Understanding the adoption of long-term athlete development in one community sport club

ABSTRACT

Rationale/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the adoption of long-term athlete development in one community sport club in order to advance understanding of its actual uptake and the conditions, barriers, and facilitators that influence its adoption at the community level.

Design/methodology/approach: A policy implementation framework incorporating a translation perspective was used to investigate the uptake of LTAD and related principles at the community level. An instrumental case study involving interviews with club administrators and coaches was conducted.

Findings: Findings revealed that the club had limited awareness of LTAD yet was undertaking long-term athlete development initiatives on its own in response to the needs and conditions of the club and its community. Communication with stakeholders, several club characteristics, and economic, political, and social/cultural conditions were found to either facilitate or inhibit the adoption of LTAD.

Practical Implications: This study draws attention to the fragmented communication system present in the Canadian sport system, and highlights the importance of consulting with community sport clubs in the development and implementation of nationallydeveloped policy.

Research Contribution: Gaining the perspective of club administrators and coaches who are responsible for the strategic direction and programing of the club highlights the importance of examining those perspectives with regards to policy implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Community sport
• policy implementation
• translation
• long term athlete development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Two subsequent versions of Long-Term Athlete Development have been published – LTAD 2.1 in 2016 and Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0 in 2019. The updated versions include newer information and lessons learned as earlier versions were implemented throughout sport in Canada. The updated versions are also indicative of a commitment to continuous improvement (Sport for Life, 2016) and a shift in language to better represent all levels of sport participation (Sport for Life, 2019).