Australia’s relentless search to identify and develop the next generation of sporting champions for the London 2012 Olympic Games and beyond is bearing fruit, with many new talented sportsmen and sportswomen joining the ranks of the nation’s elite athletes.

The National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program, which was established by the Australian Sports Commission in 2006, has played a crucial role in the search for Australia’s best athletic talent and is now starting to pay dividends.

This year marks three years of service by the NTID program: a milestone which offers the opportunity celebrate the program’s successes and achievements, as well as to review the ‘scorecard’, to ensure the NTID toddler continues to grow and develop into a valued and productive NTID adult!

Over the past three years, a drive for continuous improvement has led the NTID program to build, and reinforce, a national talent network that bridges Australia-wide gaps in the delivery of talent identification and development programs.

The NTID program has special focus on key issues in Australian sport, including Indigenous participation (in hockey, boxing and athletics) and our athletes’ success in the sports currently dominated by Asian countries, such as judo, badminton, triathlon, diving, shooting and beach volleyball. The program has also implemented support for cycling, rowing, canoeing and skeleton.

NTID program general manager Dr Jason Gulbin says a nationally coordinated and holistic approach to talent identification and development has been critical to building and reinforcing elite sporting pathways.

‘The NTID program has been providing essential support to the next generation of athletes committed to wearing the green and gold. It provides great assistance to athletes trying to navigate the talent development maze, through its partnerships with national sporting organisations, which were established to assist in the provision of coaching, sports science, competition opportunity and case management support,’ said Dr Gulbin.

The NTID program’s significant progress and success in talent identification and development is highlighted by impressive figures, such as the near 580 athletes (including 167 from an Indigenous background) with the ability to compete for Australia at the 2012 Olympics and beyond, who are being supported by over 170 coaches participating in 42 NTID squads across Australia.

‘The number of NTID athletes selected in national teams in 2008–09 [88] has more than tripled over just three years, and, since the inception of the program, more than 70 NTID athletes have progressed to earn scholarships in national high performance programs at the Australian Institute of Sport or state and territory institutes and academies of sport.

‘It is pleasing to see NTID athletes performing well and starting to enjoy some good results in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics, but we are definitely not resting on our laurels,’ Dr Gulbin said.

An independent evaluation has just commenced, which will determine the NTID program’s effectiveness, as well as provide recommendations for the improvement, growth and potential of not just the NTID program, but the Australian sport talent identification system as a whole.

The NTID evaluation is being overseen by a steering committee consisting of:

• Greg Nance (Chair) — Director Sport Performance and Development, Australian Sports Commission
• Craig Phillips — Secretary General, Australian Olympic Committee
• Danny Corcoran — Chief Executive Officer, Athletics Australia
• Gary Ella — Randwick Rugby Club coach and former Australian Rugby player
• Dr David Martin — Senior Physiologist, Australian Institute of Sport
• Dr Jason Gulbin (Secretariat) — General Manager NTID, Australian Sports Commission.
  

Dr Gulbin says there is, and will continue to be, significant need for review of Australian sport and, although this work can be somewhat fatiguing, canvassing the insights of stakeholders is critical to help shape our future national talent identification and development practices.

The NTID evaluation which will engage with every Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport is expected to be completed by 31 July 2009.