So much of the world’s high performance sports dollars (or Yens or Yuans or Euros or Pounds or Pesos or Rands depending on where you come from), time, energy, focus and attention is spent on three things:

1. Talent identification;
2. Talent recruitment;
3. Talent development.

Or if you like, find them, sign them, refine them.

And most of the world has still got it wrong. There is a better way.

First item on the Talent Identification agenda…can we please change the name!!!

Let’s all agree to call it the ”Talent Management” Program or the ”Targeting Success” Program or something catchy like T.O.P. (Talent Optimization Program) but the term T.I.D. should be killed off, given a nice funeral and buried by the world’s sporting community once and for all.

Calling the overall process of finding, recruiting and optimising the performance potential of athletes “talent identification” is like calling a game of football “the kick off”. Finding talent is just the first step in a long, long process to turn potential into performance.

Number 2: Adopt an integrated approach.

There is too much focus on physical talent and physiological factors in all T.O.P.s all over the world. Success in high performance sport comes about from the integration and blending of physical, mental, technical, tactical, cultural / family and genetic factors or…my “big six”:

• Physical abilities;
• Personality characteristics;
• Playing skills;
• Performance abilities;
• Pedigree (i.e. genetic makeup);
• Preparation ((i.e. environment, family, culture).

Number 3: Invest ten times more money on talent optimisation and talent development than talent I.D because Real talent is harder to hide than it is to find: Finding talent is not hard.

Open your eyes! It is not hard to find kids who are bigger, stronger, faster or more skillful than their peers. Finding them is not the challenge – it’s what to do once you have found them that is the tricky part. The protocols used to screen athletes for “talent” have been around for over 60 years – test protocols are not the problem. It’s creating an optimal, integrated talent development pathway to turn potential into performance that’s the problem.

Number 4: Make your objective measurements of talent more subjective and your subjective measurements of talent more objective:

This the real trick in all applied sports science. There are no totally objective, research proven, evidence based methods of testing which can measure the “talent” and potential of an athlete and guarantee their elite level competition performance success. And similarly, the old days of just looking at an athlete and using some mystical “eye” or instinct to accurately predict their elite level competition performance success are over. It’s the blending of the objective with the subjective that gives the best results in any T.O.P. process.

Number 5: Any investment in a T.O.P. for athletes must be matched by a T.O.P. for coaches:

Governments and sporting organisations will spend millions on mass T.I.D. screening programs and implementing T.I.D. testing protocols then allocate pittance to educating and developing the people charged with developing that talent to its full potential: i.e. coaches. That just does not make any sense.

Number 6: Educate parents and the talented athlete’s immediate cultural influences:

You play like your place! Athletes – no matter how talented – need people and places around them which nurture them, support them, nourish them and love them. It is critical to influence, support, educate and help the parents, partners and peers of talented athletes so that they can better create an environment which enriches the athlete’s real performance potential.

Number 7: Stop beating around the bush with genetic testing- just get on with it:

We all know its coming – let’s face it – it is already here and the whole industry of Sport Genetics is an unstoppable force. Once we get around the ethical, religious and philosophical zealotry surrounding the genetic testing of athletes, everyone will be doing it. My advice – do it now. Just get on with it or risk being left behind by your competition.

Number 8: You need to learn to recognise genius, uniqueness and difference:

Sport is about health, fitness and lifestyle. It’s about providing opportunities for people to play sport through the implementation of standardised systems, structures and programs. High performance is completely different! High performance is about providing unique opportunities for unique individuals to realise their full potential. Too many T.O.P.s fail because they fail to recognise genius. They spend millions finding and recruiting talented athletes, then force them into standard programs to fit a funding model or some mythical all encompassing athlete development system. High performance means being different, being unique, being an individual and thinking, talking and acting outside the box.

Number 9: It has to be a“non-system” system:

As per number 8 – there is no system you can create which will guarantee the success of your team, your sport, your club or your nation in high performance sport. That’s because greatness and uniqueness are intimately entwined and uniqueness does not flourish in a system. That’s why the best win – they do it their way, they do it uniquely, they do it differently to the rest….and any high performance sport system which discourages difference will fail.

Number 10: There has to be multiple entry (and exit) points:

Too many teams,  sports and even nations miss talent because of stringent rules about T.T.T. – Talent Testing Timing. Some of the biggest mistakes here include:

• Setting an age range – i.e. “we test kids aged 12-15″ years;
• Creating elite junior development pathways which are rigid and inflexible (i.e. “you are either in or out”);
• Testing for now and not for the future – i.e. looking for talent and potential to sustain the team’s current style or system of play without thought of evolving it over time;
• Relying on historical data to provide a framework for the future, i.e. using test data from talented athletes from the past to evaluate the performance potential of athletes to be successful in the future.

Conclusion:

• There is no doubt that an effective T.O.P. is important for the success of every sporting team, organisation and nation.
• However, the way it has been done to date lacks real sophistication, practicality and effectiveness and it is time the whole concept of T.I.D. was revisited, revamped and re-developed.

There’s my Top Ten Talent I.D. Tips for High Performance Sp0rt – the T.O.P. Approach….what’s yours?

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011 – 2012, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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Hello Tennis Parents.

Put your hand up if you answer “YES” to two or more questions in the Tennis Parents Ten Question Quiz:

• Do you believe your child will be a successful, well paid professional tennis player?
• Do you tell other parents that your child is “a high achiever”?
• Do you talk about tennis at least once a day with your child over meals or away from the court?
• Are you prepared to sacrifice your child’s education so they have a great chance of becoming a professional player?
• Do you regularly ask the coach to work your child harder or to change something about their game?
• Do you get emotionally involved in your child’s successes and failures on the training court?
• Do you allow your child to show a bad attitude, poor sportsmanship and / or a poor temperament (e.g. racket abuse)?
• Have you ever argued or fought with parents of other kids about the results of a game?
• Do you refer to your child as “my son or my daughter the tennis player”?
• Have you spent more than $500.00 on a single tennis racket for your child?

Well, here’s the bad news. If you answered “YES” to two or more of the above, the chances of your child becoming a successful professional tennis player are…………………NIL or very close to it.

And what’s worse – you may be the major cause of their failure.

Tennis is a tough sport.

To make it to the top means years of hard work, dedication, commitment, training and skills development. It also takes a total commitment from the player, their coach and the player’s family to become a successful, professional player.

None of this is news to you of course.

However what may be news is that the more you want your child to be successful, the more you drive them, the more you obsess over their training, the more you talk about their game and focus on their career, the less likely they are to be successful.

Hold it right there you say! I know that at this point, the majority of tennis parents are thinking, “I’m not pushy. I’m just supporting my child to achieve their dreams. I am not one of those parents this article is referring to”.

Wrong – you are!

It is next to impossible for you to be objective about your child’s sporting talent and your own behaviour relating to it.

• The percentage of players who make it to the top is very small.
• The percentage of players who make it to the top after being outstanding talents and tournament winners at 12 is next to zero.
• The percentage of players who make it to the top after being outstanding talents and tournament winners at 12 and whose parents are obsessed with them getting there is less than zero.

So how can you be an outstanding tennis parent?

Sit down with your child’s coach.

Ask them for honest, hard hitting, direct feedback on the job you are doing as a tennis parent. In the same way that your child seeks and receives honest feedback on their backhand, serve, volley etc – you too need honest, direct, regular feedback to improve your tennis parenting skills. And…..be prepared to listen to it and act upon it.

Now, let’s look at things from a Positive Parenting Perspective.

Can you answer “Yes” to two or more of these questions about the future?

• Can you give your child unconditional love, support and encouragement regardless of their on court performances?
• Do you believe that the most important skills for your child to develop are confidence, self belief, honesty, integrity and humility?
• Do you believe you should give your child a day or two off each week just to relax and enjoy being a kid?
• Can you promise not to discuss tennis away from the court?
• Can you encourage your child to develop skills in other sports and activities and to continue their education?
• Can you provide your child with a loving, caring, supportive, stable family environment?
• Can you stay away from the training court for a few days without getting anxious?
• Can you give your child’s coach total and unconditional support – particularly when your child hits a rough patch or form slump?
• If your child does not make it as a professional player, will you still love them, care for them, support them, nurture them and be there for them unconditionally?
• Can you show dignity, maturity and decency when your child is defeated in a tournament?

Scoring Key:

Score 2-3: can I suggest another sport?

Score 4-6: a good chance of developing a well rounded, confident, balanced child.

Score 7-10: congratulations – you are an outstanding tennis parent and you have all the skills you need to help your child become the best they can be – in life, in sport, at school, in the family…..and maybe even tennis.

Being a tennis parent is a tough job. And like all tough jobs, you need good training and lots of education to do it well.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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This “10000 hours to build a champion athlete” stuff seems to have popped up in a lot of places recently.

Just goes to show how many people in the world can write stuff about sport without knowing anything about it.

The Golden Rule….there isn’t one.

The Golden rule about producing champions is that there are no golden rules.

There are no “always” have to…

There are no “must” do this…

There are no “can never” do that…

And there are no magical, miraculous number of hours required to produce greatness.

The Search for “The Formula”

Everyone in sport is searching for “the Formula” - a set of training routines, skills, drills, supplements, equipment and systems which will guarantee success.

Just look at the recent “power-band” debacle! People wanted something which would guarantee performance enhancement for everyone who purchased one.

The search for a 100% guaranteed, never fail, always successful system which will produce winning athletes and teams is like the “diet” industry: everyone is looking for an easy solution which is guaranteed to work every time for every body but ultimately it takes a lot of hard work and even then nothing is certain.

Ten Reasons Why The Ten Thousand Hours is Rubbish.

1. Not all athletes learn, grow, adapt and improve at the same rate;
2. Not all athletes learn, grow, adapt and improve the same way;
3. Each athlete has a different capacity to recover;
4. The level of engagement determines the effectiveness of the training activity;
5. Why 10000? Why not 11000? Why not 8000? Why not 83456.72 hours?
6. Training environments are incredibly different;
7. The Quality of coaching is incredibly variable;
8. Potential to perform;
9. Passion to prepare, drive, enthusiasm…….
10. Being unique, being different, being individual……….that’s what makes champions champions.

There is a secret to success - but it isn’t a piece of equipment, a special diet, a gym membership or a mythical number of hours of preparation.

The secret to success is – as it always has been- is to make the most of every opportunity (i.e. every training session, every recovery session, every competition) and prepare to the full extent of your potential every day.

If it takes 10000 hours, great.  Someone will sell a few more books.

Chances are, that if you prepare consistently to your full potential it will take a whole lot less.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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Have a good look at these three guys…these are your clients…these guys and their families will determine whether you, your Club and your sport will survive in the next 20 years.

Do you know who they are?

Do you know what they want from sport?

Have you bothered to ask them?

New Sport – Old Sport:

In the last post I suggested:

There is a popularly held myth about sport around the world. That “sport”, (as in sporting organisations, national federations and other sporting bodies), owns sport.

Sport is not owned by sport.

It is own by the clients of the sport – the kids, the parents, the grandparents, the athletes – the people who make the decision about which sports experience to buy and what they want from that experience.

What is New Sport?

New Sport is Client Focused Sport. It is providing clients (kids, parents, grandparents etc) with the sporting product they want and need.

It is listening to your clients and designing sporting products – i.e. training programs, sporting experiences, competitions etc that they want to be part of.

To go forward…first look back:

To go forward, to help your sport realise its full potential and secure a successful future, first look back at the histories and traditions that have led to this point in time. Many Olympic sports designed and developed their sporting culture back in 1896 and have changed very little since then.

Have a look at your own sport. Why do you do what you do? When was your sport’s culture created and developed? More importantly…what was society like then? What was the social context in which your sport and the way it operates was created?

Chances are your sport is working on the same model it was using when Baron de Coubertin was in short pants!

An example of Old Sport: Swimming

Have a look at swimming as an example of Old Sport.

Swimming competitions around the world are pretty much the same: they are conducted the same way they have been for the past 100 years.

• Long, boring, drawn out and dull competition schedules;
• Far too many events;
• Unimaginative event schedules;
• Long delays between events, i.e. swimmers may have to wait hours between their events;
• Parents having to attend competitions for full days / full weekends waiting to see their children compete.

(And swimming organisations wonder why they have such a huge decrease in the numbers of registered swimmers from mid teenage years onwards).

Swimming, as a sport is on a fast track to failure if it does not wake up and smell the chlorine!

So what would New Sport Swimming look like? 

1. Shorter competitions – no more than two hours in duration;
2. Multiple competition opportunities, i.e. all swimmers get to race 4-6 times over the two hour duration of the competition;
3. Age specific competitions, i.e. where swimmers of similar ages race and compete without having to wait and watch 108 heats of the 7 years and under 50 freestyle;
4. Time appropriate competitions, e.g. Friday evenings to give families their weekends free.

One thing is certain, the great sport of swimming is in real trouble unless they listen to their clients and respond to their cries.

But the above example could apply to many Old Sports…rowing, track and field, gymnastics, diving, cycling………Old Sport thinking is commonplace in Olympic sports all over the world.

How to turn your sport into a New Sport:

1. Make your competitions shorter;
2. Make your competitions more enjoyable;
3. Provide something relevant and meaningful for all participants in your sport: not just for the could-be-champions;
4. Be inclusive of families and their needs, their schedules, their time limitations;
5. Listen to your clients and respond to their needs.

So, why are Sports sticking to the Old Sport Model?

Because change is hard. Change requires real effort. Change requires real commitment. Change requires pain and conflict.

Money? Yep. Many competitions are designed the way they are to maximise revenue raising opportunities for sporting organisations: that’s a fact. And tell me who ever voluntarily surrenders money or power???

But the main reason people are sticking to Old Sport thinking is because people and organisations do not change until it is too late or almost too late.

Unfortunately, most sports will not shift to the New Sport – Client Focused Sport thinking until their registrations drop alarmingly, their Club networks dissolve and their structures, systems and programs crumble into complete chaos.

A Challenge for the Future…or you will not have one:

So, my challenge to everyone in sport is this: make the move from Old Sport to New Sport.

Sport is a marketplace.

And like any marketplace, the “sellers” (i.e. sporting clubs and sporting organisations) are striving to increase their market-share.

What are you and your sport doing to increase your market-share?

The way not to increase market-share is to continue to offer the same old product choices, packaged the same old way. You and your sport are doomed: you have no chance of survival.

Listen to your clients and adapt your sporting product to their needs and you will not just survive…you will thrive.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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As the new decade starts, it is time to face the realities of the sports experience around the world.

The last decade, saw the most significant changes in society, in learning, in education, in technology and in social change that the world has experienced. 

And, in general, sport has not kept pace with the extent or speed of the changes.

New Sport: Old Sport. The Decade of Client Focused Sport is Here.

Old Sport…why it is failing:

Several Olympic sports are failing world wide. Look at your own sport…at the numbers of registered athletes…and the numbers of sustainable, successful amateur Clubs…are numbers increasing or decreasing?

In many of the mainstream “traditional” Olympic sports like swimming, gymnastics, rowing, track and field and cycling numbers are in decline.

Why?

If the numbers of registered participants and Clubs in your sport are decreasing, chances are you are continuing to offer the same old sporting product and waiting for the market to change and buy what you are selling….a sales strategy only embraced by people who want to fail.

Your product is wrong.

The New Era: The Decade of Client Focused Sport.

Welcome to the new era for sport: the decade of Client Focused Sport.

What is Client Focused Sport?

It is listening to your clients – i.e. the children and parents who you want to be part of your sport and providing them with the sporting product they want.

This is a major challenge for all sport and something all sporting organisations are struggling to get their heads around.

In the past, when a kid or a parent said “I want to join your swimming club or rowing club or athletics club”  you offered them your product.

“Here is our sport. You need to come ten times a week and start dreaming about being an Olympic Champion - take it or leave it”.

You immediately put them into your athlete development pathway with the assumption that every kid who walked through the front door wanted to get to the top.

And, in the past where sporting experience choices were limited and information about sporting experiences difficult to find, many “took it” and accepted whatever the sport was prepared to offer.

Now, kids and parents have multiple sporting experience choices available.

They have an unlimited amount of information on sporting experiences available on the Internet. And…most importantly, research continues to tell us that not every child wants to be an Olympic Champion. Some just want to keep fit, learn some new things, have fun with friends and participate in an enjoyable sporting activity.

Increasingly, to sports who offer inflexible, performance focused, one size fits all sporting products, kids and parents are “leaving it”.

Who owns sport? NOT Sport!

There is a popularly held myth about sport around the world. That “sport”, (as in sporting organisations, national federations and other sporting bodies), owns sport.

Sport is not owned by sport.

It is own by the clients of the sport – the kids, the parents, the grandparents, the athletes – the people who make the decision about which sports experience to buy and what they want from that experience.

Again – this is heresy to the sporting federations but like it or not, you do not own your sport any more: your clients do.

Band-aids don’t work on gaping wounds:

In the sports where numbers of registered participants and Clubs are decreasing, they are in panic mode.

They are holding crisis meetings and brain storming meetings and innovations meetings and “let’s think outside the box” meetings trying to come up with ways of turning things around.

And for the most part the solutions these meetings come up with are nothing but band-aids..which are totally ineffective when you are dealing with “gaping wounds”.

“Let’s have face painting and inflatable jumping castles for the kids”

“Let’s put on a disco after the competition to keep the kids entertained“

“Let’s develop some kind of “kid’s club” where kids get hats and stickers and coloring books with special sports characters on them”.

“Let’s offer little prizes like movie tickets and gift vouchers for kids who perform well in competition”

“Let’s have a coffee place for parents to sit and relax while the kids are training and competing”.

Band-aids….band-aids….band-aids.

None of them work (or if they do it is for a very very short time) because none of the address the real problem.

Your product is wrong. The only reason you feel the need to think outside the box is that your box is broken and you need a new box.

McDonald’s Thinking:

Regardless of what you think about their food, their business practices, their ingredients etc etc you have to admire McDonald’s ability to understand their clients needs and respond to them.

The survival of McDonald’s depends on their ability to listen to their clients, respond to their needs and do it very very well.

Imagine where McDonald’s would be today if they had not responded to their clients calls for “lighter and healthier” menu items, to “cafe” style experiences, to having “drive throughs” for busy customers…..they would be Mc-Bankrupt and Mc-History!

Now look at your own sport.

Do you listen - really listen to your clients?

Do you respond to their needs?

Or do you hold “think outside the box” meetings, come up with ideas that you “think” your clients need and then try to sell your ideas to them.

It is time to change…but to change in response to the needs of your clients.

See my next Post “New Sport…what is it, how to make it work in your sport and why it will succeed”.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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There are sporting kids.

There are sporting coaches.

But the critical people in the sporting equation are sporting parents.

This presentation helps every parent understand how to be a Gold Medal Sporting Parent and how to help their child realise their full potential.

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And don’t forget to contact us and ask about our Sporting Parents seminars…..a must for every parent.

© 2010 – 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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I am getting so sick of people talking about high performance environments, about following a process, about systems, about structures, about programs, about initiatives, about workshops and about strategies.

The name of the game is Winning – oops – there I said it.

Winning. Winning. Winning. There, I said it again.

That felt great. I’ll say it some more. Winning. Winning. Winning. Winning.

That felt so good I’ll do it again. Winning!! Winning!!!! Winning!!!!!

The W Word: Winning.

Time to Talk about Winning:

Everyone talks about “doing your best” and “trying really hard” and “never giving up” and “achieving my personal best” but when is the last time you heard someone stand up and with real courage, commitment and conviction say, “I am here to win”?

So let’s start thinking about winning, talking about winning and doing things in training, preparation and competition that make winning as certain as night follows day, dogs chase cats, and having to pay far too much income tax.

Winning. To come first. To be the best. To be better than your competition. To be the leader.

All these things sound really positive and are worth striving for but why have they become so difficult to talk about and so rare to find?

Because talking “winning” means putting yourself “on the line”.

It means making a clear statement that your intention is to win and that coming second is unacceptable. Making a statement like “I am here to win” means you have made a commitment that nothing except the Gold Medal or the Premiership Cup matters.

It is absolute – it is finite – there is no misunderstanding: you thirst to be first! You want to go for the gold and leave the silverware for someone making a dinner setting.

And that’s why it is so scary and so intimidating for so many people.

There is no “out” clause, no excuses, no alternatives – it’s win or it’s lose. When you declare “I am going for the win” there is no ambiguity, no confusion…winning means winning.

It’s OK to talk about pushing for the podium, to go for the gold and to want to win…..if and this is a big if, your winning thoughts and winning words are supported by winning actions.

Winning Thoughts:

Winning thoughts – The process of winning begins with Winning thoughts. Winning thoughts are dreams, and everyone dreams.  They are those moments when your spirit soars, when your imagination flies and you dream about achieving great things.

They are the fire – the inspiration for all the great things you want to do and will do in the future. Lots of people dream about winning. Lots of people can even imagine (visualise) themselves holding up the Olympic Gold, doing the press conference in front of the world’s media and some people even imagine what they will say when they get asked “So what does it feel like to be the Olympic Champion”.

Having winning thoughts is not the issue…..it’s going to the next step and saying (and meaning) Winning Words.  

Winning Words:

Winning words – If your dreams are the fire – the spark of your winning ways, then your words, i.e. your winning words, are your fuel.

We all use some form of self talk in everyday life: you know that little voice that says “I can do this” or “This isn’t so tough” or “Hang in there – this pain will pass”.

Winning is about taking these inner voices and actually giving them a real voice. Letting winning thoughts out and hearing them makes them real. It takes them out of the world of dreams and imagination and into the real world where they can be heard: by you and others.

Saying it is one thing…now comes the big step: turning winning words into winning actions.

Winning Actions:

Winning actions…and the key to it all is action. Winning thoughts are easy to think. Winning words are easy to say.  But winning actions….they require something different: they require your energy, your enthusiasm, your commitment and you taking responsibility to make your dreams real.

It’s easy to dream “Wow – I really wish I could win”.

It’s easy to say “I really want to win”. 

But the reason why so many people never actually win is that they are not prepared to do what it takes to prepare to win.

This is surprising as most athletes, players and coaches already know what it will take to win – they just don’t do it.

And knowing how to win but not doing it, produces the same result as not knowing how to win.

Look through the “Magic Window”:

Imagine for a moment you were looking through a magic window at the best athlete in the world in your sport or at the best player in your position in your competition. It could be the person who will win the Olympic Gold medal in your event. Or it could be the best player in your position in the world. Imagine what they would be doing right now…..

They are in a pool somewhere in the world – or on a field – or on a court – or in a gym, doing what you are doing: training, stretching, warming up, warming down, doing drills and all the other stuff that you do every day in every training session.

But…..it’s not what they are doing that makes the difference and makes them the best…………..it’s how they are doing it.

• They got to training early and did some extra stretching and strengthening work;
• They had their own drink bottle and drank regularly throughout the training session;
• They attacked every task like it was the final moments of the Olympic final or the final seconds of the championship game;
• They executed every skill with competition quality power and speed;
• They finished off every repeat with focus and concentration practicing maintaining technique under fatigue and pressure conditions;
• They completed all their training to the best of their ability – holding nothing back in spite of the pain and discomfort;
• As soon as the training session finished, they immediately started recovering from training and began the preparation process for the next session.

They made a decision that they would out-train, out-stretch, out-strengthen, out-work, out-believe, out-recover and out-prepare any athlete in their sport in the world and that’s why they will win.

They had a dream – they spoke it – they believed it – they put it into action and…they will win.

So, my question to you is this…“if you know what it will take to be the best in the world in your sport…why aren’t you doing it now?”

You’ve got the dream.

You know the words.

You know what actions you have to take….so do it! 

You can do it.

Summary:

1. So don’t be afraid of thinking about and talking about winning: winning is a good thing;
2. But…..and this is the key to it all….it’s only cool to think about and talk about winning if you then turn your winning thoughts and winning words into winning actions with outstanding, consistently brilliant and uncompromisingly excellent training and preparation;
3.  And, if you don’t win….learn, learn, learn from it. Winning means improvement and improvement comes from learning. So every experience, win, lose or draw, is learning. Learn more – improve faster – win more often;
4. What the mind can conceive, and with words will believe, the body can achieve.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010 – 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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Professional teams, sporting associations and many secondary schools are increasingly looking to create and invest in Elite Junior Sports Academies.

There are several reasons behind this including:

1. It is easier (and cheaper) to “grow” the next generation of elite senior athletes than to buy or recruit them;
2. It can serve as a recruitment tool for talented young athletes, students (and their parents);
3. The higher the entry point – the higher the exit point, i.e. if the standard of junior development is higher, the belief is that the higher the level of ulitmate senior performance may be.

Regardless of the motive, what’s the best way to develop an Elite Junior Sports Academy?

Here are my Ten Tips for Creating a Successful Elite Junior Sports Academy:

1. Don’t build facilities until you have something to put in them; The facilities are the easy part. Put together a High Performance Centre Focus Group or Committee. Start fund raising. Voila! The facilities are not the important part – it’s having a well thought out, well structured, professionally driven program to put into the facilities. Many many elite junior sports academies fail because they made the fatal mistake of placing Facilities before Function - which should only happen in the dictionary;
2. Have an overall philosophy and focus for creating the Elite Junior program; Have a clear reason behind creating the elite junior sports academy to begin with. Is it to create the next generation of senior athletes? Is it a recruitment tool to entice families to join your school? Is it an “end in itself” – i.e. to produce winning athletes and teams at junior level. First decide what it is you are trying to achieve – then work hard to achieve it;
3. Invest in coaching as a real priority; The quality of the coaching being provided through the elite junior sports academy should be of the highest possible standard. The reason is simple. The purpose of elite junior sports academies is to identify and develop talent which ultimately is capable of performing at a higher level than the current generation of senior athletes – “success is a moving target”. So it follows that the coaches working with the elite junior athletes should be visionary and have a clear understanding of what it will take to perform at the highest level now and in the future. The elite junior sports academy should not be a “retirement home” for older coaches or the place for part time amateur “parent” coaches – the best junior athletes should be working with the best coaches;
4. Develop a smart T.O.P - Talent Optimisation Program - i.e. talent identification plus talent development; Create an intelligent, logical system of talent identification / screening to find the right athletes for the elite junior sports academy program and put in place the best possible development program and environment to help them realise their full potential;
5. Educate the parents; Parents are partners in performance! Along with the athletes and the coach they form a “team” which helps turn potential into performance – or, if you like elite athletes need “elite” parents;
6. Develop character, values and mental skills as a priority; Physical talent is harder to hide than it is to find. Too many elite junior sports academies place far too much importance on the identification and development of physical characteristics and not enough time on values, leadership, self-confidence, resilience and team-skills: the core requirements of success as senior athletes;
7. Develop individualised plans rather than one size fits all programs; Formula One cars do not come off an assembly line. Provide unique, individualised, tailored development plans for each athlete in the elite junior sports academy rather than a “production line” approach where every athlete receives the same coaching, preparation, program and support;
8. Aim to create independent, self reliant athletes – do not pamper them. Being afforded the tag “elite junior” does not mean anything other than “you have shown the potential to be given the opportunity to be part of our program”. Message to coaches and elite junior program managers…do not worship talent! The most important thing to remember is that elite junior programs are the starting point of an athlete’s development and one small step towards them realising their potential;
9. Ensure the elite junior program is aligned to, synchronised with and in harmony with the strategic direction of the senior program; If the purpose of the elite junior academy program is to prepare athletes for success as senior athletes, then ensure the programs, the coaching, the philosophies, technical development, skills learning etc etc are all aligned with the strategic direction of the senior program. Too many elite junior academy programs fail to “marry” themselves to the senior program they are supposed to be supporting and as a result can become irrelevant and be the end – rather than the beginning of the athlete’s development pathway;
10. Educate, educate, educate; A critical aim of elite junior sports academies should be to educate athletes in all aspects of personal athletic management : nutrition, recovery, time management, personal leadership, team skills, sleep management, travel management, injury minimisation and management, drug and alcohol education, fundamentals of strength and conditioning………these are all skills which should be learnt and mastered while part of elite junior sports academy programs.

As the Twig is Bent, So Shall it Grow: Elite Junior Sports Academies can provide the foundations of a successful career in sport and the provide the opportunity for talented young athletes to realise their full potential.

As it is with all great ventures, work backwards………think about what you want to achieve, then develop the people, plans, programs, systems and structures to deliver it.

Moregold works with Professional Teams, Schools and Sporting Organisatons to create world class elite junior sports academies.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010 – 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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WG

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Every now and again, a client will ask me to come up with a new way of doing something to help them achieve their performance goals.

In recent years, a real focus for me has been developing innovative talent identification, recruitment and retention strategies for professional sporting teams.

These next three posts will outline a concept called the Player Potential Profile – an integrated, practical approach to Talent Identification and Recruitment in High Performance Sport.

Regular readers of www.sportscoachingbrain.com will know I have been critical of Talent Identification: or more accurately the way that talent i.d. is currently conducted in the western world.

The fundamental thinking behind this criticism is the obsession of talent i.d.-ers with physical testing and physical abilities of potential champions.

Whilst it is indisputable that a degree of physical talent is necessary for success in any high performance sport, competition success at the highest level depends on the optimal blending  of mental, technical, tactical, genetic and cultural / familial factors in addition to physical factors.

The “big six” indicators of a player’s performance potential – the Performance Potential factors are:

1. Physical abilities;
2. Personality characteristics;
3. Playing skills;
4. Performance abilities;
5. Pedigree (i.e. genetic makeup);
6. Preparation ((i.e. environment, family, culture).

The Player Potential Profile concept grew out of a need to provide professional team clients with a simple, practical way of assessing talented players using a cross disciplinary, integrated approach.

It also grew out of a need to provide the Boards of Directors and CEOs of several professional football teams I have worked for with a simple, easy to understand, all inclusive “rating scale” to help them determine which players to recruit and retain.

The development of the Player Potential Profile was based on three core principles:

1. Can you develop an integrated, interdisciplinary, practical approach to talent id, recruitment and retention for high performance sport?
2. Can you test, evaluate and analyse the “big six” indicators of player performance using valid, reliable, relevant and meaningful testing protocols?
3. Can you simplify the results of the testing protocols into a simple, easy to understand format for sports managers, coaching staff, recruitment staff and sports administrators without technical expertise in performance science to help them make better recruitment and retention decisions?

The Player Potential Profile is developed in partnership with the coaching, sports science, sports medicine and strength and conditioning professionals in each team and is a genuine interdisciplinary, performance focused measurement of potential.

Performance Potential Factor Number 1 - Physical abilities:

Finding real physical talent in players of any sport is not difficult - real talent is harder to hide than it is to find!

The first challenge in developing a measure of physical abilities is to find physical testing protocols which are not only scientifically valid and reliable but are also relevant and meaningful to the sport and the Club’s playing philosophy. For example, a 3 kilometre running time trial may be valid and reliable as a test protocol but it may not be relevant or meaningful to a team looking to recruit a player into a power based, explosive role.

The next challenge is to be able to convert the often complex, detailed results from the physical testing protocols into something which has meaning and relevance to non-technical staff, i.e. Board of Directors, CEO etc who may need to be convinced to allocate resources to buy one player or the other.

A Board Chairman, charged with signing off on the recruitment budget is unlikely to be impressed by a “beep test” score of 15.5 or a VO2 max of 76 mls/kg/min so being able to convert test results into something meaningful and relevant to the sport’s decision makers is critical.

In designing the Player Potential Profile the key has been to match the testing protocols with the Club’s long term player development philosophy, i.e. implement a testing process designed to find players with the ability to deliver the Club’s “trademark” playing style.

Performance Potential Factor Number 2 – Personality characteristics:

Ask an experienced coach this question, “What does it take to win at high performance levels?” and invariably you will get a response like this: “You need physical talent driven by determination, desire, passion, commitment, a strong work ethic and courage”. Yet, in spite of the general acceptance of the critical importance of mental skills and personality factors in success in high performance sport, little real focus is given to this area of talent identification and recruitment.

In the Player Potential Profile model, all Performance Factors are considered carefully and with equal focus.

For example, in a professional football team I recently worked with, the coaching staff determined that five personality factors were the most important in their talent identification and recruitment philosophy.

Some fundamental research suggested that there were two scientifically valid and reliable testing tools available to measures these personality factors.

We then worked collaboratively with the coaching team, the test designers and a psychologist to create a unique testing tool based on the original testing tool which met our needs of validity, reliability, relevance and meaning.

In Second Post of the Player Potential Profile, I will cover Playing Skills and Performance Abilities and how they are measured and incorporated into the Player Potential Profile.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010 – 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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