Long-Term Athlete Development focuses on the general framework of athlete development with special reference to growth, maturation and development, trainability, and sport system alignment and integration. It incorporates information from a number of sources. It draws on the experiences of various athlete development projects that have been implemented by different sport organizations throughout the world as well as insights from Utah's sport community.

To promote each child’s healthy and logical development in a sport of physical activity, sport for life identifies sequential stages for training and competition that respects their physical, mental and emotional development. This approach encourages lifelong physical activity for athletes of all levels of ability and it also provides an effective route for those that choose to pursue excellence at the national and international level of competition.

The 7-Stages of Long-Term Athlete Development
The number of stages differs slightly between early specialization and late specialization sports. The basic 7-stage pathway for the majority of sports (late specialization) is described here:

Active Start
From ages 0-6 years, children need to be introduced to relatively unstructured play that incorporates a variety of body movements. An early active start enhances development of brain function, coordination, social skills, gross motor skills, emotions, leadership, and imagination. It also helps children build confidence, develop posture and balance, build strong bones and muscles, promote healthy weight, reduce stress, improve sleep, learn to move skillfully, and learn to enjoy being active.

The FUNdamentals
From ages 6-9 in boys and 6-8 in girls, children need to participate in a variety of well-structured activities that develop basic skills. However, activities and programs need to maintain a focus on fun, and formal competition should only be minimally introduced.

Learning to Train
From ages 8-11 in girls and 9-12 in boys, to the onset of the growth spurt (usually around the ages of 11-12), children are ready to begin training according to more formalized methods, but the emphasis should still be on general sports skills suitable to a number of activities. While it is often tempting to over-develop “talent” at this age through excessive single sport training and competition (as well as early positioning in team sports), this can be very detrimental to later stages of development if the child is playing a late specialization sport: it promotes one-sided physical, technical, and tactical development and increases the likelihood of injury and burnout.

Training to Train
The ages that define this stage for boys and girls are based on the onset and end of the growth spurt, which are generally ages 11 to 15 for girls and 12 to 16 for boys. At this stage, they are ready to consolidate their basic sport-specific skills and tactics. These youths may play to win and do their best, but they still need to focus more time on skill training and physical development over competition. This approach is critical to the development of top performers and maintaining activity in the long-term, so parents should check with their national organization to ensure their child’s program has the correct training-to-competition ratio.

Training to Compete
Depending on the sport, for females ages 15-21+/- and males ages 16-23+/-, this is where things get “serious.” They can either choose to specialize in one sport and pursue a competitive stream, or they can continue participating at a recreational level and thereby enter the Active for Life stage. In the competitive stream, high volume and high intensity training begins to occur year-round.

Training to Win
At ages 19+ in males and 18+ in females, elite athletes with identified talent enter a stage where they may pursue the most intense training suitable for international winning performances. At this stage, both world-class athletes with a disability and able-bodied athletes require world-class training methods, equipment, and facilities that meet the demands of the sport and the athlete.

Active for Life
Young athletes can enter this stage at essentially any age. According to LTAD, if children have been correctly introduced to activity and sport through Active Start, FUNdamentals and Learning to Train programs, they will have the necessary motor skills and confidence (physical literacy) to remain Active for Life in virtually any sport they like. They may decide to continue playing their sport at the recreational level, or they may become involved in the sport as a game official or coach. They might also try new sports and activities: examples could be a hockey player taking up golf or a tennis player starting to cycle.

Utah Model
We are in the process of obtaining feedback from Utah's sport, recreation and health organizations in order to define the Utah Model based on Long-Term Development principles used throughout the world. The information gathered will aid in the production of the Utah Sport for Life Guide. The guide will be complete and available December 2009.

In the meantime, please visit Canadian Sport for Life website for additional resources and information. www.canadiansportforlife.ca