Abstract

The overarching purpose of this book is to provide a 'state of the science' overview of empirical and practical information for sport administrators, coaches, parents, athletes, applied sport scientists and students about current issues in the identification and development of sport talent. To achieve this purpose, the book is divided into two main sections bookended between introductory and concluding chapters. In the first section, leading researchers from the field of athlete development explain their research and how this work informs our understanding of the process of sport skill acquisition. A general framework used to organize this section is Baker and Horton's notion of primary and secondary influences on sport development (see Chapter 1). Chapter 2 as well as Chapter 3 focus on the primary influences of genetics and psychological factors on athlete development. Then, Chapter 4 focuses largely on secondary environmental influences such as culture, birthplace and birthdate. Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 examine and explain athlete development more globally, from the perspectives of cognitive psychology and dynamical systems theory respectively. The intent is that Section 1 provides the necessary theoretical background for readers to understand the various processes at work in Section 2, which provides a series of case studies examining international success stories from the 'trenches' of talent identification and development. Here, specialist contributors working with a range of individual (e.g., gymnastics, Chapter 7; running, Chapter 11) and team sports (e.g., soccer, Chapter 8; rugby league, Chapter 9; and handball, Chapter 10) describe the unique constraints inherent with their sport contexts. Further, and more specifically, they highlight how athletic talent is being identified and developed, as well as how systems themselves are presently evolving. The culmination of Section 2 is Chapter 12, which overviews and reflects upon Australia's national approach to talent identification and development programme. To guide chapter content in Section 2, authors were asked to consider the following questions (where possible): How does your sport context go about identifying talent or selecting athletes for further development? How does your sport context nurture talent across stages/phases of development? What are the key issues that presently affect talent identification and development in your sport? What further research and understanding is required in this area? What advice can you provide to administrators, coaches, parents, or athletes involved in talent identification practices in your sport context? These particular questions are intended to be relevant to readers interested in sport talent identification and development, regardless of whether it's through personal involvement as an athlete, coach, trainer, sport administrator or as a parent hoping to help their child navigate sport's sometimes daunting talent systems. Whether through their role as researcher, practitioner or both, contributors to this text have ensured that readers will be well informed of good practices as well as areas where improvements are necessary to address current limitations. To aid in achieving these outcomes, the concluding chapter of the book draws upon the information presented in Sections 1 and 2. This final chapter is intended to underscore the similarities between work being conducted by researchers and put into action by practitioners, to highlight 'best practices' in talent identification and development, and to identify the limits of knowledge, while providing ways they can be resolved. Collectively, this discussion will inform the next generation of research in this emerging field. Die Autoren und ihre Beiträge sind 1. Cobley, Steve; Schorer, Jörg; Baker, Joseph: Identification and development of sport talent : a brief introduction to a growing field of research and practice. I. Theoretical and conceptual models for understanding talent identification and development. 2. Baker, Joseph: Do genes predict potential? : genetic factors and athletic success. 3. MacNamara, Áine; Collins, Dave: Building talent development systems on mechanistic principles : making them better at what makes them good. 4. Horton, Sean: Environmental influences on early development in sports experts. 5. Farrow, Damian: Identifying and developing skill expertise : understanding current limits and exploring future possibilities. 6. Renshaw, Ian; Davids, Keith; Phillips, Elissa; Kerhervé, Hugo: Developing talent in athletes as complex neurobiological systems. II. International case studies of talent identification and development. 7. Sands, William A.: Talent identification and development in women’s artistic gymnastics : the talent opportunity program (TOPs). 8. Elferink-Gemser, Marije T.; Visscher, Chris: Who are the superstars of tomorrow? : talent development in Dutch soccer. 9. Till, Kevin; Chapman, Chris; Cobley, Steve; O’Hara, John; Cooke, Carlton: Talent identification, selection and development in UK junior rugby league : an evolving process. 10. Schorer, Jörg; Büsch, Dirk; Fischer, Lennart; Pabst, Jan; Rienhoff, Rebecca; Sichelschmidt, Peter; Strauß, Bernd: Back to the future : a case report of the ongoing evaluation of the German handball talent selection and development system. 11. Pitsiladis, Yannis: Explaining African dominance in running. 12. Gulbin, Jason: Applying talent identification programs at a system-wide level : the evolution of Australia’s national program. 13. Baker, Joseph; Schorer, Jörg; Cobley, Steve: Lessons learned : the future of research in talent identification and development. Aus der Einleitung (geändert) und Inhaltsverzeichnis