On the Ball Implementation of Canada Basketball’s Athlete Development Model Tammy Whitaker-Campbell, M.A, BPHED Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Social and Cultural Health) Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario ©June 2017 ON THE BALL Abstract The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the perceived benefits and challenges of Canada Basketball’s athlete development model (ADM)/long-term athlete development (LTAD) by administrators, learning facilitators, and coaches at Canada Basketball to better understand the barriers to and enablers of this process. The methodological approach used for the study was an exploratory case study. Methods were established that were consistent with the iterative nature of case study. In total, 5 participants who identified as administrator/learning facilitator/coach, 6 participants who identified as /learning facilitator/coach, and 1 participant who identified as a coach participated in the study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant that provided new insight into participants’ perceptions of and experiences with ADM/LTAD relative to their positions. Analysis revealed themes related to perceived (a) benefits while using ADM/LTAD; and (b) and challenges with using ADM/LTAD. These findings provide a preliminary assessment of one sport specific athlete development model and may inform research of other sport-specific athlete development programs. Several implications of the study findings are discussed and suggestions are posed for future research. Keywords: coaching, sport, athlete development, benefits, challenges, LTAD, Canada Basketball. ON THE BALL Acknowledgements I would like to extend thanks to the many people, who so generously contributed to the work presented in this dissertation. To begin, I would like to thank my mentors and supervisors, Dr. James Mandigo and Dr. Philip Sullivan for their encouragement, devotion and support throughout this entire process. With their attention to details and constructive criticisms, they continually challenged me to push myself and my work with this thesis. I am grateful to the other members of my committee, Dr. Lucie Thibault, and Dr. Ken Lodewyk. You have been an immense influence on my growth as an academic. I am also hugely appreciative to Dr. Anna Lathrop, Dr. Madelyn Law, Dr. Nancy Francis, Dr. Mandy Frake-Mistak, Dr. Katelyn LaForge-MacKenzie, and many other colleagues for sharing their experience and expertise so willingly, and for being so dedicated to helping me see this journey to the end. Special mention goes to Canada Basketball and their administrators, learning facilitators and coaches for agreeing to allow me to work so closely with them. This thesis would not have been possible without their support. Finally, but by no means least, thanks go to Kirk, Matthew, Erin, Mum, Dad, Roy and Adam for almost unbelievable support. They are the most important people in my world and I dedicate this dissertation to them. The time, encouragement and continuous love have been the foundation for this journey. ON THE BALL Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgments Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Appendices Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review 4 Canadian Sport Policy (CSP) 4 Canadian Sport System 9 National Sport Organizations (NSOs) 10 Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PSOs/TSOs) 15 Local Sport Organizations (LSOs) 16 Coach Education 17 Athlete Development 18 Talent Identification versus Athlete Development 20 Expertise Development 24 Deliberate Practice 28 Youth Athlete Development 29 Creating the Best Possible Athlete Programs 31 Planned Environments 36 Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Plan 39 ON THE BALL Long-Term Athlete Development and Canada Basketball 49 The Athlete Development Model (ADM) 49 ADM 54 The Present Study 55 Conclusion 61 Chapter 3: Methods 63 Purpose of the Present Study 63 Qualitative Research and Case Study 63 Critique of Case Study Approach 65 Data Collection 67 Sampling and Recruitment 67 Participants 67 Administrator 68 Learning Facilitator 68 Coach 69 Interviews 70 Methodological Rigour 76 Trustworthiness 77 Data Analysis 78 Member Checking 82 Researcher Positionality 84 Chapter 4: Results 76 Benefits 89 ON THE BALL Challenges 116 Results presented by Participant Role 122 Administrators 124 Learning Facilitators 126 Coaches 127 Chapter 5: Discussion 129 Benefits 130 Challenges 139 Positive Youth Development 145 Chapter 6: Conclusions 148 Limitations 148 Implications 149 Priority Recommendations for Canada Basketball 150 Future Directions 151 Summary 154 Bibliography 157 ON THE BALL LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: CSP 2012 Framework (CSP 2012) 7 Figure 2: Sport Canada: Strategic Leadership for Sport (Sport Canada, 2012) 9 Figure 3: Long-Term Athlete Development Framework (Sport for Life, 2017) 46 Figure 4: Canada Basketball ADM (Canada Basketball, 2008) 53 Figure 5: Themes (Trees)-with corresponding categories (nodes) 90 ON THE BALL LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Participant List 72 Table 2: Results across the three categories of positions of Canada Basketball 122 Table 3: Priority recommendations for Canada Basketball 151 ON THE BALL LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A: Canada Basketball AMD/LTAD Materials 180 Appendix B: Ethics Approval 222 Appendix C: Log for Recording Verbal Consent 223 Appendix D: Interview Guides 224 Appendix E: Pre-Interview Script 230 Appendix F: Gender Distribution 232 ON THE BALL 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Sport has the very important potential to serve as a medium to provide benefits and experiences to young athletes (Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007; Côté & Hay, 2002; Kirk, 2005). It is important to note that these benefits are not innate or assured but must be carefully constructed and delivered. With the correct program design and leadership, these benefits also have the potential to be transferred and carried on into other areas of the athlete’s life, encouraging lifelong participation in physical activity. Consistent with the literature on youth sport development when designing sport programs, care needs to be taken to ensure that these programs are being developed with these benefits as a priority (Fraser-Thomas, Côté, & Deakin, 2005). The development of an athlete is sometimes likened to an art where coaches are involved in a complex orchestration of planning, executing, training, and competition (Nash, Sproule, & Horton, 2011). Many models have been developed to help countries, sport clubs, and coaches prepare athletes to reach their full potential. Bruner, Erickson, Wilson, and Côté (2010) suggested that athlete development models were created with the mind-set of “continuity and developmental change across athlete developmental stages” (p. 137). Côté, Bruner, Erickson, Strachan, and Fraser-Thomas (2010) postulated that the key role of coaches at particular points in athletes’ development is to consider their global developmental pathway. Researchers have examined youth sport programs that are recognized as having sport talent and elite development environments (Martindale, Collins, & Abraham, 2007; Martindale, Collins, & Daubney, 2005). According to Green (2007), governments increasingly utilize sport programs and ON THE BALL 2 initiatives to realize an array of objectives in a range of policy arenas with the goal of the betterment of their society. These policy objectives can include social inclusion, crime reduction, urban regeneration, raising school standards, reducing obesity, and international prestige (Green, 2007). One such environment in Canada is long-term athlete development (LTAD). Those Canadian sports receiving financial support from the federal government are required to have a sport-specific framework of LTAD in place. LTAD originates from the work of Istvan Balyi in a paper published by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) (Balyi, 1990). In Canada, national sport organizations (NSOs), provincial/territorial sport organizations (PSOs/TSOs) and local sport organizations (LSOs) develop sport-specific LTAD models and resources to assist all organization members to understand the model. I chose to study an NSO, specifically Canada Basketball. This was done for two reasons. First Canada Basketball has had a version of LTAD since 2003. Canada Basketball refers to their LTAD as the athlete development model (ADM). Secondly, along with colleagues I previously piloted a study with Canada Basketball and their use of physical literacy in LTAD (Sullivan, Whitaker – Campbell, MacKay, 2010). Future research suggestions of the pilot study provided the motivation for the present study. The present study was an examination of a youth sport development program, namely athlete development model (ADM)/ long-term athlete development (LTAD) developed by Canada Basketball. This was accomplished by addressing the research question: “What are the perceived benefits and challenges associated with using ADM/LTAD for Basketball in Canada?” A case study methodology was used in which administrator’s, learning facilitator’s, and coach’s perceptions of the benefits and ON THE BALL 3 challenges of ADM/LTAD were examined. This is appropriate for investigating a population, general phenomenon or, as in the case of the present study, understanding a program (Stake, 2005). ON THE BALL 4 Chapter 2 To understand the specific requirements needed for youth sport development programs, it is important to understand how athlete development has