Creating canadian olympians: a look at a successful trampoline olympic development environment

Abstract

The process of creating Olympic level talent is complex and multifaceted. Researchers in the worlds of talent identification, talent development and career transitions have contributed to the identification of appropriate sport environments, called athlete talent development environments that contribute to athletic success. In addition, descriptions of sport environments that have the ability to develop senior level competitors have been established. Although researchers have been able to identify these contextual components that help athletes become successful, a description of a sport environment that is able to repeatedly create Olympic medal performances from athletes is still unknown. This project compiled a description of an Olympic development environment– Skyriders Trampoline Place. Four central themes were identified by the participants in this study as relevant to Olympic level success. The four themes are 1) the development of Skyriders, 2) the Skyriders training environment at present, 3) coaching strategies and 4) team interactions.