SUMMARY
Currently, the crisis moment in the preparation of a sports reserve is the period of professional orientation, which coincides with the period of preparation for passing state examinations and the moment of the transition of the athlete from the group of sports improvement to the group of sports skills. All specified events, as a rule, fall on one interval of time - on the senior classes or the period of completion of training in general education and sports schools. At this time, many athletes who have not switched to the rank of professionals, but showing high enough sports results to be a worthy sports reserve for a long time and in the long term members of national teams are faced with a choice - to continue their sports career, but to delay the period of preparation for entering the higher educational establishment, or to start building a professional career, but to refuse the opportunity to continue sports activities. The program presented in this article allows athletes to make the most comfortable transition from a group of sports improvement to a group of sports skills, as well as to start building a professional career with admission to a higher educational establishment or educational organization of secondary professional education. The purpose of this study is to identify the most significant problems of the activities of talented athletes in the period of professional self-determination, as well as a description of the conditions that contribute to the success of athletes during the construction of a “double career” (educational and sports activities). The leading method of research of this topic is to analyze the activity of promising athletes. To solve the tasks it is planned to use the following scientific methods: theoretical analysis and synthesis of literature data; identification of existing concepts and approaches to solving the formulated problem; pedagogical observation; pedagogical experiment; sociological methods; methods of mathematical statistics. The article presents the results of a study of the problems arising from talented athletes in the course of professional self-determination related to the choice of continuing a sports career or enrolling in an educational institution. Materials can be applied to the development and implementation of an athlete support system that includes various components: medical and biological; social and pedagogical; informational.