Long-Term Athlete DevelopmentLong-Term Athlete Development (LTAD)
What is LTAD?
Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is a systemic approach being developed and adopted by Equine Canada to maximize a participant/athlete's potential and involvement in our sport. The LTAD framework aims to define optimal training, competition and recovery programs based on biological age rather than chronological age. It is athlete-centered, coach-driven and administration, sport science and sponsor supported.
By tailoring a participant/athlete's sports development program to suit basic principles of growth and maturation, especially during the "critical" early years of their development, enables him/her to:
- Reach full potential (Introduction through to Olympic podium)
- Increase lifelong participation in equestrian sport and other physical activities
- Improve health and well-being
This framework will set out recommended training sequences and skills development for the participant from the Active Start Stage (age 6 and under) to the Active for Life Stage (adult recreational). It will address the physical, mental, emotional and technical needs of the athlete as they pass through each stage of development.
Where has LTAD come from?
As a result of the Canadian Sport Policy, in 2005, Canada began a major project to re-invigorate the national sport system. This new approach was undertaken in response to: concerns about Canada's lack of physical activity; growing obesity epidemic, particularly among children; and the perceived poor performance of Canadian teams internationally. Under the direction of Sport Canada, the Canadian Sports Centre - Vancouver and Pacific Sport was given the monumental task of transforming the Canadian Sport System and took an innovative approach to this challenge. A five-person (now six-person) Expert Group was established to lead the transformation. The Expert Group's approach was:
- To create a new generic, long-term athlete development (LTAD) model for able-bodied athletes
- To create a supplement to the LTAD model that addressed the additional needs of athletes with intellectual or physical disability
- To work with individual National Sport Organizations (NSOs) to adapt the generic model to meet sport specific needs
The Canadian LTAD Model
The core concept of the Canadian LTAD system and our Equestrian LTAD is that it recognizes that better athletic performance, and a greater percentage of the population engaged in health promoting physical activity, are both outcomes of a well developed sport development system.
Within the LTAD system, there are Seven Stages that athletes can pass through, and although they all pass through those stages, they do so at different ages depending on how advanced or delayed they are in their passage through adolescence. LTAD is: optimal training, competition and recovery programming with relation to biological development and maturation; equal opportunity for participation and competition.
The process to develop Equestrian's LTAD model was extensive, inclusive and comprehensive. Knowledge was sought from experts across Canada with in-depth discussions to analyze how our sport can adjust to integrate LTAD into all that we do.
Document Downloads
Below are some useful resources for parents, participants, athletes, coaches, etc. Please note that these documents are generic and not sport specific.
Diagrams:
- Stages of Long-Term Athlete Development
- Circle of Physically Active Life
Resource Documents:
- LTAD Resource Paper
- Competition Document
- Physical, Mental and Cognitive, and Emotional Development Characteristics
Information Booklets:
- LTAD Outline
- Information Sheet for Parents
- Sport Parents Guide
For more information on LTAD, visit their website at www.ltad.ca
Last Updated 2008/07/09