Athletic Talent Development

Posted: January 4th, 2023

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Athletic Talent Development

The achievement of exemplary performance in international sporting competitions, especially, the Olympics, has driven many governments across the world to develop sporting talent development policies and programs. These initiatives are meant create interests in athletics and sports, identify athletic talent, and develop talented individuals to elite sporting expertise that can guarantee high-quality performance at the Olympics and other global athletic championships and tournaments, like the FIFA World Cup. However, the nature-nurture debate prevails in the conceptual foundations of these programs (Hartigh, Hill, and Van Geert 1). Consequently, in many countries, the ministry responsible for sports works with the one in charge of education to identify talent early and expose it to training through specialized programs. In addition, National Governing Bodies and sporting clubs play a critical role of mobilizing resources and developing programs for developing elite athletes. Ultimately, the sporting prowess of a country in global competitions demonstrates the effectiveness of the talent development system in the country. The ensuing discussion focuses on the athletic talent development programs used in the Australia, China, United Kingdom, and the Unites States. The talent development approaches used in these countries, along with the sporting policies, programs initiatives, and incentives, are considered in the comparisons.   

Concepts and Theories of Athletic Talent Development

Two main paradigms of athletic talent development exist. The first concept supports early specialization in a particularly sporting discipline and deliberate practice as the pathway to sporting expertise. The second model advocates exposure to several sporting activities before settling for one discipline, along with gradual progression towards deliberate play. The second approach is considered to be healthier trajectory toward elite performance than the first because it is considerate of the psychosocial influences and developmentally-appropriate training patterns (De Bosscher and De Rycke 593). In this regard, early specialization and early diversification are considered the two primary pathways towards athletic expertise (Hendry, David T., and Nicola J. Hodges 82). National Governing Bodies and sporting clubs provide pathways for talent identification and development (TID) which may be complementary or divergent.

Areas of Athletic Talent Development

Engaging level

This level is usually in early childhood and elementary school level in which children develop their psychomotor skills through play. Specific sports are often introduced as part of play with the intention of having fun rather than competing. All the countries except china confine this level for developing basic movement and coordination skills. However, China takes this level further by identifying talent for some sports like gymnastics and diving and commencing specialized training. Notably, Australian and the United Kingdom have physical education incorporate into the school curriculum while the United States does not lend it significant focus. 

Participation level

At this level, children are exposed to particular sports and participation through interschool competitions. Interschool sporting competition are particularly common in Australia, the united states and the united kingdom, which allows students to gain exposure and awareness along developing interests is certain sporting disciplines. In the United States, coaches start identifying talent and providing specialized training.

Development level

Adolescents at this level start considering the developing their sport to the elite level and possibly making a sporting career. Many students at the university level take sports more seriously, with the institutions, particularly those in the United States, considering tertiary institutions as nurturing grounds for developing elite sporting talent. For instance, the United States has a well-established collegiate sporting program complete with sporting scholarships. Notably, for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the sporting programs at the institutions of higher education are conducted alongside regular academic programs, thus providing aspiring athletes with an education beyond their sporting activities. This is unlike china where aspiring athletes have been isolated to sporting schools in which the focus is entirely of rigorous training in the various sporting disciplines.

Elite level

Beyond college, athletes engage in a sporting career as individuals or in clubs. They already have developed their talents and are in the process of improving their performance in national, regional, and international competitions. The motivation at this level is usually the cash rewards in championships, breaking records to gain fame and financial rewards, and Olympic medals, which many consider to the ultimate goal of sporting excellence. In Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, athletes in some sports join professional sporting clubs that have very competitive national leagues. However, the Chinese are always focused on the Asian Games and Olympics, and do not have a well-developed professional sporting environment.

Expert level

At the expert level, the athletes enjoy peak performance through several winnings of major sporting events. Also, expert athletes consider retiring, especially when confronted with injuries or when their performance begins to dwindle. These athletes often transit into coaching careers, while a few others recede into regular civilian life. Notably, American, British and Australian athletes often also change their careers away from sports because they have other academic qualifications beyond sporting credentials. However, many of the Chinese athletes that exit their sporting careers face challenges integrating with the society because of the lack of employable skills beyond their athletic prowess.  

Talent Development Programs

United States

The United States employs the American Development Model, which has five stages of developing the sport experience of individuals premised on their emotional, mental, physical levels and potential for growth. The first stage focuses on discovery, learning and play for children below the age of 12 years. The second stage attends to children and adolescents aged between 10 and 16 years, and focuses on development and challenge. The third stage emphasizes on training and competing for adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years. The fourth stage addresses children of 15 years and over, and focuses on excelling for high performance, participation and succeeding in different sporting disciplines.  The fifth and final stage targets all ages and focuses on thriving and mentorship (United States Olympic Committee 8). The united states is an Olympic powerhouse especially in track events, often ranking 1^st in Olympics, courtesy of this program.

Regulation and policy

The athletic talent development policy focuses on achieving a healthy and active lifestyle and realizing their full athletic potential. It is implemented by the United States Olympic Committee and the National Governing Bodies through the American Development Model that was formulated in 2014.

Programs and special initiatives

Athletic talent is identified using scouting and tryouts. Also, the collegiate games along with minor leagues, camps and developmental tournaments are used for selecting high performing athletes for further development (Smolianov, Zakus, and Gallo 82).

Sports incentives

Talent is the country is incentivized using college scholarships. Besides, elite sports are incentivized by participating in the Olympics and other major international competitions, along with huge cash payouts in local and global championships.

Awareness

Sporting awareness is created at the 10 years and over when children are exposed specific sport training and development.

Australia

The Australian sports philosophy is realized through the sports policy, which is handled by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) along with the Sports Performance and Development Groups and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The sports philosophy focuses of increasing sports participation and membership through programs for all Australians and achieving elite athlete success on the international stage through high performance and sports excellence programs (Sotiriadou and Shilbury 138).

Regulation and policy

Australian policy is espoused in the Foundations, Talent, Elite and Mastery (FTEM) framework developed by the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) to guide the development of sporting talent in the country through different pathways. The Australian Sports Commission runs the National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program as part of its National Sports Programs to identify and hasten the development of potential athletes to the elite level.

Programs and special initiatives

The programs have four elements. The foundations element comprises three levels targeting early development and refinement. The first level emphasizes learning and acquiring basic movements, while the second level focuses on extending and refining movements, and the third level introduces sport-specific skills to enhance commitment and competition. The talent element employs the talent identification and development (TID) approach in four phases. The first phase dwells in the demonstration of athletic potential while the second phase focuses on talent verification. The third phase focuses on practice and achievement, while the fourth phase focuses on breaking through into elite sporting with direct support from the National Sporting Organization. The elite element of the framework focuses on the achievement and maintenance of elite sporting performance through senior elite representation and achieving success in international competitions. The mastery component focuses of sustaining the success of the elite athletes.

Sports incentives

College scholarships and participation in local and international championships are the main incentives for talent development. In addition, attending the Olympics is the ultimate goal of elite athletes.

Awareness

Awareness is built during play in schools and physical exercise classes.

United Kingdom

In addition, the United Kingdom has several programs that cover the entire kingdom and other in respective countries. For instance UK Sport runs a program for the entire country, while Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Wales, and Sport Scotland work along with UK Sport in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, respectively. UK Sports was formed in 1997 following the poor performance of the country at the 1996 Olympics and has managed to improve the country’s performance thereafter, having placed the country third and second during the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic games, respectively. UK Sport runs the World Class Program that operates at the podium and podium potential levels across all funded Olympic sports. In turn, the country achieved 87 and 116 medals, which was within the 71-115 and 78-122 target range during the summer and Paralympic Olympics in 2018 (The United Kingdom Sports Council 6).

Regulation and policy

The United Kingdom’ policy follows the early diversity strategy of exposing children to several sports during their early schooling to develop their skills and interests before specializing in any given sport of their preference.

Programs and special initiatives

UK Sport runs a program for the entire country, while Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Wales, and Sport Scotland work along with UK Sport in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, respectively. UK Sports was formed in 1997 following the poor performance of the country at the 1996 Olympics and has managed to improve the country’s performance thereafter, having placed the country third and second during the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic games, respectively. UK Sport runs the World Class Program that operates at the podium and podium potential levels across all funded Olympic sports.

Sports incentives

The major incentive is participation in the Olympics along with other local, regional and global championships, which are often accompanied by prize payouts. In turn, the country achieved 87 and 116 medals, which was within the 71-115 and 78-122 target range during the summer and Paralympic Olympics in 2018 (The United Kingdom Sports Council 6).

Awareness

Awareness is built during physical education lessons like in Australia. The children are exposed to various sports by their teachers and coaches.

China

The talent identification and development system involves the government significantly through sports scouts and sports schools that are strewn across the country. Consequently, China presents the most athletes to the Olympics.

Regulation and policy

China’s policy is early specialization using a very centralized system for identifying and developing sporting talent. The identification and selection of potential athletes is premised on physical attributes rather than interest or knowledge about the sport.  

Programs and special initiatives

The country has about 150 elite sports camps and numerous local training centers and sports schools that are responsible for nurturing athletic talent. These facilities run over 20 major programs that involve over 400,000 students being trained to be Olympians (Hays). Unfortunately, the talent development program has many people who are dropped from the elite team, and is therefore considered to be a factory system with a very high exit rate. Unfortunately, many of the Chinese talent development programs do not incorporate other skills beyond sports. Therefore, those who exit the programs and sporting careers altogether lack other skills to sustain their livelihoods

Sports incentives

Sporting incentives are bringing fame to the country s professional sports are not well-developed in the country. Therefore, participation and high performance at the Olympics is the main incentive for the elite athletes.

Awareness

Unlike Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, China identifies sporting talent early with government sporting scouts being sent out to schools to search for talent as young as first graders (Hays). In other cases, parents identify the talent in their children and enroll them is sports schools. This system is modelled around that of the former Soviet Union in which children with promising athletic talent are identified at a very young age and sent to special training centers that are run by the government.

Conclusion

Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States advocate the early diversification approach while China uses the early specialization approach in developing athletic talent. While all these countries have programs for identifying and developing athletic talent from an early age, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States integrate athletics with academics, while China focuses on athletics exclusively from an early age. In this respect, while Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have managed to balance athletic talent with the athletes’ wellbeing, the Chinese approach has many athletes exiting the program without alternative livelihoods. Therefore, the early diversification approach delivers more sustainable outcomes compared to the early specialization paradigm.  

Works Cited

De Bosscher, Veerle, and Jens De Rycke. “Talent development programmes: A retrospective analysis of the age and support services for talented athletes in 15 nations.” European Sport Management Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 5, 2017, pp. 590-609.

Hartigh, Ruud J. R. Den, Yannick Hill, and Paul L. C, Van Geert. “The development of talent in sports: A dynamic network approach.” Complexity, 2018, pp. 1-14.

Hays, Jefrey. “Olympic training in China.” Facts and details, 2008, http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat12/sub79/item1008.html Accessed 04 June 2020

Hendry, David T., and Nicola J. Hodges. “Early majority engagement pathway best defines transitions from youth to adult elite men’s soccer in the UK: A three time-point retrospective and prospective study.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise, vol. 36, 2018, pp. 81-89.

Smolianov, Peter, Dwight Zakus, and Joseph Gallo. Sport development in the United States: High performance and mass participation. Routledge, 2014.

Sotiriadou, Kalliopi Popi, and David Shilbury. “Australian elite athlete development: An organisational perspective.” Sport Management Review, vol. 12, no. 3, 2009, pp. 137-148.

The United Kingdom Sports Council.  Grant-in-Aid and National Lottery Distribution Fund Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019. 24 July 2019. https://www.uksport.gov.uk/resources/annual-reports. Accessed 04 June 2020

United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Rebuilding athletes in America. 2016. https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Athlete%20Development%20Model%20Brochure%202016_20160823.pdf. Accessed 04 June 2020