LONG-TERM ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT (LTAD)
The seven-stage Canadian model for Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is an overview of a training, competition, and recovery program based on developmental age - the maturation level of an individual - rather than chronological age. It is athlete centred, coach driven, and administration, sport science, and sponsor supported. Athletes who progress through LTAD experience training and competition programs that consider their biological and training ages in creating periodized plans specific to their development needs.
LTAD supports Canadian sport to:
- Identify the current gaps in the sport system and provides guidelines for problem solving,
- Guide the planning for optimal performance for all stages of athlete development,
- Provide a framework for full sport system alignment and integration,
- And is designed on empirical and practical coaching experiences and on scientific principles.
Football Canada and LTAD
Beginning in April 2006, a third wave of sports, including Football launched the process of building their LTAD model. Football Canada began with the “10 Steps to Designing a LTAD Model” process to implement a football-specific LTAD.
Starting October 2006, Football Canada began circulating several different surveys to our membership across the country and into the US (organizations, coaches and players) to gather information on the stages of player development and the key issues facing our Canadian Game.
February 2007 saw Football Canada host a nation-wide conference on the LTAD Model and its effects on Football Canada programs and the football community as a whole. Richard Way of Pacific Sport Life, one of the leading experts on LTAD, introduced the model to our members, who then started the process of developing a football-specific model.
Refinement of the stages of development has already begun as well as the development of the skills matrix for the non-contact disciplines, which are essential to the development of our young athletes and all participants in the “Active for Life” stage of the LTAD model. Several working groups are also being formed to develop the 10 key factors that the LTAD model will provide.
The challenge is to create both a set of standards appropriate for each age/stage of player development, and a simple yet reliable and valid method of assessment to determine whether players are meeting those standards. With objective standards and assessments in place, the success of different coaching methods can be determined, and more standardized, effective coaching methods agreed upon.
The weekend proved to be a giant step forward in getting the football LTAD model off and running. The conference participants will now return to their respective associations and present an overview of the model for further review and discussion.
If you would like to participate in this process or if you would like more information on where we are in the LTAD process please email Ryan Bechmanis at special@footballcanada.com. And a sincere thanks to all of those who have answered our LTAD surveys - your help has been invaluable!
For more information, please visit: http://www.ltad.ca
Resources
- New! (April 2007) Football Canada LTAD presentation - click HERE.
- New! (April 2007) Survey Results - click HERE.
- LTAD Update - October 2006 - click HERE.
- Canadian Sport for Life: LTAD Resource Paper (2005)
PacificSport would like to acknowledge PacificSport experts Richard Way and Istvan Balyi for their contributions to the newly developed and published LTAD published in 2005. To download a PDF version of this report, click HERE.
- Poster
Download the poster - click HERE.
- Long-Term Athlete Development for Athletes with a Disability
Download "No Accidental Champions" - click HERE.
Back to top
