Nurturing TalentJamie French, Scott Grace, Jenny Harris, and Dr Matt long explore developing young talent in the sport. Historically the early participation of children in intensive training and inappropriate competition owes much to the enduring legacy of the 'catch them young' philosophy. In some quarters, a perpetuation of the urban myth still exists. To become a performance athlete on the international stage as an adult, one must start intensive training before puberty.
Long Term Athlete DevelopmentAccording to Bailey (2012)[2] the golden rule for long-term athlete development is that children are not mini-adults. While adults engage in sports-specific skills, children engage in foundational and fundamental movements that are generic across sports, for example, running; jumping; throwing; and developing Agility, Balance and coordination. Differences manifest themselves in terms of (a) Physiology, (b) Psychology and (c) Pedagogy in terms of how learning is affected. PhysiologyChildren's physiological development is rather 'stop-start' in the following ways:
The anaerobic performance capacity of children is less than adolescents and adults due to their smaller muscle mass and lower glycolytic capability. Neurological linkages are still being made, with bone calcification happening over a longer period and tendons being much slower to grow than muscles (Bar-Or and Rowland 2004). PsychologyChildren's memory is not as well developed as adults, with their ability to process the information much slower. Children tend to be intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated. A 1992 study of 26,000 10-18-year olds by Ewing and Seefeldt reveals 'fun' to be the key reason for their being in the sport. According to Whitehead in Coaching Children in Sport, “Young children are more concerned with mastering their environment and developing skills than beating others – at least until someone tells them that it is important to win”. So however difficult it is to accept, it would seem that children are socialised to belief that winning rather than taking part is important. PedagogyChildren who have limited vocabulary consider the VARK model (Fleming, 2012)[3], tend to learn more visually rather than by being told aurally or by reading something. Early and Late MaturationThere are various advantages and conversely problems with the label of ‘late' or ‘early developer'.
The case against early specialisationIn considering the above, due to the increased risk of muscular-skeletal injury, possible reduction in growth potential, delay in menarche for females, and increased risk of mental 'burn out', the work of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2000 helps make the case against early specialisation. Istvan Bayli and Jean Cote developed the 'FUNdamental' concept for the long-term planning of athlete progression and spoke about the following stages of development:
Working through the above stages is not dependent upon chronological age (time since birth). More astute coaches will be aware that biological (physical development for given chronological age) and training ages (amount of time in the sport) is paramount. Also, developmental (emotional/ social maturity) and relative (proximity of birthday to start of the academic year) should be factored into developmental planning and the amount of competitive experience an athlete has. By disaggregating the notion of athletic age, coaches and athletics leaders can play a massive role in retaining athletes in our sport. According to Orlick and Botterill in their bestseller, Every Kid Can Win, “To win the game and lose the child is an unworthy sacrifice”. So, what?Too often, late-maturing athletes are overlooked due to the success of their earlier developing fellow peers. It is also interesting that some early developers are also written-off as only winning because they are 'Big for their age'. In both cases, it is not what you possess now (as a child) but more what you can develop and improve in the long term for senior success. Now what?Developing and nurturing young athletes requires concern and an overview of their holistic development. In his book Running My Life, double Olympic champion Lord Sebastian Coe recalls that his coach-father Peter would always seek to develop "the whole person" as a youngster. Remember that Coe was a proverbial ‘late developer' compared to his arch-rival Steve Ovett during their teenage years, but the gap was expunged when both were in their early 20s. As well as sporting development, a holistic approach will include a focus on the academic, emotional and social, and spiritual development of the young person. By so doing, we can do that which was advocated by Professor Neil Armstrong, who implored coaches too, “Focus on the role of sport in promoting the well-being of the child not the role of the child in promoting the well-being of the sport.” Coaches should educate both early and late developers about the advantages and disadvantages they may possess and how they need to develop these qualities for the long-term benefits. Consider the following checklist of questions:
Article ReferenceThe information on this page is adapted from Grace, Harris, French & Long (2014)[1] with the kind permission of the authors and Athletics Weekly. References
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About the AuthorsScott Grace and Jenny Harris are England Athletics National Coach Mentors. Jamie French and Matt Long are British Athletics Coach Education Tutors. |