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Rural Sport Development Initiative (RSDI)
Integrating Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) in Sport Development programs
Dr Maya van Gent, Senior lecturer , Human Movement Science Department, University of Fort Hare, South Africa
Introduction
What is Sport development?
– Many researchers, administrators, sport scientists, governments/ governing sport federation, academics etc have different views…
European Council of Sport (1983) two main approaches
1) improving social relationships, which inevitably contributes to social development,
2) improving physical fitness and mental well-being (European Council of Sport 1983)
• Potential of sport in the pursuit of development goals has been increasingly acknowledged by important International and National organizations (e.g.UN Task Force Report, 2008; European Parliament Resolution on sport and development, 2007; Sport and recreation South Africa, White Paper: Getting the nation to play, 2003).
Common description of such movement is the following
“Through sport and physical education, individuals can experience equality, freedom and a dignifying means for empowerment, particularly
for girls and women, for people with a disability, for those living in conflict areas and for people recovering from trauma” (Kidd 2008)
• Sport cost effectiveness approach for dealing with social problems rather than correcting the consequences of aggression, crime, violence and abuse. Problems that are synonymous with rural poor communities (Coalter, 2007).
HOWEVER;
• According to Spaaij, & Westerbeek. (2009) most people do not engage in sport to achieve certain societal ends, but rather for enjoyment and health
• Another observation by Seippel (2009) is that social capital
“is not necessarily the result of intentional investments aimed at future benefits’ but, to a large extent, ‘probably the
unintentional consequences of instrumental, normative and/or expressive actions.’
• Sport development and sport science??
– TID (Talent Identification and development) - identifying and developing sporting potential.(grass roots to elite)
– Internationally minimal documented success had been achieved in the traditional Talent Identification and Development models.
– This also seemed to be the case in the South African context. Since 1995 South Africa was readmitted - South Africa’s success, especially in the Olympic Games, has been on the decline since readmission, with only one medal winner in the recent Beijing Olympic Games.
• SRSA (National Department of Sport and Recreation) new approach to sport development: (grass roots to elite)
– “Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)” (Balyi 2000)
– Focus on inclusion of all athletes and participants
– Stages are age specific, taking into account maturation and growth
– Ensuring physical literacy (competence in all fundamental movement skills), and not just selecting the potentially talented individuals at a specific age and developing them.
– The long term goals:
• Introduce en ensure physical activity for life, thus contributing to the health of individuals.
• Provide the potential athlete to achieve their full athletic potential-
– many athletes do not due to a lack of fundamental skills that should be mastered between the ages of 6-10 years. (Balyi & Hamilton (2001)
Eastern Cape Province in South Africa
– Most of the municipal districts experiencing higher poverty rates than the national average.
– Survey done by Schwabe (2004) revealed the following facts:• Unemployment rate in the Eastern Cape is 34% which is
higher than the national unemployment rate of 29.5%. • The percentage of people in the Eastern Cape living below
the poverty line is 72% and two thirds of that population lives in rural areas.
To investigate the implementation of LTAD model in sport development program in a rural community of
the Eastern Cape
• Conciderations – LTAD model is based on USA and Europen cross sectional and
longitudinal data (anthropometrical-, physical- and motor components) .
– Previous research has indicated that SA children, especially children from rural areas, grow and develop differently (van Gent et al, 2003, Pienaar 2010).
Main research aim
1. To examine the influence that LTAD model (training) has on the growth and development of children living in a rural environment in the Nkokobe region
2. To examine the influence that LTAD model (training) has on the social well being of the participants and the community
Research objectives
Rural Sport Development Initiative (RSDI)
• HMS at the University of Fort Hare as a community project (Strategic plan 2010-2016)
• 4 the Alice/ Nkokobe region (2 primary schools, 2 high schools)
• Aim
– Sport development : improve sport performance and provide sporting opportunities for each participants
• Each school 2 x week to UFH with teacher, HMS Hon student coordinate activities specific for age groups and the intervention
• Children from 6-16 years of age
• 3 Stages to this program
– Stage 1: Establish the anthropometrical-, physical, and motor characteristics of the children, and apply these to the intervention (training program)
– Stage 2: Implement sport training (LTAD) through structured training programs specifically designed to address the needs as established by Stage 1
– Stage 3: Assessing the impact of this program using SDIAT tool (Sport Development Impact assessment tool (Burnett and Hollander 2000)
Methodology • Project will run for 3 years
• Anthropometrical-, physical- and motor characteristics are evaluated twice a year, thus providing cross sectional data as well as longitudinal data
• SDIAT (Sport Development Impact Assessment Tool) (Burnett & Hollander 2004) will be used at the end of every 6-8 month interventions
• SDPA 2010- presenting results of the first assessment:
– Anthropometrical, motor and physical assessments
– Statistics
• Descriptive statistics
• T test (differences among groups)
• ANOVA
Methodology • Possible implications
– Other factors might have influences on data (free play, participation in sport)
– Some participants might move – The teacher support base might change
Results
- Gender: No statistical differences were found-literature supports children of this age no gender differences (T-Test)
- Age groups comparisons (ANOVA) no statistical differences were found
Results Table 1: Descriptive statistics for anthropometrical-, physical- and motor components of 6-8 year old children in the Nkokobe region, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Variables 6 year old (n=38) 7 year old (n=31) 8 year old (n=41)Stature (cm) 116.5 119.2 124.8Body mass (cm) 21.8 23.7 25.6Coordination (n)Target throw for accuracy
1.9 2.7 1.2
BalanceStork stand (sec)
26.5 25.9 28.8
Speed (sec)27.4 m sprint
7.1 6.7 6.4
Agility (sec)5m shuttle run
13.6 12.1 11.5
Results Table 2: A Comparison of the anthropometrical-, physical- and motor components of 6-8 year old children in the Nkokobe region.
Variables Children that participate in school sport (n=53)
Children that DO NOT participate in school sport (n=52)
P- Value
Stature (cm) 121.91 119.15 0.01*Body mass (cm) 24.22 23.62 0.61Coordination (n)Target throw for accuracy
1.8 1.4 0.81
BalanceStork stand (sec)
28.4 27.9 0.57
Speed (sec)27.4 m sprint
6.58 6.87 0.05
Agility (sec)5m shuttle run
12.06 12.71 0.03
* P≤0.01
Discussion • Table 1• Regard to stature and body mass, all ages presented to
be higher then 50th % except for the 8 year olds in terms of stature (between 25-50%) (CDC, 2000)
• taking into account that it is cross sectional-all components seem to improve with age, except for coordination in 8 year olds
• Physical- and motor components:• All ages performed the best in balance (30sec being max)
but the worst in coordination• Concern here is that coordination forms part of all
fundamental movement skills
Discussion • Table 2• Seeing that no statistical differences could be found
between age groups, the sample was divided into two groups according to participant’s response to whether they take part in school sport
• Important to note that at all rural schools in the Alice region structured sport training is non existent-participation is not structured nor compulsory
• No significant differences, except for stature, between the children that participate in sport and those that don’t- thus it seems that the current participation of sport is not contributing to the physical- and motor development of these children.
Conclusion• Children participate in sport for various reasons, however to idealize
a sport star plays a role, especially at this age…• Sport (for) development programs that work with youth, especially
between the ages 6-10, should seriously consider the growth and development of children and adapt programs appropriately
• These programs should focus on participation- no exclusion, no competition- but they need to address the specific needs of the participants
• None can guarantee that participants will be the next world/Olympic champion- however we can provide them with all the opportunity/skill in the world to become one!!!
THANK YOU