Developmental Essentials by IYCA, (10) Talent Identification and Physical Development, Notes

Post date: May 22, 2016 12:55:40 PM

Developmental Essentials by IYCA

(10) Talent Identification and Physical Development

• 1. Study Questions

     1. What would you change about youth sports in your country or area?

     2. What can we learn from other countries / areas?

     3. Is talent identification important? Yes or no? Why or why not?

     4. Compare and contrast natural selection and scientific selection. What are the pros and cons of each?

     5. Build your own system based on the strengths from other countries

     6. What impact does socioeconomic level have on talent identification

     7. What are the seven key issues in talent identification? What would your add or subtract?

  2. Introduction - A structured, systematic and inclusive approach to identifying and developing youth is needed. The system should not sacrifice less developed children but meet the the needs of all children in all stages of development

  3. Talent Identification -

• • 1. Identification via basic health measurements and aspects of physical development provides opportunity for those who want to explore further.

       1. Primary Phase (ages 3-10) - measure general rudimentary patterns

       2. Secondary Phase (during or slightly after puberty) - take basic biometrics and psychological profiling

       3. Third Phase (elite) - demonstrates sport specific ability. Measure training adaptations and the ability to operate under stress

    2. Natural Selection (survival of the fittest) - the best athletes receive the best coaching and are provided the opportunities for more development. Less developed athletes are eliminated. This is unhealthy because only the the strong survive. Many succumb to overuse injury from one sided trainin and early specialization.

    3. Scientific Selection (motor development model) - training opportunities are made available to all. Athletes advance to the next level as skills are acquired rather than by chronological age.

    4. Criteria used for Identifying Talent

• • • 1. General Health - innately healthy people are often identified for sport development programs

      2. Biometric Qualities - anthropometric measurements are way of assessing future potential: height, weight, length of limbs, biacromial diameter (distance between acromion processes in the shoulder)

      3. Heredity - children often inherit the physical characteristics and mental abilities of parents

      4. Coaching - plays a key role in development. Coaches working with developing populations should be the most qualified and must possess correct temperament.

• 4. Talent Selection and Development - In the United States there is no real development model. Those who excel early on are usually selected for advancement. Only those with financial resources are able to seek out therapeutic care, nutritional support and psychological development. It makes more sense to have a systematic and structured means of developing young athletes, a system in which coaches are highly qualified and advancement is open and available to all.

  5. National Systems

• • 1. Australia - Talent Search Program

       1. Phase One - ages 14-16, children screened in school. The results are correlated in a national database. If results are favorable, children move to phase two.

       2. Phase Two - general ability is still tested and screened but training is more sport specific in nature. If potential is indicated, more assessments are set.

       3. Phase Three - selected athletes are invited to participate in a talented athlete program

*Reference: Australian Institute of Sport

• • 1. Canada - Talent is identified by recruits or scouts via school or club competition. Various sport schools have been established for children 14 to 18 year old. They are selected by province. Those identified as elite must meet academic standards. They take classes in morning and are released to train in the afternoon. They are provided sport science support services

    2. China - Talent identification is a nationwide effort. Future athletic potential is identified via: general growth pattern, maximum growth duration, physique, motor abilities, coordination and temperament, rate of development, health and heredity factors and assessment of the training program. The chinese do not believe in one measure or one assessment. Their system infers a long hard look at each athlete over a lengthy period of time. There are three phases:

       1. Assessment of the sport or event most suitable to the individual.

       2. Reevaluation of potential as the athlete demonstrates improvement.

       3. Selection of middle and higher level athletes.

    3. Germany - Talent identification goes from general to specific. Initially identification begins in physical education class (general). Children experiment with 6 months of more sport specific training to determine attitude to training. Those who display a spark for that type of training are inserted into a highly structured club sporting system for that sport.

    4. Former Soviet Union - talent is initially identified via regional sport competition and national level finals. Children are recruited into sport specific schools:

• • • 1. Children and young people sport school

      2. Olympic reserves

      3. Higher sports mastery

• 1. Talent identification methods - Predict performance over time by measuring various attributes and abilities alone or in combination. In addition to physical characteristics consider: cultural characteristics, socioeconomic level, nutritional status, family and peer influences.

     1. Models

        1. Univariate studies. Set out to compare one single variable between elite and non-elite athletes. Any variable can be a performance indicator if there is considerable difference between groups. Variables with highest difference are most significant.

        2. Relevant variable. Separate elite from non elite. Can provide a clear separation with respect to a single variable but unable to paint a complete picture.

        3. Single Discipline Multivariate Studies. Investigate a number of variables in one discipline. Still insufficient at measuring true potential as the only measures come from the sport.

        4. Multidisciplinary Multivariate. Incorporates a number of disciplines using multiple variables in the design. Field and functional assessments are combined.

     2. Systematic Approach: Identification, selection and development issues:

• • • 1. Ethical - although founded on the idea of matching a child to his or her ideal sport, we must still consider the child's preference. In fact, enthusiasm for sport is a more important predictor for success than aptitude for the sport. Even if a child does not progress past a certain level, he/she should still be encouraged to compete at his/her ability. There should be two branches: healthy lifestyle and elite performer.

      2. Maturational and Chronological Age -maturational age should be weighed higher than chronological age.

      3. Age Grading in Competition - proficiency, or lack thereof, cannot accurately predict success in other sports.

      4. School Involvement - Physical Education should develop basic sporting and movement skills and provide a base of introduction to a wide variety of sports.

      5. Coach Involvement - Coaches should be educated to highest extent. They must provide relevant and developmentally appropriate training programs that are kid approved and monitor progress.

      6. Genetic and Environmental Factors - All children have talent. The difference between a proficient mover and one who is not comes down to environmental stimulus: the opportunity to develop skill. Genetics help determine which sports the individual is particularly suited for. Both factor into potential for success.

      7. Sport Specific Differences

• 1. 3. Physical & Cognitive Development - A positive correlation exists between quality physical education stimulus and athletic performance. There is a definitive association between movement education and cognitive processes. Cognitive improvements are linked to individual performance and a child’s level of exposure to movement aptitude programs.

• • • 1. Multiple Intelligences - Physical Education is vital for good health and is involved in the development of intelligences. Children not exposed to proper stimulus fail to become well rounded adults. Children who participate in daily Physical Education have less instruction time in Math and Reading but perform the same. Hormone levels stay balanced and behavior problems are reduced. Students are more calm and learn better.

         1. Bodily - Kinesthetic

         2. Verbal - Linguistic

         3. Mathematical - Logical

         4. Visual - Spatial

         5. Musical

         6. Interpersonal

         7. Intrapersonal