What’s my role in athlete development as an organizer?
Organizers have a major role to play in helping provide fun, safe and age-appropriate sports experiences for everyone, from kids to adults.
Organizers and local affiliates play a key role in the long-term athlete development. Local affiliates are the ones who decide what competitions will be held and when. They decide on what age groups they will target. They will often be the ones that will set up learn to play clinics or reach out to schools or multi-sport organizations. They will often recruit coaches and be involved in the training. They will be setting fees for the activities.
The local affiliate should base decisions on what is best for the players when reasonable without compromising health and safety.
What is the role of an organizer in long-term athlete development?
A successful organizer will:
- Institute age-appropriate competition formats including field size, equipment size, length of games, and length of season.
- Promote skill development over outcomes.
- Promote fun and physical activity.
- Hire and train coaches to be transformational coaches who focus on fun, love of being active, and skill development.
- Be diligent about fundraising and setting fees to allow for accessibility for as many people as possible.
- Seek out input from players and stakeholders (e.g., parents of youth) on programming.
STAGE BY STAGE –
ONE PAGERS
The links below provide summaries designed to give you some of the key elements in each stage of the LTAD model, based on your role as a parent: