ETP webinars highlight large interest in junior athlete development

More than 40 coaches and over 110 between athletes and parents attended the two webinars hosted last week by Snow Australia to provide information about the Emerging Talent Program (ETP) nomination process for the 2021/2022 season. The webinars are now available online at https://www.snow.org.au/webinars/ for those who could not attend the sessions.

Snow Australia's Talent, Health & Performance Coordinator Ben Bond said he was really pleased with the outcome of the webinars and the feedback received so far. Bond hosted the webinars alongside Snow Australia Performance Pathway & Program Manger Ben Wordsworth.

"I am glad we had the opportunity to provide clarity to coaches, athletes and parents around the vision of the Emerging Talent Program and how it will differ from previous years," Bond said.

"We had a much bigger audience than we expected for both webinars and everybody was receptive to the Talent Identification and Development approach we are taking this year."

The newly adopted Talent Identification approach is based on high-quality, evidence-based practice and will give Snow Australia the ability to focus on athletes who have a high potential of progressing through the pathway, up to the performance level of the New South Wales Institute of Sport or the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia programs, depending on their discipline.

"Our five-pillar athlete profiling model will facilitate the breakdown of certain athlete qualities, highlighting areas of strength and weakness, and promote an actionable plan for athlete development in a timely manner," Bond said.

During the first webinar, coaches asked several questions about the differentiation of the performance pathway for each discipline. They responded well to the athlete profiling model presented and how it will enhance a targeted approach to development.

The athletes and parents webinar was the most attended webinar ever run through Snow Australia and highlighted the large interest surrounding junior athlete development. The audience was particularly interested in understanding how the ETP nomination process would be affected by a 2020 domestic season which was dramatically reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We acknowledge that our junior athletes faced a tough situation during the season and that many were disadvantaged by the lack of competition and training opportunities.

"The vast majority of those eligible for ETP will have been a part of club programs for several years and should not be unknown to these clubs. We therefore encourage clubs to base their nominations around the 2019 domestic season and any 2020 club activity that did occur during this time," Bond said.

Bond and Wordsworth strongly encouraged coaches, parents and athletes to review the FTEM (Foundation, Talent, Elite and Mastery) framework for athlete development adopted by Snow Australia. The ETP targets those athletes within the T1-T3 stages in particular.

"The FTEM framework is a fantastic resource that provides great clarity on each of these stages," Bond said.

The framework can be found on the Snow Australia website, with a discipline-specific breakdown.