending mainstream schools these numbers were 23 and 13 percent respectively. Similar to the distribution within the total talent group, 32 percent of de medal winners on European Championships and World Championships attended a TTS. Talents who have attended TTS are significantly less likely to attain the highest level in secundary education in the Netherlands. Talents who attended TTS were however more satisfied about the support they received in balancing school and sport during adolescence.
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