Overview

Broadly speaking, the course is divided into three parts; 1. demographics, 2. psychosocial, and 3. formative practice experiences. Part 1 will address issues related to the athletes background and upbringing. Part 2 will shed light on the psychological 'make-up' of athletes in order to better understand 'talented' mind-sets. In part 3 we will look at an athletes formative practice experiences that might influence their perceived talent. Considerations regarding the impact of each section on the effective identification and development of talent programmes will be a central theme to all three sections.

Assessment Strategy

-Threshold -(D) To be awarded a pass mark, students must be able to demonstrate a basic level of competence when explaining the demographic, psychosocial, and formative practice experiences that characterise talent and success in sport. Students should also be able to provide a basic explanation of how each should be considered by sports when designing development pathways. The above is supported with minimal in-text citations, references are generally formatted to departmental guidelines, and the are some occasional formatting and/or grammatical errors.

-Good -(C) To be awarded a good mark, students must be able to demonstrate a detailed and evidenced based level of competence when explaining and at times critically appraising the demographic, psychosocial, and formative practice experiences that characterise talent and success in sport. Students should also generally be able to provide an empirically informed and good explanation of how these factors should be considered by sports when designing development pathways. The above is generally supported with in-text citations, references are formatted to departmental guidelines, and formatting or grammatical errors are occasionally evident.

-Very good -(B) To be awarded a very good mark, students must be able to demonstrate a detailed and evidenced based level of competence when explaining and critically appraising the demographic, psychosocial, and formative practice experiences that characterise talent and success in sport. Students should also be able to provide an empirically informed and very good explanation of how these factors should be considered by sports when designing development pathways. The above is nearly always supported with in-text citations, references are formatted to departmental guidelines, and formatting or grammatical errors are occasionally evident.

-Excellent -(A) To be awarded an excellent mark, students must be able to demonstrate an extremely detailed and evidenced based level of competence when explaining and critically appraising the demographic, psychosocial, and formative practice experiences that characterise talent and success in sport. Students should also be able to provide an empirically informed and excellent understanding of how these factors should be considered by sports when designing development pathways. The above will be supported with in-text citations, references are formatted to departmental guidelines, and formatting or grammatical errors are not present.

Learning Outcomes

• Detail and critically appraise the theories and associated research around the Relative Age, Sibling, and Birthplace Effects together with how each should be considered when developing and identifying Talent

• Explain how critical demographics, psychosocial, and formative practice experiences can be considered and effectively applied into practical talent development and identification programmes.

• Outline and critically discuss the theories and associated research around Early Diversification and Early Specification together with their role in effective talent development and identification

• Synthesise the main psychosocial variables impacting talent identification and development and evaluate research methodologies and outcomes to appraise their relevance and applicability in practical sessions.