Quality early development is a critical stage that defines how an athlete will develop. The younger the candidate, the more chance you have to instil high quality technique, physical and mentality development. LTAD originates from the former Soviet Union and the fundamentals have been adopted by many Western countries as a system of long term development for athletes beginning at a young age.
- Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)
Source: brianmac.co.uk - Developing Young Athletes for the Long Term
Source: learntocoachbasketball.com - Coaching Young Athletes to Produce Future Stars
Source: pponline.co.uk - Australian Institute of Sport
Many athletes go through youth development programs in their particular sports, these programs attempt to identify talented youngsters as early as possible and get them into a dedicated athlete development structure. Here’s a good article on some top tier Football academies around the world (source: http://bleacherreport.com).
The financial challenges that arise for parents raising elite athletes can become burdensome and can also add an extra layer of somewhat avoidable stress that if not managed correctly could play a role in stunting the athletes development.
