Cape Town Sport and Green Point Stadium

Cape Town is already one of the world’s leading sporting cities according to this recent article and completion of the new Cape Town Stadium in Green Point will make it an even more attractive destiantion for sports fans.

Cape Town's Green Point stadium is illuminated as construction officials test the lighting as part of preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, October 27 2009.

According to the article published on the Sports City website, Cape Town was one of the hottest sporting destiations of 2009 as a result of hosting a series of major international events, the weak currency and its perennially sunny perch on the tip of South Africa.

Cape Town Stadium's grass pitch starts to establish.

Cape Town hosted the opening match of this year’s Indian Premier League cricket tournament which was relocated to South Africa because of security concerns. The IPL was followed by the Lions Tour( rugby) and the FIFA Confederations Cup (soccer).

Cape Town is also a popular stop off for major sailing races such as the Volvo Ocean race and hosts major participation events such as the Cape Argus Cycle and Two Oceans Marathon.

Next year it will be the FIFA World Cup and the Cape Town stadium in Greenpoint is fast approaching completition. This week the stadium was illuminated highlighting what an iconic venue it will be for the 2010 World Cup and for other future sporting events.  Sitting near the V&A Waterfront the stadium is also impressive when viewed against the backdrop of Table Mountain.

Towards 2016 (Sporting Talent 6)

Norman Brook recently presented a paper on the practice of identifying, confirming and developing sporting talent at a seminar in Fortaleza, Brazil, organised through the International Inspiration programme and hosted by the state government of Ceara.  Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 and identifying and developing talent in Olympic sports will be high on the nations agenda.  The final extract from the paper is featured below.

TOWARDS 2016

With Rio de Janeiro hosting the 2016 Olympic Goals there is now only 6-7 years for Olympic sports in Brazil to identify and develop potential medal winners.  Most of these future Olympians are already participating in their sport, but some will be participating in other sports and others have still to enter sport.

What age will potential medallists be in 2016?  If a similar age to Brazil’s Olympic Champions at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 their ages will range from 21-38 years of age.  The average age would be around 27 years.  If we used this average age then our future Olympic champions will be 20 years of age today.  If we use the lower age of 21 years then they be 14 years of age now.

Figure 4: 6-7 Years left to identify and develop talent for the 2016 Olympic Games.

In track and field athletics, coaches used to suggest it took an individual athlete 12 years of participation in the sport to achieve their top performance.  Ericsson (1993) put forward a theory that it takes ten years or 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to achieve international levels of sporting expertise.

If this is the case then our potential Olympic 2016 champions need to be in sports specific programmes now.

Latest research by Cote et al (in press) has discounted Ericsson’s 10,000 hour rule which is driving thinking in some sports programmes.

Expert performance in sport where peak performance generally occurs after the age of 20 has been achieved with only 3000-4000 hours of sport specific training.  This is borne out by some recent World Champions.  Tom Daley at 15 years won the 2009 World Championships in diving. Having developed a gymnastics background before transferring to diving, it could be argued that this is because he is in an early specialisation sport.  Consider though two other new World Champions in the sports of marathon running and triathlon, both late specialisation sports.  These are sports where top level performances can be achieved at ages of 30-40 years.  Bai Xue is just 20 years and is the 2009 World Marathon Champion. Alistair Brownlee if 21 years and is the 2009 World Triathlon Champion.

References

Baker, J. & Côté J. (2006). Shifting training requirements during athlete development: The relationship among deliberate practice, deliberate play and other sport involvement in the acquisition of sport expertise.

Balyi I.  (2005). The Role of Long Term Athlete Development in Elite Sport. Paper presented at the  IV International Forum on Elite Sport, Montreal.

Côté, J, Baker, J., & Abernethy, B. (in press). Practice and Play in the Development of Sport Expertise.

Delaney, B. J., Donnelly, P., News, J. & Haughey, T. J. (2008). Improving Physical Literacy.

Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. Th., & Tesch-Roemer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363-406.

Fraser-Thomas J., Cote J. (2007) Youth Sport: Implementing Findings and Moving Forward with Research.

Gagne, F. (2002). A Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT), available: www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/gifted_2002_article.doc

Maslow A.H. (1943), A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943):370-96.

Aligning Systems (Sporting Talent 5)

Norman Brook recently presented a paper on the practice of identifying, confirming and developing sporting talent at a seminar in Fortaleza, Brazil, organised through the International Inspiration programme and hosted by the state government of Ceara.  Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 and identifying and developing talent in Olympic sports will be high on the nations agenda.  The fifth extract from the paper is featured below and final extract will be published here shortly.

ALIGNING SYSTEMS

National talent programmes need to be aligned to a long term athlete development model or framework which provides for the development of physical literacy in young people and offers them the opportunity of pursuing performance sport and excellence.  All stakeholders including schools, sport and development NGOs and National Sports Federations should consider how their programmes match to the long term athlete development.

Developing talented athletes is the function and key responsibility of the National Sport Federations.  Federations should have in place bespoke (sports specific) ‘real world’ solutions that ensure the systematic identification, confirmation and development of precocious sporting talent.

Talent identification is but one small part of the journey an athlete makes from demonstrating an aptitude for sport to achieving excellence or demonstrating real genius.

Figure 3: A talent development pathway adopted by the British Triathlon Federation requiring athletes to demonstrate progress to move up to the next level.

Foundations for Talent (Sporting Talent 4)

Norman Brook recently presented a paper on the practice of identifying, confirming and developing sporting talent at a seminar in Fortaleza, Brazil, organised through the International Inspiration programme and hosted by the state government of Ceara.  Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 and identifying and developing talent in Olympic sports will be high on the nations agenda.  The fourth extract from the paper is featured below and two more will be published here over the next  week.

FOUNDATIONS FOR TALENT

“There is little evidence that talent identification is the “key” to talent development. Play and sampling during childhood, and deliberate practice, commitment, desire, willingness to work hard, and good coaching during adolescence are more pervasive predictors of expertise. These traits are built throughout a young athletes’ career, not identified in childhood.”

Fraser-Thomas and Cote (2007) here suggest that the two important factors in developing talent are the individuals experience in childhood and adolescence. In childhood the foundations of long term participation an excellence are established through play and the sampling of sport.  In adolescence, individual motivation and a quality sports experience allowing talent to develop.

The foundations for participation and excellence in sport are established in young people during their early years in play, sport and physical education.  Balyi (2005) has described three development stages in childhood:

• Active Start (0-6 years);
• FUNdamentals (6-8/9 years);
• Learn to Play and Practice (8/9-11/13 years).

It is during childhood that young person develops physical literacy, a prerequisite for both life-long participation and excellence in sport.

Physical Literacy is defined by Delaney et al (2008) as “the ability to use body management, locomotor and object control skills in a competent manner, with the capacity to apply them with confidence in settings which may lead to sustained involvement in sport and physical recreation.”

Balyi (2005) suggests that there are two phases where those with an aptitude for a sport build the physical and mental capabilities required to achieve excellence in sport:

• Training to Train (11/13-15/16 years);
• Training to Compete (15/16–21/23 years);

The “training to train” and “training to compete” phases are built on the foundations of physical literacy and are where talent is identified, confirmed and developed.

Talent Confirmation (Sporting Talent 3)

Norman Brook recently presented a paper on the practice of identifying, confirming and developing sporting talent at a seminar in Fortaleza, Brazil, organised through the International Inspiration programme and hosted by the state government of Ceara.  Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 and identifying and developing talent in Olympic sports will be high on the nations agenda.  The third extract from the paper is featured below and others will be publshed here over the next few weeks.

Talent identification systems will identify individuals with attributes that suggest an aptitude for a sport.  Although potential may exist, real talent can only be confirmed by engaging with the individual in a specific sports training environment.  In this setting talent can be confirmed by assessing additional qualities including:

• the individual’s level of maturation;
• their desire, belief and persistence to be the best;
• whether they are receptive to coaching and support;
• their commitment to programme goals;
• their ability to learn;
• their physiological response to training;
• their games/tactical intelligence;
• their results in a competitive environment.

The assessment of these and other key qualities is summative and should take place through a coach lead talent confirmation programme.

Norman Brook contributes to the Expert Panel on Sporting Talent

Those athletes deemed through talent confirmation programmes to have exceptional talent can then be supported to develop through to becoming an elite performer.  Such programmes will provide confirmed talent with:

 

• Superior Coaching;
• Training Camps, Training & Competition Guidance;
• Technical analysis and discipline/role specific input;
• Sports science and medicine support;
• Access to appropriate training facilities and equipment;
• Lifestyle Support – Financial/Education

The fourth of our blogs on talent identification and development will be published shortly and will examine the foundations of talent.

Finding Talent (Sporting Talent 2)

Norman Brook recently presented a paper on the practice of identifying, confirming and developing sporting talent at a seminar in Fortaleza, Brazil, organised through the International Inspiration programme and hosted by the state government of Ceara.  Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 and identifying and developing talent in Olympic sports will be high on the nations agenda.  The second extract from the paper is featured below and others will be publshed here over the next few weeks.

There are a number of different approaches taken to finding talent in sport including:

• Talent Selection;
• Generic Talent ID;
• Bespoke (Sports Specific) Talent ID;
• Talent Transfer;
• Online Talent ID.

Talent Selection

Selecting individuals on the basis of their performance in a particular sport is a common method of talent identification but the pool of available talent is limited to those already participating in the sport.  This method is effective in sports that attract high levels of participation.

Where the sport involves objective measures of performance, selection is largely based on age related performance standards.  Coaches may also take other factors, such as the athlete’s physique or age, into consideration.

In team sport, or sports where performance is subjective rather than objective, selection is often based on the observations of a talent scout.  Professional sports teams often to send out scouts to search for the next generation talent amongst the better youth teams.

Talent selection may be less effective when used as a strategy in those sports that do not enjoy high levels of participation as it limits pool of potential talent in that sport.

Generic Talent Identification

Talent identification involves the identification of individuals not yet participating in a particular sport.  It is not that they are not participating in sport, but rather that they are not yet participating in that sport, or are specialising in another sport.

General talent identification strategies were a feature of sport in Eastern Europe during the “Cold War” period.  In East Germany, a furtherance-system existed for young people aged 6 to 10 years (or older). Sport-teachers at school were encouraged to look for certain talents (aptitudes) in all pupils. For older pupils it was then possible for those demonstrating an aptitude to attend a secondary-school with a focus on sports.

In recent years national generic talent identification systems have been developed in countries such as Australia, Brazil and Northern Ireland.  The challenge of such initiatives is that they need to be accompanied by talent confirmation and development systems to be successful.  The aptitudes these programmes measure are not sports specific and the individuals identified as having desirable characteristics for sport need to be further assessed in a specific sports environment before the existance of talent can be confirmed.  This requires a talent confirmation and development process to be in place for each sport that is accessible to the young people undertaking generic talent testing.

The resources required to deliver generic talent identification are far less than that required to deliver talent confirmation and development programmes. There is therefore a danger that generic testing will not be effective in identifying talent where insufficient resources are assigned to talent confirmation and development.

A question that needs to be asked of generic talent identification programmes is, are they more or less successful at identifying talent than the delivery of youth sport programmes aimed at learning to play and practice sport? Teaching young people fundamental movement and sports skills during the skill hungry years of 8 to 11/13, adopting a sports specific approach to talent selection  an approach thats combines the assessment of skill, physical performance and attitude, may be prove more effective.

There is also a question as to the age at which young people are assessed.  In Brazil testing takes place from 10-17 years and in Australia from 12-22 years.  Consideration needs to be given to whether assessment should be based on age or stage of development.  Does testing fit with long term participant/athlete development reflecting those periods of a young person’s life where skill and certain physical qualities can be optimally developed?

 

 

The “Descoberta do Talento Esportivo” programme in Brazil applies the following physical and physiological tests:

 

 

• Height
• Body Mass
• Measurement Scale
• Flexibility (sit and reach)
• Strength-endurance (abdominal)
• Explosive strength (horizontal jump)
• Medicine-ball throw
• Speed (square test)
• peed (race 20 meters)
• Endurance Test (nine minutes)

 In Australia, General Talent Identification testing comprises the following tests:

• Standing Height
• Body Mass
• Arm Span
• Push-Ups
• Vertical Jump
• 40m Sprint
• Option A: 20m Shuttle Run Test
• Option B: 1.6Km

 Bespoke (Sports Specific) Talent Identification

A number of different sports have bespoke talent identification programmes that measure those aptitudes felt to be most important if success is to be achieved in the sport.  Bespoke TID initiatives focus on selected physical, performance and skill characteristics specific to success in that sport.  In rowing for example, height, body mass and arm length are important factors. These are assessed along with endurance and power measred by means of rowing ergometer testing.

A sport like soccer will focus on assessment of a person’s skills on the soccer field as well as their speed, agility and quickness.

The following examples show the bespoke talent assessment measures adopted by two of the World’s leading triathlon nations.  Note that swimming and running performance are the key talent identification factors and that cycling is not assessed.   

Triathlon Australia	British Triathlon
Standing Height Body Mass 100m Swim Time Trial 1000m Swim Time Trial 400m Run Time Trial 5000m Run Time Trial	200m or 400m swim time 16 years and under 200m, 17 years and older 400m 1000m, 1500m or 3000m run time 12 years and under 1000m, 16 years and under 1500m, 17 years and older 3000m Times combined and points awarded.

Talent Transfer

Talent transfer follows a similar approach to bespoke (sports specific) talent identification with the exception that the individuals being targeted have already demonstrated talent in another sport.  They may have achieved all they can in that sport or failed to reach the “excellence” level and have decided to try out for an alternative sport.

Examples of talent transfer programmes reported in the United Kingdom include:

• Gymnasts transferring to Olympic Diving;
• All Sports (1.90+ Men/1.80m+ Women) to Rowing, Basketball, Handball (Sporting Giants)
• Swimmer/Runners transferring to Triathlon (TriGold)
• Soccer/Rugby Players transferring to Bob Skeleton, Hockey, Athletics (Pitch2Podium)
• All Sports (Women) to cycling, bob skeleton, canoeing, modern pentathlon, rowing, and sailing, (Girls4Gold).
• Swimmers, rowers and surf-lifesavers transferring to Sprint Kayaking.

Successful talent transfers contributed to Team GB’s Olympic medal tally in 2006 and 2008 in the sports of Cycling, Bob Skeleton, and Rowing.

Online Talent Identification

Young people are increasingly using the internet as a means of communicating.  Online talent identification programmes allow young people to “self assess” their aptitude for a sport and to register their performances and personal details with a sport.  Two good examples of these are the online systems operated by the Australian Sports Commission and the British Triathlon Federation.

The third of our blogs on talent identification and development will be published shortly and will examine the issue of talent confirmation.

Imizamo Yethu Sports Field Project Now Online

Schoolboy Practices Soccer in School Yard

 

The Imizamo Yethu Sports Field Project has created an online presence to support the promotion of the project and facilitate the raising of funds.  The project has established a website, blog, Facebook group and a page on the charity fund raising site JustGiving.

 The project aims to raise £300,000 through the charity International Development through Sport (Charity Registration No 1001564) to provide a 3G synthetic sports field and supporting youth sport and development programme in the informal settlement of Imizamo Yethu.

Imizamo Yethu is situated in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa and has limited and poor facilities for sports participation especially for young people.  This project aims to improve the lives of young people from Imizamo Yethu by giving them the opportunity to take part in sports activity linked to life skills training.

The project will use email and social media to recruit and support 100,000 individuals in the UK who will each be asked to commit to raising £300 each.  Funds raised will be collected through JustGiving the online charity fundraising website.

If you would like to support this charitable effort, please contact us.

The Journey from Competency to Capability

Top sports coaches are innovative, finding new approaches to the train and prepare their teams and athletes, and in the process helping them to achieve a competitive advantage.  Good coaches possess practical coaching skills, knowledge and understanding of their sport, and demonstrate appropriate attitude, values and conduct.  Top coaches move to higher levels by reflecting on their coaching practice, solving problems and creating new and innovative approaches to coaching.  Top coaches move beyond competency and demonstrate capability.

The following diagram helps explain this journey from competency to capability.

The Journey from Competency to Capability (Applied Competency)

When a coach has achived a minimal standard of coaching by demonstrating that they can perform a coaching tasks in predetermined contexts to a prescribed standard, they are considered to possess practical competency.

If a coach can demonstrate that they have a clear understanding of what they are doing when performing coaching tasks and why they are doing them, they can be said to possess foundational competency.

Reflective competence is where the coach is able to take his/her coaching to a new level by adapting their skills and knowledge to unfamiliar issues situations and also being able to explain their adaptations.  They are able to reflect on their coaching practice, develop it to new levels, and  bring innovative approaches to their coaching.

This development over time of practical, foundational and reflective competence will see improving standards of coaching practice. Coaches progressing from recognised minimal standards to new standards of applied coaching competence or capabilty.

Grass Roots Sport Critical to Effective Sports Sponsorship

New research from Eurosport, ZenithOptimedia & Synovate indicates that investment in the grass roots of sport is of critical importance to sponsorship effectiveness during a time of recession according to the Sports Business Group.

Sports Business Group are the world’s leading supplier of information, media and B2B marketing services to the sports industry.

With corporate social responsibility (CSR) now rapidly becoming a central aspect to the sponsorship of the biggest brands, companies, sporting federations and governing bodies will be taking note of the findings at a time when marketing strategies are coming under serious scrutiny.

The report, taken out in October 2008, interviewed 1,600 upmarket consumers and 10 leading sports marketers whose responses created a sports marketing code of conduct for companies during the difficult economic climate. 
 
It found that 81 per cent of consumers believe “what companies do over what they say” and that 74 per cent believed CSR sports investment both helps sport to develop, and was essential as part of the marketing strategy for large brands.
 
The survey also revealed grass roots investment was considered an imperative and necessary component of a successful sports marketing campaign. Although expensive, it is valued by consumers who appreciate organisations which make a real contribution to sports development.
 
The report’s findings were showcased at  a summit organised by the SportBusiness  Group.  For further details visit the website of  Sports Business International

International Inspiration in Zambia

I was especialy pleased to be invited by UK Sport earlier this month to travel back to Lusaka, Zambia, to undertake some consultancy work with Ken Black in connection with the London 2012 legacy programme titled International Inspiration writes Norman Brook.

Edusport Activity

The reason being that this was my fourth engagement with the Zambian sporting community, the other three dating back to 1995/1996 and I was keen to learn what had changed in the last 13-14 years. My first trip to Lusaka was with Andy Hansen, then of UK Sport and now the British Council’s lead officer for sport.  UK Sport had a small budget for international development that had been allocated for use in Zambia and the purpose of our visit was to meet with various Zambian stakeholders from sport, government and education to learn how the UK could best spend its resource in helping Zambia develop sport and physical education.

It was on this first trip that I met Mary Nicholls a UK volunteer from the Voluntary Servce Overseas (VSO) organisation who had a placement at the National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ).  Mary had arrived in Lusaka expecting to take up an advisory development role at the Sports Council, but soon found herself being parachuted into the role of General Secretary by the then Director General at the Ministry of Sport.  I was to learn on my return trip that 14 years on a similiar situation existed at the Sports Council.  Mary now works for the London Development Agency (LDA) and is very much involved in preparations for the London 2012 Olympics.

My other two previous engagements with Zambian sport arose from our first trip.  We had discovered that the Minister of Sport had appointed a number of provincial sports development officers but that they had only been given limited resources and had received no training in their new roles.  My return visit was to conduct a training course for these sports development practioners.  The third engagement took place in the UK when a small group of sport and physical education specialists from Zambia flew to the UK for a study tour.  My role being to manage their interaction with UK stakeholders and to conduct a workshop that allowed them to prepare a report on what they had learned and how this could be applied in the Zambian context.

When I flew into Lusaka Airport earlier this month, I was expecting to see change as I knew the economy had improved since the early 1990s and that there was more political stability.  Arriving at the airport, I began to wonder if I would find things had changed, as it was exactly how I had remembered it in 1995/1996.  The journey to my hotel though was more encouraging. I got chatting to some business men who worked for a broadband service provider who were active in Zambia and saw it as an emerging market.  We passed new shopping malls where there were well known South African multi-nationals trading such as Shoprite and Mr Price.  People on the street looked smart and purposeful.  New buildings were under construction. All in all things seemed better.

Major Makupa, Major Bwalya, Captain Nasilele of the NSCZ meet with Elias Banda and Norman Brook

The purpose of my visit was to meet up with a fellow Scot, Ken Black,  whom I have known for many years and had worked with before on training courses. We had even worked from the same building at Loughborough University and passed often on the stairs of the Beckwith Building.  Despite this we had not spent a lot of time together and I was keen to learn from him as he has become one a world leaders in making sport inclusive for people with a disability.  This particular trip was part of a consultation exercise on a sport for development training and accreditation project and would involve meetings with a range of Zambian stakeholders including many organisations that myself and Andy Hansen had met with during our first visit to Lusaka.

Our programme of meetings were arranged by Elias Banda who is UK Sport’s Zambian manager for the International Inspiration project.  I was really impressed with Elias and many of the other Zambian sports professionals I met on this visit.  Their level of knowledge of sport, sport development, sport for development and sports management was of the highest standard, They certainly knew what needed to be done to advance sport and sport for development in Zambia even though they lack the resources needed to deliver that development.  This for me was one of the biggest changes I noticed from my previous visits. On the previous trips we were the experts imparting knowledge to our Zambian colleagues.  On this trip they were our equals eagerly contributing to the discussion and debate on sport and sports development.

During this visit we met were a number of NGOs using sport as a development tool to deliver lifeskills training to young people including Edusport, Sport in Action, SCORE, Right to Play and NOWSPAR.  It was really pleasing to learn that these organisations are predominantly staffed by Zambians and that they are recruiting local volunteers, many of them peer leaders, to deliver sport and lifeskills training in the field.  They have been very successful at delivering community based sport assisted by external funding from their international organisations and donor partners.  It was also good to see UNICEF working in partnership with these organisations.

Elias Banda, Ken Black and Norman Brook meet with Joe Makano, Right to Play Zambia Director

Our visit to the Sports Council was reminiscent of that in 1995/1996.  The Board of NSCZ had not met for a number of years and the organisation was being held together by three officers led by Major Margaret Mukupa who had been seconded from the Zambian Army.  Governance issues had led to the removal of the CEO and suspension of the Board with the seconded staff ensuring that the organisations basic functions continued.  On the positive side though the Minister of Sport, Hon. Kenneth Chipungu, held a launch of a new Sports Policy for Zambia, which we were privileged to attend, at which he announced that the NSCZ Board was being re-constituted and that the names of his nominees would be made public shortly.  

Ambassador Susan Sikaneta, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Sport, Youth & Child Development and Bessie Chelemu, Sports Development Officer, Ministry of Sport, Youth & Child Development spoke at the launch and presented a comprehensive sports policy that properly resourced could see major strides being made in sports development in the country.  The Director General of Sport, Bernard Nakachinda, ably acted as the Master of Ceremonies. 

With the FIFA World Cup 2010 taking part in neighbouring South Africa, Zambia is hoping to qualify for the finals.  If they do they will propel sport to the top of the Zamian public agenda and may well provide the motivation needed to persuade government to invest in the Minister’s comprehensive national sports policy.

International Inspiration, which is led by UK Sport in partnership with the British Council and UNICEF, aims to use the power of sport to transform the lives of millions of children and young people of all abilities, in schools and communities across the world, particularly in developing countries, through the power of high quality and inclusive physical education, sport and play.