Support
Sport Science
The contribution that sport science can make varies with the stage of athlete development.
At the Training to Win stage, AWADs need state-of-the-art physiological, biomechanical, and psychological testing and training prescriptions. Coaches need to understand existing sport science, and sport scientists need to undertake original research on sport performance techniques, training methods, and equipment designed to give AWAD a competitive advantage at the international level.
At the Learning to Train, Training to Train, and Training to Compete stages, sport science can best contribute through optimization of performance techniques and a better understanding of the individualization of the interface between the athlete and their adaptive and sporting equipment. In addition, refinement of training loads based on periodic evaluations of physiological status and development of sound sport psychology programs, both based on the developmental age of the athletes, is important.
Sport scientists can make major contributions to LTAD at the FUNdamentals and Learning to Train stages through research in the areas of optimum acquisition of skills, establishment of effective learning environments, and the identification of activities and teaching methods that enhance the learning of FUNdamental movement skills. Particular emphasis needs to be placed on finding out more about the early skill learning of children or adults with a disability about which little is currently known.\
Officials' Support
At each stage of LTAD, appropriate support for athletes is necessary, This support includes the opportunity to work with a wide range of officials whose skill and knowledge is appropriate for the level of development of the AWAD and the level of competition in which _ .take part. Those officials include sport-specific officials such as referees, umpires, and technical officers, generic sport officials sum as doping control officials, and officials unique to sport for AWADs such as interpreters, classifiers, and divisioners.
Canadian sport needs systematic plans to develop high-level officials within sports for AWADs. This will ensure that when Canadians compete at the highest levels, they will be familiar with the rules, and interpretation of rules, they will face. This is particularly true of classifiers/divisioners, since being re-classified or placed in a different division at an international competition is one of the most damaging experiences that can happen to an AWAD.
Well-meaning but unqualified officials working with younger athletes can permit those athletes to develop incorrect skills that once learned are difficult to change. Officials need to balance the learning needs of young athletes with the flexibility to have fun in a relaxed competitive environment.
Sports need to recruit officials appropriate for the level of play at each stage of development, and those officials should not make calls more leniently just because the athletes have a disability.
Athletes' Support
Many high performance sports for athletes with a physical disability rely heavily on equipment such as wheelchairs, adapted skis, and prosthetic limbs, all of which need skilled technicians working on them if the athlete is to perform at the highest levels. Sports need to have in place technician recruiting and succession plans to ensure that technicians provide Canadian AWADs with a competitive edge in international competition.
In addition, AWADs at all levels require access to professionals able to provide services in the area of injury prevention, sport nutrition, sport medicine, and rehabilitation. .
Counselling services are also important to optimum athlete development, particularly in the areas of educational, personal, and career decisions.
For young people with a disability, early identification of functional abilities and adaptive techniques can lead to more enjoyable sport participation and perhaps guide AWADs into a range of sports for which they are best suited.
Daily living support
While some AWADs are able to manage all of the demands of daily living alone, some, particularly those with a severe disability, may need assistance. The extent and type of assistance will vary by individual and with the stage of development.
At the Training to Win and Training to Compete stages, the purpose of daily living support is to allow elite AWADs to focus on their sport performance rather than on the challenges associated with travel to and from training and competition. This is particularly important at international competitions. Sports need to consider ways to reduce the difficulties of having a single individual provide daily living support while also acting as the training and competition support partner.
At the Learning to Train to Training to Compete stages, the most critical daily living support for athlete development is assistance in getting to and from training sessions and competition on a regular basis. This process is sometimes further hampered by cost structures at sport venues that require admission to be paid both by the athlete (which is reasonable) and by the 'athlete's assistant. Sports need to work with training venues to develop policies on accommodating both daily living and training assistants.
At the Active Start and FUNdamentals stages, the most critical daily living support comes from parents and caregivers encouraging children and those recently injured to get out and try a wide variety of recreational and sporting activities and then helping them to get to and from the venues and deal with any barriers they encounter.
At the youngest ages, parents and caregivers have a responsibility not to be over-protective of children with a disability. Children must be given the opportunity to learn FUNdamental movement skills through vigorous play, even if that means a few bumps and bruises along the way.
Funding, Equipment, and Facilities
LTAD requires long-term, stable funding, and that funding needs to be distributed across all stages of the model. At different stages, the best "bang for the buck" comes from focusing on the most critical needs of athletes at that stage. Those needs are described below. Likewise, the equipment and facility needs of athletes vary across the stages, with access to facilities and equipment being most important at the Active Start and FUNdamentals stages. Access to cutting-edge equipment designed to give Canadian athletes an edge in international competition is the prime requirement when Training to Win.
Why Funding?
- for local organizations, at the First Contact and FUNdamentals stages, to deliver the range of fun activities that will encourage young Canadians with a disability to tryout different sports, develop physical literacy, and build physical activity into their daily lives.
- for equipment, training, and competition as well as affordable coaching and access to facilities. During the Training to Train and Training to Compete stages, many athletes withdraw from competition due to lack of funds.
- for podium success at the Training to Win stage, there is a need for adequate carding of top and development athletes to permit them to concentrate on training and competition, and to obtain the coaching, competition, and equipment they need to take on the world.
- for the Active for Life transition from high-level competitive sport to enable ex-athletes to engage in healthy, life-long activity and become involved in other aspects of their sport.
Why Equipment and Facilities?
- for all Canadian sport and recreation facilities to be accessible and affordable to individuals with a disability to promote being Active for Life.
- for Canadian sport scientists working with athletes Training to Win to develop partnerships to design innovative world-class equipment that gives AWADs the edge in international competition.
- for facilities to be available for training at times, and at costs, that encourage athletes to train at all stages.
- for access to adequate, accessible training facilities, and for some sports, fitting the athlete to equipment for optimum performance. This is critical at the Training to Train and Training to Compete stages.
- for being able to try different sports using suitable sport-specific equipment at the First Contact to FUNdamentals Stages, making the experience far more enjoyable and encouraging participation. Getting equipment that is sized for children and teens can be a challenge and "equipment libraries" and equipment swaps can help greatly.
- for First Contact, children need equipment designed for their age, size, strength, and skill, which is critical to making early experiences positive and pays off in life-long love of physical activity and sport, for performance and health.
Training and Competition Partners
To develop optimally, AWADs need training and competition partners. While many able-bodied athletes like to train with a partner who will spur them on, for some AWADs, having a partner is a necessary and integral part of the sport. Cyclists who are blind cannot train or race without a sighted pilot, while a bocci athlete with severe cerebral palsy cannot train without a partner to retrieve balls. Athletes with intellectual disability may also require training partners.
To continue to improve sport performance, AWADs' training and competition partners need to be equally committed to their sport, and they need to be recognized as athletes in their own right. As AWADs improve, there may be a need to replace existing, and sometimes long-term, partners with partners whose athletic performance can keep pace with that of the AWAD. AWADs cannot improve if they seriously out-perform the partner who is working with them.
Sports need to make the recruitment and training of able-bodied competition and training partners an integral part of their sport development strategy, while sport scientists need to pay more attention to optimizing the very close relationship that must occur between AWADs and their guides/pilots/tappers.
Above all, sports need to ensure that the performance of AWADs is never compromised by performance limitations of guides, pilots, and other able-bodied training and competition partners and that AWADs do not feel obligated to remain with an able-bodied training and competition partner when they feel the partner is holding them back.
More research is needed to understand optimum athlete development.
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