Arguably, talent acquisition and advancement have increasingly become pertinent in sports exhibitions. A comprehensive body of literature discusses talent acquisition and development processes and how coaches can catalyze skilled athletes’ growth through the sports system (Leite et al., 2021). Enlisting and preserving talents is a critical setback impacting sports clubs as they often see potential assets escape as a result of self-system inefficiency. Talent identification and development encompasses identifying people with natural abilities and potential in certain fields and nurturing them to attain their full potential. The talent recognition and augmentation process involves various assessments and performance evaluations. Once the coaches identify a person as having potential, they train and mentor them to develop their skills. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is a critical and prominent talent identification and development facet. Participating in CPD activities warrants quality assurance and helps build professional confidence (Batista et al., 2022). CPD builds new skills and expands the knowledge base, thus, assisting individuals in staying current with new trends. This research provides a literature review, sets CPD aims and objectives, and designs an appropriate and practically applied programme of CPD.
Literature Review
Leite et al. (2021) published a “talent identification and development in sports performance” editorial article in the Journal of Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. The authors’ article provides an overview of the current research state in recognition and augmentation in sports performance. Leite et al. (2021)’s article begin by highlighting the significance of talent identification and development in sports based on its impact on the athlete’s success and the team’s overall performance. The authors also underscore the challenges and limitations accompanying talent identification and development. Leite et al. (2021) emphasize the challenges associated with predicting the athlete’s future performance and potential biases during selection. Leite et al. (2021) enrich their research by reviewing current talent identification and development in sports literature. Based on their review, Leite et al. (2021) underscore different approaches used to enhance talent recognition and augmentation in sports. Some of the approaches highlighted by the researchers are psychological profiling, observational assessment, and psychological testing. Leite et al. (2021) also underscore deliberate practice, early specialization, and a supportive environment as critical factors in talent identification. Overall, Leite et al. (2021)’s research provides a prominent overview of the present state of talent identification and development in sports research and underscores the key challenges and opportunities in the field.
Williams et al. (2020) published their scholarly work on “Talent Identification and Development in Soccer Since the Millennium” in the Journal of Sports Science. The authors set the stage for their research by discussing the significance of talent identification and development, underscoring the challenges associated with the identification and development process. Despite considerable research in this field, the authors contend that there is still no consensus on the most effective ways to approach talent identification and development. Williams et al. (2020) review various talent identification and development approaches used since 2000. The authors underscore technical, tactical, and psychological assessments to identify and develop talents. They also emphasize the prominence of environmental factors such as social support, coaching, and competition in soccer talent identification and development. Williams et al. (2020) also review talent recognition and augmentation literature and discuss the significance of training load and deliberate practice. Williams et al. (2020) postulate that while some evidence supports certain talent identification and development approaches, much remains unknown. Consequently, the researchers call for more research in the talent identification and development field, especially on the role of environmental factors. Overall, Williams et al. (2020)’s research comprehensively reviews the present state of talent recognition and augmentation in soccer and underscores the need for ongoing research.
Kelly et al. (2022) published an editorial article about talent identification and development in youth sports. The overarching objective of their research was to explore how youths’ personal engagement in sports activities, social dynamic qualities, appropriate settings, and organizational structure fosters immediate, short-term, and long-term developmental outcomes in sports. The researchers hoped to use the findings of their study to inform evidence-based sports policies and athlete advancement programs. Kelly et al. (2022)’s research supplements the existing literature on talent identification and development and contextualizes factors playing a prominent role in recognition and augmentation. According to Kelly et al. (2022), the place of birth is critical in influencing the likelihood of joining talent pathways and attaining professional status. Further, Kelly et al. (2022) postulate that relatively older athletes have elevated chances of being selected for talent development. Kelly et al. (2022) suggest that older athletes are more exposed to organized activities and resources that facilitate long-term performance. Conversely, Kelly et al. (2022) argue that the fewer chances for younger athletes to access opportunities undermine their long-term participation and development. Also, Kelly et al. (2022) contextualize the birthplace as a critical factor in talent identification and development. Smaller cities are associated with more talent identification and development opportunities due to mobility effortlessness. Kelly et al. (2022)’s research provides stakeholders with more opportunities to create youth-appropriate sports settings to facilitate talent identification and development.
Barraclough et al. (2022) published a narrative review of methodological approaches to talent recognition in team sports in the Sports Journal. The authors comprehensively review the existing literature on talent recognition in team sports. The objective of Barraclough et al. (2022)’s article is to provide an overarching overview of different approaches and techniques for identifying talented athletes. Equally, the researchers underscore the challenges and limitations of each approach. Barraclough et al. (2022)’s research is structured in a narrative format, covering various facets of talent identification and development. The authors define talent, highlight the significance of talent identification in team sports, and discuss different talent identification approaches. Barraclough et al. (2022) postulate that talent identification is a critical factor in determining team sports’ long-term success because it helps identify athletes with the potential to become top-tier players. Barraclough et al. (2022) then underscore and discuss various techniques of talent identification. Such techniques include physiological tests, psychological assessments, anthropometric measurements, and case-by-case individual analysis. The authors review each technique, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages, and discuss how each technique can be employed in talent identification. Also, Barraclough et al. (2022) examine the significance of using multiple approaches to increase talent identification accuracy. The authors conclude their study by calling for more longitudinal research to evaluate the sustainable veracity of talent identification techniques.
John & Thiel’s (2022) article proposes a constructivist conceptualization of athletic talent. The authors highlight the social construction of talent by arguing that talent is not an innate characteristic but a social construct shaped by cultural practices and beliefs. John & Thiel (2022) provide a comprehensive overview of the conventional view of talent, which draws attention to biological and genetic factors. John & Thiel (2022) presuppose that traditional views challenge contemporary research, which postulates that environmental and social factors shape talent. The two researchers talk about the deliberate practice concept and the influence of environmental factors, such as coaching, training, and resource access, in talent identification and development. John & Thiel (2022) then discuss the social construction of talent, leveraging the social constructionist theories emphasizing socio-cultural factors’ role in shaping individual and collaborative beliefs and practices. John & Thiel (2022) accentuate that social processes involving interactions between people, cultural norms, and institutions are avenues through which talent is constructed. The authors illustrate their argument by drawing on examples from the sporting field, underscoring how different cultures and societies define and construct talent. John & Thiel (2022) suggest that race, gender, and class shape perceptions about talent and determine access to resources and opportunities. John & Thiel’s (2022) article delivers a thought-provoking examination of the social construction of sports talent and contributes to understanding factors influencing talent identification and development.
Spies et al. (2022)’s research published in the German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research explores the significance of will and ability in sport talent identification’s early stages. Their research begins by underscoring the challenges in the accurate identification of sports talent, noting that physical and technical abilities are misleading and cannot be solely relied on. Spies et al. (2022) lament that the will, motivation, and athletes’ mindset are often bypassed in talent identification. Their article then discusses the link between ability and will in excellent sports performance and the role of deliberate performance in talent development. The authors underscore the value of early talent identification, postulating that young athletes’ potential effectively influences talent development. Spies et al. (2022) presuppose that using talent detection programs with physical and psychological assessments helps detect talent in young athletes. Spies et al. (2022)’s article provides a thought-provoking examination of the value of considering ability and will in identifying sports talents. The authors emphasize the need to detect and identify sports talent in young athletes to facilitate early development. However, they argue against looking at physical and technical abilities in talent identification as they provide misleading information. The authors also discuss the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in talent development. The findings of Spies et al. (2022)’s research have significant ramifications for sports coaches, policymakers, and other stakeholders imbued in sports talent development.
CPD Aims and Objectives
CPD is an acronym for continuous professional development, an ongoing learning and development process to enhance athletes’ and coaches’ professional skills and knowledge. In sports, CPD aims to improve coaches, trainers, and other sports professionals’ skills, knowledge, and competence. The specific aims and objectives of CPD are:
Improve the Coaching Skills
Several gaps have been identified in athletics coaches’ coaching skills. Hence, they need CPD to improve their technical, tactical, and communication skills to optimize their coaching abilities. Coaches need ongoing commitment to upgrading and preparing themselves for greater responsibilities.
Improve Talent Identification and Development
Based on the literature review, coaches and other athletics professionals face challenges in identifying and developing sports talents. Some apply techniques with limited evidence-based support, thus, failing to identify the right talents.
Enhance Athletics Performance
Coaches and trainers need continuous professional development to equip themselves with new skills and strategies to help athletes to augment their physical and mental performance and become elite athletes.
Attending Training Sessions
This CPD handbook aims to enable athletes to attend training sessions, workshops, and seminars to acquire new skills and techniques to enable them to perform better in sporting activities.
CPD Program Design
The literature review highlights the challenges faced by athletics coaches, trainers, and other stakeholders in the sports field in identifying and developing talents. Thus, this CPD program is designed to optimize the needed skills to enable the identified stakeholders to identify sports talents accurately. The program design identifies key skills and competencies required, the target audience, the learning objectives, and the trainers and resources.
Key Skills and Competencies
Athletics coaches, trainers, and policymakers need critical skills such as communication, talent observation and identification, psychological profiling, observational assessment, psychological testing, and case-by-case individual analysis skills.
Target Audience
The target audiences for this program are coaches, trainers, policymakers, and athletes.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this program, coaches, trainers, policymakers, and athletes should be able to:
- Understand sports talent identification principles how they relate to athletics development
- Understand how to design and implement valid, reliable, and practical talent identification programs
- Understand how to collaborate with other sports stakeholders to optimize talent identification and development
- Understand how to develop ongoing talent development strategies
- Understand talent identification techniques
Trainers and Resources
The trainers for this program include the National Coaching Foundation, National Governing Bodies, and Sports Coach UK. The resources needed include coaching manuals, and online courses.
Conclusion
Talent acquisition and advancement have increasingly become pertinent in sports performance. Athletics coaches and trainers use psychological profiling, observational assessment, and psychological testing approaches in talent recognition and augmentation. Despite this, talent identification is undermined by challenges such as focusing on physical attributes. Thus, CPD programs are critical to augment talent identification skills. A program design for CPD programs must identify key skills and competencies required, the target audience, the learning objectives, and the trainers and resources.
References
Barraclough, S., Till, K., Kerr, A., & Emmonds, S. (2022). Methodological approaches to talent identification in team sports: A narrative review. Sports, 10(6), 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10060081
Batista, J. P., Torre, C., Sousa Lobo, J. M., & Sepodes, B. (2022). A review of the continuous professional development system for pharmacists. Human Resources for Health, 20(1), 3. https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-021-00700-1
John, J. M., & Thiel, A. (2022). Talent as a social construction: Proposing a constructivist conceptualization of athletic talent. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 1-22. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11618-022-01110-2
Kelly, A. L., Calvo, A. L., Dos Santos, S. D. L., & Jiménez Sáiz, S. L. (2022). Special issue “Talent identification and development in youth sports.” Sports, 10(12), https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10120189
Leite, N., Calvo, A. L., Cumming, S., Gonçalves, B., & Calleja-Gonzalez, J. (2021). Editorial: Talent identification and development in sports performance. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, 729167. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.729167
Spies, F., Schauer, L., Bindel, T., & Pfeiffer, M. (2022). Talent detection—importance of the will and the ability when starting a sport activity. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 52(4), 647-656. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12662-022-00796-0
Williams, A. M., Ford, P. R., & Drust, B. (2020). Talent identification and development in soccer since the millennium. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(11-12), 1199-1210. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2020.1766647?journalCode=rjsp20
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