INTRODUCTION: This research project is part of the first Canadian study to examine the determinants of adoption of the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model as experienced by sport coaches. We interviewed cross-country ski coaches to better understand the adoption of the LTAD model into their coaching practice. The LTAD is a sport developmental model "based on the physical, mental, emotional, and cognitive development of children and adolescents" (Canadian Sport Centers, 2006, p. 7). The model shows the interdependency of physical education, interscholastic sport, competitive sport, and recreational activity in order to encourage life-long participation on a national scale. We used Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovations theory to understand how attributes of the LTAD model influenced Canadian cross-country ski coaches' decisions to adopt or reject the model into their coaching practice. The following questions guided the focus of the project: (1) what attributes of adoption do coaches perceive the LTAD model possessing, and (2) how do these attributes affect a coach's decision to adopt or reject the LTAD model? By addressing these questions, this project will create the first step in understanding how sport coaches' perceive the LTAD model and what influences them to adopt it into their coaching practice. METHOD: A multiple case study design was used to structure this qualitative research project. Three cases will be analyzed, each representing one ski club within Canada's capital region. Four to five coaches were recruited from each cross-country ski club, representing different coaching contexts (e.g. competitive, developmental, and recreational coaches). Each coach participated in a 45-60 minute narrative interview; digitally recorded, transcribed, member checked, and analyzed using thematic analysis and NVivo 8 Software. RESULTS & DISCUSSION: The intention of this presentation is to outline the results obtained from the first of the three club environments. Interviews with coaches revealed three key attributes that influenced the adoption of LTAD: 1) relative advantage, 2) compatibility, and 3) complexity. First, coaches explained that grouping athletes using developmental age was more advantageous than using chronological groupings because athletes were more evenly distributed into training teams. Secondly, coaches saw tnany of the principles of LTAD as compatible to their coaching ideals. This compatibility included using games to teach technique and encouraging multiple sport participation. Lastly, the model was seen as relatively easy to understand thereby increasing the rate of adoption by Club A's coaches; however, aspects of the model, like Peak Height Velocity and optimal Windows of trainability, were identified as being more difficult to understand for parents and volunteer coaches. CONCLUSION. This project's results represent the first step in understanding the determinants of adoption of the LTAD model in Canadian Sport. Analysis found that the high compatibility and relative advantage of the model, as well as the model's relatively low complexity led to the adoption of the LTAD by Club A's coaches. Our understanding to this point is that the adoption of LTAD by other sport clubs will be experienced in similar ways as long as the coaching staff and club structure of the clubs are alike.
© Copyright 2010 Book of Abstracts. 5th International Congress on Science and Skiing, Dec. 14 - 19, 2010, St. Christoph am Arlberg. Veröffentlicht von University of Salzburg, Interfakultärer Fachbereich Sport- und Bewegungswissenschaft/USI. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.