The idea to create an European Sport Education Information Platform was developed by the sport related Thematic Network Project AEHESIS (Aligning a European Higher Educational Structure In Sport Science) that was funded between 2003 and 2007 by the SOKRATES Programme of the European Commission and coordinated by the Institute of European Sport Development & Leisure Studies at the German Sport University Cologne on behalf of the European Network of Sport Science, Education & Employment - ENSSEE.

The Greek name of the Information Platform, Sophelia, was chosen in accordance with the existing European education programmes and originates from the two words Sophia (wisdom) and Ophelia (use) that already refer to the aim of the platform to bundle information about sport education in Europe and to distribute it properly to its stakeholders.