Sport Development Process and Australian Rugby Development - Literature review Example

Sроrt Dеvеlорmеnt Rеsеаrсh Pареr Student Name Institution Contents 1.0Introduction 3 2.0Literature Review 3 2.1 Sport Development Process 5 2.1.1 The Sport Development Continuum 6 2.2 Australian Rugby Development 7 3.0Results 7 3.1 The National Gold Squad Program 9 3.2 The Junior Gold Squad Program 10 3.3 The Junior Gold Regional Talent Centers 10 3.4 The Junior Gold Camp Program 11 4.0 Discussion 12 5.0 Conclusion 14 6.0 References 15 1.0 Introduction Sports development refers to the different structures, processes and systems instituted in order to provide opportunities to all people in various groups and regions to participate in sports and recreation activities, (Watt, 2004). Sport development is about providing opportunities to individuals to participate in any sport of their desire. The Australian sports system has undergone a remarkable evolution in collaboration with a particular state, territory and local governments, the private sector and sporting organizations across the country as well as at all levels, (Australian Sports Commission, 2009). According to Watt (2004), sports development goes beyond the mere development of the sport for its sake to encompass the development of an individual within the sport, as well as the development of various sports organizations to better provide opportunities for the development of the sport, (Watt, 2004). The outcomes of sports development range from enhanced cultural integration, social inclusion as well as talent identification, (Watt, 2004). Most often, sports development focuses on particular target groups such as youths, women, the physically challenged as well as other minority groups, (Watt, 2004). The emphasis is the creation of opportunities for participation for those individuals in order to encourage and support them to take part in a particular sport. 2.0 Literature Review Recently, there has been a switch in strategy from the traditional practice of a broad-brush approach to a strategy where the focus is on one particular target group and sport, with the objective of encouraging them to seize available opportunities (Watt, 2004). Sport development in many countries has become a professional undertaking with talent identification, selection and development programs forming an integral part of national sports systems, (Shilbury, Sotiriadou & Green, 2008). The Australian government has developed sports development programs whse aim is to increase the levels of participation in various sports among targeted groups such as youths, women and indigenous Australians, (Green & Collins, 2008). However, the government’s interest in sport development has been through various policy formulations that are in the most part sport specific rather than linked with other policy areas such as health, community development, education and social inclusion, (Green & Collins, 2008). Such an observation is supported by Skinner, Zakus & Cowell (2008) who posit that there is an opportunity for the Australian government to establish viable programs that utilize sport to engage communities to achieve desired social outcomes. The government’s policy formulations focus on two central doctrines of sports development. These doctrines are development of sport and development through sport. According to Shilbury, Sotiriadou & Green (2008), development of sport is focused on mapping out a sustainable pathway that ensures the future of a particular sport by both National Sporting Organizations (NSOs) and the State Sporting Organizations (SSOs). Such a future can be secured by attracting and nurturing talented young talents who have a high affinity for succeeding through the development pathway and represent the sport at the elite and professional level. On the other hand, development through sport is concerned with participating in a particular sport with the belief that the involvement in sport is inherently beneficial to both an individual and the community physically and socially, (Shilbury, Sotiriadou & Green (2008). Such benefits include enhancing community health, social cohesion, capacity, bonding and integration. Elite sport development has received considerable interest from the Australian government over the past two to three decades, (Green, 2005 and Sotiriadou & Shilbury, 2009). Australian sports organizations at both national and state levels have primarily supported sport development in the country through provision of funds and policy formulations, (Green 2005 and Sotiriadou & Shilbury, 2009). There have been calls for enhanced focus on elite sport development. However, such calls have not succeeded due to greater interests whose priorities have been towards sport development at the grassroots level such as at junior club, schools and regional representative programs whose focus is on mass participation, (Green, 2005). Various sporting organizations are the dominant players that shape the environment within which sports development takes place. 2.1 Sport Development Process According to Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick (2008), sport development analysis can be done by classifying the process into three distinct segments; attraction, retention/transition and nurturing. These three segments are interdependent and complementary to each other such that the success of one is dependent on and influenced by the success of the other. However, because each segment is distinct from the other, there are different sports development policies and programs that focus on each segment. Consequently, the planning and management of each segment of the sports development process is different with each segment attracting different funding allocations, Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick (2008). To this end, various player development programs vary from membership, development programs, participation programs as well as representation opportunities. Such variations underpin the various development pathways that are available for each sport although as Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick (2008) note; the Australian sports development pathways lack adequate mapping. The authors, however, note that there are different sport development systems and underlying pathways for particular sports depending on the nature of an individual sport. These varying systems necessitate the need for considering each sport individually. Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick (2009) identify various stakeholders in the sports development process. They categorize these stakeholders into three groups namely the government(s) at federal and state and local levels, sporting organizations (NSOs, SSOs), as well as participants and volunteers (coaches, sponsors and staff). Such groups play different roles in the sports development process and underpin the development of various strategies. However, such different stakeholders have common sports development objectives which are to increase participation through various development programs and succeed in elite rugby competitions at local, national, regional and international competitions. 2.1.1 The Sport Development Continuum An essential concept in analyzing sport development is the reliance on the sport development pyramid. This pyramid acts as a conceptual model that explains the pathways for individuals to advance from a lower level to a higher performance level,, (Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick, 2009). The focus of the various rugby programs instituted at each level is to increase the number of participants at each level. The aim is to enhance the number of elite players that advance or emerge at the apex of the pyramid, (Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick, 2009). Theoretically, the greatest number of individuals should enter the rugby development continuum through the bottom level, the foundation level. Such will ensure that there is a large, talented pool of rugby players from where to select players at the higher levels. 2.2 Australian Rugby Development The design of most rugby development programs in Australia is along the sports development doctrine of development of sport rather than the development through sport theme. There are both NSOs and SSOs rugby development programs currently under implementation in Australia. The two primary objectives of such rugby development programs are the desire to increase the number of individuals, particularly youths, who participate in the programs as well as the achievement of elite rugby participation through the high-performance programs. The Australian rugby developments programs are designed to assist talented individuals reach their desired performance levels, particularly at the elite level. 3.0 Results Sport forms an inescapable and influential part of Australian social culture through involvement is sport either by participation or spectatorship, (Light, 2008). Sport is important across all levels of the sports system, from the grassroots level to the elite level, (Light, 2008). Sport has both intrinsic and extrinsic values. Intrinsic values are as a result of personal skills acquisition, enhanced individual self-esteem and fun to those various participants in a particular sport, (Hylton, 2013). Australia’s premier rugby development program is the Pathway to Gold program. It is a national youth talent development program that spans from the grassroots level through to high-performance rugby. The underpinning objective of the program is to provide access to available highly effective and attractive national high-performance talent development and selection opportunities throughout Australia. The Pathway to Gold program comprises various lower level programs such as the National and Junior Gold Squads, Junior Gold Regional Talent Centers and Junior Gold 7s Rugby Program. Others include the Pathway to Gold Talent Discovery Program, Australia Schoolboys Program, National Schoolboys Championships and the National under 16s Championships. Experienced and proven high-performance coaches and other development program staff with a network of National Talent Scouts support the programs. The National Talent Scouts identify and select talented and committed youths to enter the Australian rugby development pathway. In addition, the program was conceived with the objective of providing support to Australian rugby development stakeholders such as rugby coaches and program coordinators at national, state and community levels. The program encompasses performance measurement by way of participation in various state, national, regional and international rugby championships and competitions at the under 15 (U15), U16 and under 18 age groups. The Pathway to Gold program focuses on both on and off the field development of selected individuals. This focus aims to ensure that Australia maintains its status as a renowned world rugby powerhouse at all levels of the sport. In order to succeed, the Australian government invests heavily in the program to assist players to develop technical, physical and life skills so as to be able to handle high-performance rugby and become responsible young men. All ARU’s Pathway to Gold programs envisages and recognize the fact that admission into and consequent participation in the local and state programs does not guarantee automatic progress to, selection in and participation at subsequent higher levels of the program’s pathways. As such, not all players who get admission in the programs can advance to elite rugby development programs. However, all are encouraged to utilize opportunities accorded at any level of the program’s pathways as and when they become available. The Pathway to Gold program also aims to complement the efforts of other stakeholders in rugby development in the country such as junior clubs, senior clubs, premier clubs, schools, and other representative rugby development programs through its focus on both players and coaches. The Pathway to Gold program can be classified into three complementary pathways namely the development pathway, the competition pathway and the representative pathway. These pathways can further be subdivided on an age group basis such as the 21+, 20, 18-19, 17-18, 16, and the 14-15 age groups. The development pathway comprises various programs such as the National Gold Squad, Junior Gold Squads, Junior Regional Talent Centers and Club and School Programs. The competition pathway encompasses championships at different levels that primarily act as benchmarking opportunities to assess the progress and success of the programs. Such championships include junior club and school competitions, regional championships, state championships, National championships and Premier club competitions. At the world stage, the championships include the iRB World championships, SuperRugby Tournaments, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. The Representative Pathway includes school (Association and Schoolboy) and junior club teams, local teams, state teams, Australia U20, Australia 7s, Super Rugby Teams, Wallaroos and Wallabies. 3.1 The National Gold Squad Program The national Gold Squad program seeks to select the best-talented young rugby players in the U16-U18 age bracket with the commitment and potential to participate in elite rugby competitions both nationally and internationally. ARU’s High performance Unit coaches manage the program at the program’s training centers operational in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. The program services selected players both nationally and regionally with those based at regional training centers being serviced remotely and through training camps and local training programs available at their areas of residence. The National Gold Squad training programs are integrated into the school, club as well as representative programs with the intention of complementing such programs for overall development of rugby in Australia. The players are monitored and regularly assessed with the objective of admitting and contracting them into the National Rugby Academy, Super Rugby Squads, Australian 7s as well as Australian U20 teams post-school. 3.2 The Junior Gold Squad Program The Junior Gold Squad program was instituted to select and develop young talented rugby players in the 9-12years age group across Australia. It is also managed by the ARU High Performance Unit professional coaches with training centers in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Melbourne. Local players are serviced remotely through regional development programs and monthly training programs. 3.3 The Junior Gold Regional Talent Centers The Junior Gold Regional Talent Centers support the National and Junior Gold Squad Programs at local levels. They utilize existing regional academy as well as provincial talent development programs while ensuring that they are aligned to the national rugby development models as developed by the ARU. They identify and select talented youths in the U14-U17 age group who have the potential and commitment to advance to elite development programs. It is managed by both ARU High Performance Unit coaches and program development staff and the State Union coaches and program development staff. There are open communication mechanisms and transparent strategies at different levels starting from the local level to the national level. Local and state development programs have been aligned with the national rugby development programs with the aim of achieving the common objectives. The development programs are coordinated both at the national and state levels with enhanced collaborations to ensure progress to the national elite levels such as the Super Rugby and Wallabies. At the local and state levels, talented individuals with high potential and commitment to success at elite rugby competitions are identified selected and admitted into various development programs. Such programs encompass expert coaching and education based on nationally approved development models by the Australian Rugby Union’s (ARU) High Performance Unit that offer customized and group support to individuals to assist them reach their desired performance levels. 3.4 The Junior Gold Camp Program The Junior Gold Camp program is part of the benchmarking programs for both players and coaches prior to joining the Junior Gold Squad program. The camp is managed by professional ARU High-performance coaches and program coordinators who carry out various testing, education and training sessions in a period of two and half days. The Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) carries out the testing and education in a series of on and off-field testing, training and coaching sessions. 4.0 Discussion The Australian government has injected resources at the foundational level. These resources are provided with the expectation that the foundation level will provide a broad base of talented rugby individuals who advance through the subsequent levels. Such is through the trickle-up effect that ensures that the number of elite rugby individuals who emerge at the top of the pyramid is greater and sustained. The aim is to preserve Australia’s prosperity in Rugby and maintains its status a rugby powerhouse. The Australian federal government recognizes the fact that sport development at the grassroots level is crucial. This is because it underpins the means through which the country can perform well at elite sports competitions, (Green & Collins, 2008). However, Australian sport development is mainly instituted on the precincts of supporting elite sports development with institutional and administrative systems laying overt emphasis through policy formulations, (Green & Collins, 2008). To this end, there has been minimal funding for mass development of sports in favor of funding for elite sports development with the situation unlikely to change in the near future. The perceived linearity of the sports development continuum has been faulted with Green (2005) noting that acquisition of skills that countenance their advancement to subsequent levels and ultimately to the elite level does not occur automatically. The assumption of those who came up with the idea of the sport development pyramid was that players advance automatically and logically to subsequent levels in a static manner, (Shilbury, Deane & Kellett, 2006). Such stasis forms the backdrop of challenges faced by pyramid based sport development programs, (Green, 2005), including rugby development programs. The advancement into a particular level of the sport development pyramid does not have to be from the lower levels. Consequently, there is a possibility that elite rugby participants can emerge without having to pass through all the levels of the sport development continuum, beginning from the foundational level to the excellence level, (Green, 2005). Green further criticizes the pyramid stating that at times, the government allocates resources at the top of the pyramid, with the expectations that of a trickle-down effect to the foundational level, (Green, 2005). The connotation of direct investment at the top of the pyramid is that the success of participants at the top levels acts as a source of encouragement and motivation. Such motivation may arise through role modeling that attracts mass participation at the lower levels, (Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick, 2009). The sport development pyramid is a simplistic depiction of sport development processes with opportunities at higher levels forming the cornerstone of sports development pathways. However, the pyramid based sports development programs do not provide any explanation of the pathways as well as indicate the individuals involved at each level, (Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick, 2009). The pyramid fails to recognize that sports development is a dynamic process with varied stakeholders, strategies, programs and development pathways at each level, (Sotiriadou, Shilbury & Quick, 2009). The dynamic nature adds to the complexity of the sports development with different target groups (such as youths, indigenous people and women), and different development pathways between processes and levels. The criticisms leveled against the sports development pyramid might explain the reason the Australian government injects funds not only at the lower levels of sport development, but also even directly at the elite levels. The development of rugby has received a lot of focus in Australia with government support and investment at all levels of the sport’s development pathway. The Australian government through its sporting agencies such as the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) provides support to the development of rugby from the grassroots level through to elite levels. It provides various sporting organizations access to resources and policy development advice to ensure prosperity of rugby in the country. The Pathway to Gold program recognizes the critical roles that different rugby development stakeholders play in the development of Australian youths into elite rugby players. Such stakeholders include clubs, schools and representative bodies. Although there are contentious issues of sport development collision at the grassroots and elite levels, rugby development in Australia is well-structured with minimal if any collisions at the two levels. The federal government recognizes the individual merits of the development of sport at the elite level as well as at grassroots or community levels. Consequently, the programs are well coordinated and complement each other at all levels from the grassroots to the national levels with interconnections between the two levels being well embraced. The government and all stakeholders accredit to the fact that prosperity of elite sport is only possible where there is a well-developed talent pool at the grassroots levels from which to draw elite participants. 5.0 Conclusion Sports development has previously not received mainstream efforts by many stakeholders, particularly the Australian government. However, in the recent past, sport development has received concerted attention from key stakeholders. Consequently, sport development policies have increased in salience with the government instituting various sport development programs that underpin the sport development pathways for each sport. The policies have been particularly focused on the development of sport, rather than the development through sport ism. The targeted individuals for the programs have majorly been the youth, with the realization that the youth provide a sustainable and ongoing feeder mechanism for elite sport participation. The Pathway to Gold Program provides Australian rugby players with an opportunity to acquire and develop outstanding rugby skills. In addition, it enables them to acquire physical attributes that can ensure successful representation of the country at elite rugby championships at regional, state, national and international arenas. 6.0 References Green, M. (2005). Integrating macro-and meso-level approaches: A comparative analysis of elite sport development in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. European Sport Management Quartely, 5(2), 143-166. Accessed, September 17, 2014 from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16184740500188805#.VBlSnxbg-ZQ Green, M., & Collins, S. (2008). Policy, politics and path dependency: Sport development in Australia and Finland. Sport Management Review, 11(3), 225-251. Accessed, September 16, 2014 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352308701116 Hylton, K. (2013). Sports development: policy, process and practice, 3rd Edn. New York: Routledge. Light, R. L. (2008). Sport in the lives of young Australians. Sydney: Sydney University Press. Shilbury, D., Deane, J., & Kellett, P. (2006). Sport management in Australia. Strategic Sport Management Pty Ltd. Shilbury, D., Sotiriadou, K., & Green, B. (2008). Sport development. systems, policies and pathways: An introduction to the special issue. Sport Management Review, 11(3), 217 223. Accessed, September 16, 2014 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352308701104 Skinner, J., Zakus, D. H., & Cowell, J. (2008). Development through sport: Building social capital in disadvantaged communities. Sport Management Review, 11(3), 253-275. Sotiriadou, K., Shilbury, D., & Quick, S. (2008). The attraction, retention/transition, and nurturing process of sport development: Some Australian evidence. Journal of Sport Management, 22(3), 247. Sotiriadou, K. P., & Shilbury, D. (2009). Australian elite athlete development: An organizational perspective. Sport management review, 12(3), 137-148. Watt, D. (2004). Sports management and administration, 2nd Edn. New York: Routledge. Read More