Paul, Joel (2016) A multidisciplinary approach to establish a national strategy for talent identification and athlete development in Trinidad and Tobago. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
Recognising the importance of sport as a major political and economic tool as well as a lucrative avenue for boosting its international sporting image, the government of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has increased its interest in elite sport over the past 20 years. This has ranged from the enactment of policies at the parliamentary level to the establishment of state agencies geared towards promoting and enhancing the delivery of sport. While this has positively impacted the performance of athletes at the Olympics and other international events there exists considerable room for improvement so as to maintain and improve the country’s competitiveness. This would prove a challenge in the long run given T&T’s limited available resources. Current research has suggested that investment into state–run elite sporting structures (NTIDs) can help maximise state resources and reduce costly errors by effectively identifying and developing talent. Considering the above, the aim of this thesis was to construct an NTID system capable of being successfully introduced in T&T. To achieve this, a multipronged approach involving a mixture of empirical research and secondary data analysis was used. Firstly, a novel anthropometric and physiological testing battery was used to develop reference data and discriminate between junior male cricketers of differing playing abilities. This was followed by a retrospective analysis of the career histories of successful athletes in an effort to identify a suitable development pathway for nurturing future players. Considering that research has suggested that culture has a major impact on the structure of NTIDs, the last study compared the architecture of NTIDs in cultural context. The results of the above tests were successfully used to generate a hypothetical NTIDs for T&T. It is important to note that this thesis only represented the initial stages of the construction of the NTIDs and further research is required to test its efficacy.
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