The Sport Pathway – Has Lost its Path.
The Sport Pathway – Has Lost its Path.
By Wayne Goldsmith
Every sporting nation – every sport and practically everyone involved in the sports industry has bought into the theory of the sport pathway.
The sport pathway is a model of athlete development designed over 20 years ago and since it’s introduction as a concept it has become increasingly popular all over the world as “the” best way to provide the right environment for young athletes to learn, to train, to compete and to become successful in sport.
Here’s the problem.
The sport pathway – no longer exists.
The sport pathway – has lost it’s path.
And here’s why.
There’s some cracks in the Sport Pathway.
There’s no doubt the theory of the sport pathway makes sense: there’s some logic to it all.
A kid starts playing football or golf or starts swimming or athletics….they’ve taken their first steps on the ‘pathway.
They learn the basic fundamentals of the sport and try to master the sport’s basic movements and skills.
They then progress along the sport pathway and experience the various aspects of training, e.g. warm up, skill development, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, flexibility work etc. etc.
Further up the sport pathway they begin competing and learning how to challenge themselves in competitive conditions.
And eventually they progress to the point on the ‘pathway where they realize their full sporting potential and – if they’ve done the training and if they’ve got the talent – they can win.
The sport pathway has done it’s work…providing the environment and the opportunity – the “framework” for the athlete to progress from beginner to brilliant…from starter to star….from kid to competitor.
Or so the THEORY of the SPORT PATHWAY goes…because that’s all it is: a theory.
It’s a model. It’s a theoretical framework sold to governments and sports and because it fundamentally makes sense – practically everyone in the sports industry world wide has bought into it.
There’s three reasons why the sports industry’s devotion to the theory of the sport pathway needs to end…now.
1. It was never a pathway.
The pathway never existed.
It really didn’t.
No athlete “enters” the pathway as young child then progressively and systematically moves step by step along the pathway to achieve greatness. There’s nothing linear about it. Never was.
The actual progress of an athlete from beginner to Olympian or to professional athlete looks nothing like a straight line – as is implied by the sport pathway zealots.
It’s a series of highs and lows, a series of peaks and troughs, a series of exhilarating moments and deep depressions….it was never a linear pathway.
Athletes, coaches and parents were “sold” the pathway as being a clear plan – a well defined, systematic method for achieving excellence.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
2. The sport pathway is achieving the exact opposite of what it claims to be achieving.
One of the advantages about the ‘pathway model that was sold to sports was that it would give athletes, coaches and parents a clear “path” to help the athlete realise their potential.
Sports all over the world developed their own “pathway models” – and in places like England the government actually bought into the sport pathway model to the extent that they provided sporting organisations with courses and templates and support to help them produce their own sports specific pathways.
And as England and sport in the UK is the current “flavor” of the month, Australia, Canada and other nations copied and tried to reproduce the ‘pathway model in their own backyard.
However, not surprisingly, this copying of a flawed athlete development theory from another nation – has backfired.
Either by design or through poor communication, most athletes, coaches and parents believe that if the athlete is NOT on the pathway by a relatively young age then their chances of being successful in that sport are limited.
So for example, the blind adherence to the sport pathway model in some sports has led to many athletes (and their parents) thinking, “I am not in the under 11 representative team…therefore I am not on the “pathway”…therefore I am wasting my time in this sport”.
The subsequent impact of believing they’re not on the ‘pathway is..the child drops out of that sport OR even worse…drops out of sport all together.
In reality the only athletes benefiting from the sport pathway model are the “early developers” and the poor performance of early developing athletes in senior sport has been very very documented all over the world for the past 50 years.
The ‘pathway is – in fact – turning away the very athletes that competitive sport needs….”on-time” and “late developers”….it’s causing the athletes most likely to “make-it” to actually drop out of the sport.
3. Sport has changed: It’s not just about competition anymore.
And most importantly – sport is no longer driven by competitive pathways. It’s not. It’s a fact.
The most significant and most rapidly growing group in sport around the world are those participants who are just “doing” sport: just playing it for fun, hanging out with friends, enjoying their leisure time doing something they love doing.
The industry is facing seismic shift in the way people want their sports experiences and across the globe the decline in the number of people actively pursuing competitive sport is alarming.
Right now the focus everywhere is on growing sport, on keeping people active, on getting communities and families connected and engaged with doing things that will enhance their physical and mental health.
The ‘pathway is pointless for the simple reason is that there’s almost no one on it!
Until sporting organisations begin to honestly and effectively address the big issue – the biggest issue in sport – that of rapidly declining numbers of kids and families committing to competitive sport – it is pointless even considering to maintain the ‘pathway model.
Summary:
So for all of you sports administrators, sports leaders, sports recruitment agencies etc out there, guess what?
You’ve got to start again and think differently.
Every day I see some of the sport recruitment agencies advertising for “pathway managers” and “national pathway administrators”…and it’s just sad.
The sports industry around the world is experiencing a period of such remarkable change that many things we’ve held on to as “truths” are going…many are gone already.
Some things like the sport pathway model, the “movement literacy” philosophy and the principles and practices of talent identification are holding the industry back from moving forward and from meeting the current and future needs of sports’ participants.
In coming weeks I’ll be discussing some of the other changes the sports industry is experiencing and take you through how some sports, coaches, clubs and organisations are leading the way with new thinking and better practices.
New Sport: The Future of Sport.
Hi Wayne
One of our big ‘aha moments’ 5 or so years ago at USA was exactly what you state here – there is no linear pathway and the real key is providing opportunities for athletes all along the continuum. You are spot on that grow participation will help both the top end and the health of the sport itself
Hi Wayne – I agree with much of your article and the relative age effect is rampant in most “pathway” systems. However, I was wondering if you could point me to specific references in support of this statement, “the poor performance of early developing athletes in senior sport has been very very documented all over the world for the past 50 years”? Thanks in advance,
Peter
Great read Wayne. I find your work inspirational.
Hi Wayne, Love it.
It is more like a train ride. A few players may board the ‘sport’ at the first stop i.e. earliest opportunity available to them. And a few players will get off at the last stop i.e. international representation or full-time professional. But most players will get on and off at various stations along the way. Sport is all about the train ride experience and not the final destination. Let’s get as many on board as possible and provide a network of linking lines to various routes for all with game opportunities, sport administration, game management, coaching etc… and keep them on the train involved with sport.
I am sorry but I don’t agree, and I quote what you wrote:
“The most significant and most rapidly growing group in sport around the world are those participants who are just “doing” sport: just playing it for fun, hanging out with friends, enjoying their leisure time doing something they love doing”
Am I reading this wrongly or understanding this wrongly?
Since when did any parent or coach or ‘trainer’ ever have the need to ‘teach’ children to be competitive?
All human beings – yes and that includes children are naturally competitive.
Then you say “the decline in the number of people actively pursuing competitive sport is alarming”.
Look somewhere else for the answer to this decline. Just one explanation I can offer – Children being forced to adopt adult ‘Training’ because some ignorant coach thinks that’s how to produce a champion.
Circus animals need ‘training’ Children grow and develop their basic bio-motor skills by the best way and the way children have always done – by enjoyable play. The last thing they need is some adult who regards himself/herself as a ‘sports expert’.
Stop putting children into straitjackets. – It cramps their style!
Hey Wayne
I am going to agree with some of your points and disagree with others.
Part 1: Pathways do exist, they are good and they work!
I have just finished up working in a program that has a strong pathway to develop successful internationally competitive athletes – the Australian Winter Sports Program. This pathway program has taken our skiers and snowboarders to podiums at World Cups, World Championships and Olympic Games across a range of disciplines. Prior to the pathway being in place we had occasional success from really talented athletes being lucky enough to be guided by some excellent coaches. Winter Sports has developed from a Tier Z sport to a Tier 1 sport, this has happened because of the pathway and the capacity for the pathway to have the flexibility to cater for a huge range of athlete requirements,
No-one ever said a pathway was a straight line, a good pathway provides an environment that provides the athlete with the opportunities they require to develop into an internationally competitive athlete. If they don’t want to be competitive, then they are a recreational athlete and it is the sports responsibility to cater for those as well.
Part 2: Pathways get mixed up
Priorities often get a bit distorted in sport these days.
a) early in sport: I remember my son’s U10yr old AFL team trained 2 x per week and not once all season did they play the actual game in training, the coach had them doing drills (trying) that I used to observe the Swans using.
b) When you show talent, specialization occurs far too early and concepts like” high performance training” (read weight training/increased training volume) are introduced too young. If I had a dollar … for the number of times I have told a parent/coach/sport that their 12yr olds do not need a weight training program (or any type of structured physical perp program)
c) the joy is gone, “Mucking around” with your sport become a big NO, all training is structured.
Part 3: Responsibility
The club’s, the state organisations, the national bodies use to provide the pathway for both recreational and competitive sport development. Unfortunately(?) many sporting organisations have abdicated the responsibility for their elite development programs to the Institute network, and if the Institutes don’t cater for their sport then it is the fault of the system. From this has developed what I see as one of the biggest concerns for COMPETITIVE sport, the abdication of responsibility by sports for creating an environment to develop early age sport as well. Privateers have taken the place of clubs in many sports at the grass roots level, there were no tennis clubs for my son to join, soccer and basketball are being taken over by private academies, “competing only in house, destroying the inter club aspect of sport that has been the base of the pathway in our previous successes in sport. This also destroys the recreational aspect of sport – playing on saturdays with your mates against a bunch of kids from across town.
My Summary:
Pathways are important, and they are a whole of sport responsibility so sports should have someone who understands sport from the grassroots to elite success working on pathway development.
If someone enjoys a sport and has the talent, there should be a pathway in that sport that has the capacity to guide that athlete in what it requires to be successful. Once a participant gets to a certain level, which may be different across sports, there is a very specific path that needs to be followed to ensure success and the pathway should reflect this.
Cheers
JM.
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