History
Australian Sports Commission
1988 to 1994
In 1988, a historic ground breaking talent identification rowing project was instigated by Dr Allan Hahn and colleagues at the AIS. This rowing program was an outstanding success, fast-tracking representatives to the 1992 and 1996 Olympics Games, including Atlanta gold medallist Megan Still.
Inspired, a number of sports including cycling, athletics and canoeing took it upon themselves to systematically look for talented athletes in their sport. In 1993, a track cycling talent identification project unearthed three Junior World Champions in South Australian secondary schools. They included Alayna Burns (pictured left) who has since won Commonwealth Games gold, and competed for Australia in the track cycling team at the 2000 Olympic Games. Alayna placed 7th in the 3000m individual pursuit, and 9th in the 25km point’s race.
However, these programs at the time were labour intensive, involving repeated mass screening in schools. In many instances, a number of sports conducted similar tests resulting in much duplication and drain on school resources and time. The implementation of Talent Search in 1994 alleviated many of these problems as it was the first coordinated, national effort between sports and necessitated testing students only once.
1994 to 1996
Following the announcement of Sydney as host venue for the 2000 Olympics and the subsequent Olympic Athlete Program, the Federal Government allocated $500,000 a year for two years for a national talent identification program which became known as Talent Search. The aim was for this program to absorb existing talent identification schemes conducted by individual sports, and provide for any additional sports that were considered appropriate. A major focus of the funding was an ambitious attempt to identify talent and fast-track athletes for the 2000 Olympic Games.
Eight sports were chosen for involvement in the mainstream talent identification program. These were athletics, cycling, canoeing, swimming, rowing, triathlon, water polo and weightlifting.
The age range for testing was 14–16 years. This meant athletes would be 20–22 years old by the time of the Sydney Olympics. In addition, the age range reduced some of the maturational influences on performance and some of the philosophical challenges associated with testing young children.
After the appointment of the national coordinator, state Talent Search coordinators were employed and based at each of the state sport institutes/academies of sport. Based on the population and size of the state/territory, these were full-time positions in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, and half time in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The positions were fully funded from the Olympic Athlete Program.
Three phases were identified for the Talent Search program:
Phase 1—School screening
Phase 2—Sport-specific testing
Phase 3—Talent development
Phase 1 consisted of screening in the school environment using a battery of eight physical and physiological tests. In most cases, physical education teachers conducted the tests with the assistance of state coordinators. Results were compared with a national database and some students were then selected to participate in Phase 2 testing. In general, students needed to be in the top 2% on any one of the eight tests to be invited to participate in Phase 2.
Phase 2 testing refined the accuracy of some Phase 1 tests and incorporated sport-specific testing including some laboratory tests. Following Phase 2 testing, students identified with talent for a specific sport were invited to join a talented athlete program organised by the state and/or national sporting organisation (Phase 3). Funding for the talent development component of Talent Search was the responsibility of these organisations.
1997 to 2005
Funding from the Olympic Athlete program concluded for Talent Search in June 1996, and the Australian Sports Commission funded the program on an interim basis in the 1996–97 financial year. Given this change in funding and operating arrangements, it was necessary to revise the strategic plan for the 1997 calendar year and to take a far more targeted approach to talent identification, given the resources available. This involved a restriction of the sports involved and the breadth of testing at both Phases 1 and 2.
The AIS maintained its role in providing a focus and direction for talent identification initiatives throughout Australia. This ensured consistency of testing protocols and selection procedures throughout Australia. The AIS continued to provide general and technical advice to national sporting organisations on talent identification issues and maintained a national database of athlete testing. This database was extremely valuable in evaluating talent development and the progress of athletes, which helped refine our selection procedures for the future.
State Talent Search coordinators in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia continued to conduct broad based screening through the education system. While the state/territory based programs all used coordinated national standards, their organisation was varied and designed to suit the dynamics of the sport infrastructure in the individual state/territory.
Moving outside the Olympic Athlete Program gave the Talent Search program more flexibility; as the age range could be extended up or down to accommodate the requirements of different sports. Thus the unit was able to work with a wider number of sports if they had expressed interest to be involved. Non-Olympic sports were also considered for the program.
2005 to present
A shift towards a more project based approach in 2005 saw the employment of dedicated coordinators for each of the sports of rowing, canoeing and cycling. The employment of these staff helped ensure the quality control of key programs within the Talent Search portfolio whilst at the same time facilitating the expansion of the program to include a greater talent development role. Programs became more closely aligned with the priorities of the National Sports Organisations (NSO’s) and the 24 Beijing Athlete program sports. Special initiative funding was also made available and was designed to promote project based approaches.
Following the acquisition of additional funding from the Federal Government in 2006, the existing “Talent Search” program was restructured to form the National Talent Identification and Development program. This change brought with it new talent identification and development initiatives in the areas of Asian sports and Indigenous sports and also provided support for the development of national systems and networks to detect, select and develop athletes for major national and international competitions beyond the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Since then 17 sports have been funded through the NTID program and an additional 9.5 staff employed.
The National Talent Identification and Development program is recognised as an international leader in the area of talent identification. The most appropriate scientific principles from research conducted in Australia and overseas have been applied in a culturally appropriate context. To this end the NTID program has provided support to Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom; there is regular liaison with other countries.
