The purpose of this project was to gain an in-depth understanding of the
performance factors necessary for talent development in the New Zealand (NZ) sporting context from the perspective of:
– Current elite NZ athletes
– Former elite NZ athletes
– Coaches of elite NZ athletes
– Parents of elite NZ athletes
For NZ to continue to produce successful athletes at the elite level and increase the potential of NZ athletes to win on the international stage, it is vital to gain an understanding of the pathway that our current and former elite athletes have taken. This research project addressed the issues of athletic talent identification and development in the NZ socio-cultural context by gaining insight and perspectives from athletes, parents, and coaches who have been involved in elite sport.
Overall, the aim was to gather information regarding talent development that can be used to help educate athletes, parents, coaches, and administrators about the process of talent development and to provide recommendations to promote the future development of champion NZ athletes.
Methodology
The study used qualitative research. This type of research provides an in-depth understanding of behaviours and why people think and behave in particular ways. Commonly used qualitative research methods are interviews, group discussions, observation and analysis of documents and other materials.
In this study, qualitative interviews enabled researchers to explore participants’ perspectives on, and experiences of, athletic talent development in New Zealand. Participants were purposefully selected from the seven sports identified in SPARC’s High Performance Strategy 2006-2012.2 Researchers interviewed 20 athletes (9 current and eleven former), 6 coaches and 13 family members of current and former elite athletes. Athletes represented swimming (3), rowing (6), netball (5), cycling (4) and athletics (2). For practical reasons, triathlon and yachting did not take part in the study.
Limitations
As this is a qualitative study, with a small and purposefully selected sample of athletes and sports, the findings provide rich insights into the experiences of those who took part but cannot be generalised to all athletes or all sports.
Key Results
This study provides useful insights into elite athletes’ development pathways and performance factors that influence talent development.
In Summary:
- Elite athletes’ development pathways are diverse; most play a range of sports when they are young and many do not take up the sport they excel in until their late teenage years.
- Social support plays a crucial role in athlete development; competitive support from teammates and training partners is particularly important
- Psychological skills such as self-belief, commitment and motivation, are critical; development of psychological skills should be a focus throughout all stages of athlete talent development.
- Challenges and set-backs are normal and should be prepared for; dealing with challenges can help athletes develop the psychological skills they need to excel.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome occurs at all stages of athlete development. What is important is how the athlete responds to the potential threat. Some athletes use Tall Poppy Syndrome as added motivation to work hard and succeed.