Full Description
Over the last twenty years or so there has been a sharp increase in interest from national sports federations and governments in the development of effective elite sport systems, particularly focused on achieving success in the summer and winter Olympic Games. Many countries now have publicly funded elite sports strategies which provide specialist facilities and support staff and often provide direct financial support for athletes. These developments have stimulated academic interest in describing the elite sport systems, analysing the processes by which policy is established and evaluating the impact of these policies on elite athlete success. Far less attention has been placed on the operation of the elite sports systems and on how the system interfaces with the athlete. The aim of this book is to refocus attention on the management and operation of systems designed to deliver elite success.
The book draws on the theoretical literature in implementation, organisation theory, leadership and complexity. This provides an initial context for analysis and a stimulus for theory development around key questions such as:
How do coaches manage their relationship with athletes?
How does talent identification operate in practice?
Do coaches fulfil the role of gatekeeper between the athlete and other elements of the sports system e.g. sports science support?
How do managers, support staff and athletes interpret the expectations placed on them?
The first part of the book focuses on aspects of the effectiveness of elite sports systems and the second explores aspects of systems operation focused on the interface between the athlete and the sport development system, and cross-cutting themes within the book include the management of talent identification and coach development. This is illuminating reading for any student, researcher or practitioner working in sport development, sport management or sports coaching.
Contents
Part 1: How different systems work 1. Systems and the development of elite athletes 2. 'Big brother' and caring sister: Performance management and the athlete's entourage 3. Modernisation and elite sport development in England and the United Kingdom: talent identification and coach development 4. The ecology of talent development in the Nordic elite sport model 5. Resources and Capabilities? Developing Malaysian National Sport Associations Part 2: Delivering athlete support 6. Managing core processes in elite athlete development: Norwegian cross country skiing 7. Talent identification and development in Germany - state of play and current tasks 8. Training environments - more than bricks and mortar 9. Integrating the micro and meso-level approaches to athlete development and success 10. Performance leadership and management in elite sport: Current status and future directions 11. Managing heterogeneity and complexity
