Second Chances: Investigating Athletes’ Experiences of Talent Transfer

Áine Macnamara,Dave Collins,Maria Francesca Piacentini

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0143592

Abstract

Talent transfer initiatives seek to transfer talented, mature individuals from one sport to another. Unfortunately talent transfer initiatives seem to lack an evidence-based direction and a rigorous exploration of the mechanisms underpinning the approach. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the factors which successfully transferring athletes cite as facilitative of talent transfer. In contrast to the anthropometric and performance variables that underpin current talent transfer initiatives, participants identified a range of psycho-behavioral and environmental factors as key to successful transfer. We argue that further research into the mechanisms of talent transfer is needed in order to provide a strong evidence base for the methodologies employed in these initiatives.

Highlights

As standards in performance sport rise ever higher, coaches, sports, and even athletes are searching for new avenues for recruitment
TT initiatives offer a unique pathway for athletes to continue participation in sport at the highest level and, by doing so, potentially increases a nation’s capacity for success at major sporting championships
There are a number of examples of successful talent transfers athletes competing successfully at the highest level, albeit there are equal or even greater numbers of ‘success stories’ apparent from informal rather than structured formal TT programmes [8]

Summary

Introduction

As standards in performance sport rise ever higher, coaches, sports, and even athletes are searching for new avenues for recruitment. In the UK, since 2007, over 7000 individuals have applied to several targeted TT programmes offered by UK Sport with 100 athletes progressing into the World Class system. These results suggest that there is considerable merit in TT initiatives that provide opportunities for athletes to maintain their involvement in elite sport as well as pragmatically targeting sports where success on the worldstage may be more attainable [4, 5, 6, 7]. While there is little contention that TT is a viable means of identifying ‘mature’ talent, formal TT appears to be no more effective or efficient in converting ‘talent’ than informal processes or spontaneous transfer [8].

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Conclusion