The LTAD and Effective Athlete Development Policy

What: “The LTAD and Effective Athlete Development Policy”
Who: John Armstrong, Masters Degree by Research
When: Monday 24 May, 2010: 1-2pm
Where: Visitors Centre Theatrette

The LTAD has been established as the “model of choice” for countries seeking to adopt an athlete development model within their sport policy. Canada has mandated that all NSOs develop an LTAD policy. Some sports in Australia have utilised the Junior Sports Framework (JSF) as a mechanism to develop their own policies for athlete development. Interviews with the ASC, Sport Canada, NSO, SSO and coach representatives of Speed Skating, Athletics and Cycling (from Canada) and Netball, Cricket and Basketball (from Australia) were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the NSO’s policy.

This presentation will

• question the emergence of the LTAD and its use in Canada as a platform for policy;
• review the JSF as a tool to develop athlete development policy;
• determine how effective each of the NSO policies were – as perceived by the coach practitioners outline what the coaches thought were important in any athlete development policy;
• provide recommendations around the way athlete development policy could be measured; and
• recommend actions that both the Canadian government and the Australian government could implement to improve the effectiveness of their sport policy.

This presentation is relevant to those seeking information pertaining to athlete development pathways, Talent ID, Junior Sport, competition structure and coach education – timely in light of the release of “Australian Sport – the pathway to success”.

JOHN ARMSTRONG is the manager of the Stakeholder Servicing Team in the Sports Coach and Official Section and has recently presented his research “The Efficacy of Athlete Development Models” to the University of Canberra for the Masters of Arts in Sports Coaching (awaiting examiners response). John has a strong background in both coaching and athlete development, having worked as Education and Development Manager with Australian Swimming, NSW Cycling Coaching Director, ACT Coaching Centre Coordinator and within the Sports Coach and Official Section of the ASC. As an NCAS Level 2 Cycling coach of cyclists from juniors to elite, John has maintained an interest in the developing athlete and has applied this interest to his research into the emergence of “athlete development policy” within the Sport Policy genre – in particular the application of the LTAD and the JSF as a policy platform.