May 8
May 8 Update
Long Term Athlete Development - Part VI
Sport for Life LTD - Part II (pages 14-19)
Being able to evaluate the effectiveness of LTAD models implemented by the different National Sport Organizations in Canada has allowed Sport for Life to identify shortcomings in their LTAD 2.0 model, as well as the consequences that have arisen due to these shortfalls:
These shortcomings and consequences are such that we need to take a unified approach in addressing. Coaches, parents, SPMBA directors and other volunteers all need to act in unison to address areas where we come up short. Since the publishing of Baseball Canada's LTAD document, SPMBA has taken action to address some of these gaps in some way, for example:
Partnered with Baseball Alberta to champion girls baseball; host of 2020 12U Girls tournament
Established the Challenger Baseball program
Introduced the Baseball Beginnings winter camp
Balancing the 11U and 13U schedules at the community level to add built-in practice time
Now, we have plenty more ground to cover. There's plenty more room to improve our practices, policies, and structure, especially when Baseball Canada releases their updated LTD model to provide provincial associations and local programs with directive on what we should be striving for.
To build on this, Sport for Life has revamped their 10 Key Factors in long term development to a staggering 22. These factors have also been categorized into personal factors, organizational factors, and system factors.
Personal Factors - these are addressed to parents, instructors, and coaches as aspects they need to be aware of when planning programming and activities for athletes.
1) Physical literacy - fundamental movement skills, especially in the early stages
2) Quality environments - these are environments that are safe (physically, mentally, and socio-emotionally) AND provide excellent physical literacy and sport specific training for all age groups
3) Developmental age - chronological age doesn't necessarily show us the whole picture of a player. Our athletes grow and develop at different rates and at different times. A quality program will account for each individual athlete's holistic growth and program accordingly. This includes physical, mental, cognitive, and emotional development of all athletes.
4) Sensitive periods - training windows during childhood where their response to specific types of training is enhanced or amplified.
5) Predisposition - athletes need time and the ability to try out a variety of sports, especially during the Learn to Train and Train to Train windows. Not every athlete is geared toward a particular sport.
6) Excellence takes time - quality programs need to be planned in the long-term, especially if they want athletes to reach their full potential. A winning-focused mentality can work in the short-term, but hinders long-term development and lead to burnout and overuse injuries.
7) For life - the life skills gained while involved in sport equip athletes with lifelong traits that provide durability and perseverance mechanisms through all life transitions.
Organizational Factors - these emphasize the roles organizations play in an athlete's development.
8) Framework - the update of sport-specific LTD is necessary
9) Fully embedded - LTD permeates everything organizations and sports do: official development, coach development and education, rules, governance, and competition.
10) Awareness and first involvement - making participants and stakeholders aware of a wide range of activity opportunities. Organizations must invest in a positive, safe, welcoming, and inclusive first experience in the sport.
11) Different activities - different sports have different LTD demands. High acrobatic sports include gymnastics, diving, and figure skating. These are early specialization. High kinesthetic sports include swimming, soccer, and racquet sports. Common sports include baseball and hockey and have typical specialization timing. Late specialization includes sports where athletes can peak later in life, such as golf, rowing, and triathlon. Transfer sports are those that are not typically taken part in, which includes bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton.
12) Appropriate specialization - in baseball, for example, athletes should not over-specialize until their early teens. Prior to this, athletes should be encouraged to take part in a variety of sports. This helps develop overall physical literacy.
13) Periodization - time management of training year-to-year and in-season.
14) Competition - the ratios of training to competition time need to be adhered to. The quality of competition needs to appropriately test the skills that athletes are developing.
15) Transitions - organizations need to account for transition periods in sport. Inside and out of sport. Between levels and LTD stages too.
System Factors - these are geared for policy-makers to build a system rooted in LTD.
16) Collaboration - facilitate interconnectedness of all stakeholders in sport to support athletes.
17) System alignment - creating consistency in delivery and communication across sports involved in Sport for Life, Own the Podium, and through the Coaching Association of Canada.
18) Safe and welcoming - programs need to partner with Safe Sport and implement their programming, with an emphasis on diversity.
19) Diversification - organizations should not contribute to "muddying the waters" in terms of cooperation and integration with others that offer activity-based programming.
20) Long-Term Development - immediate success cannot and should not be the focus. Long-term positive impact needs to be prioritized and rewarded.
21) Continuous improvement - Organizations must continually improve their practices and LTD frameworks need to be consistently updated to match best practices and new research.
22) Evidence based - Continual assessment, monitoring, and research into all aspects of activity.
Next week's posts will continue reviewing the Sport for Life LTD document, with a focus on the revised stages and pathways through sport.
Yours in baseball,
Coach Lovie
Baseball Development Lead
Sherwood Park Minor Baseball Association
baseballdevelopment@spmba.ca