Professor Dave Morley Liverpool John Moores University

Warm-up: Assessment in sport? Models to help us think

Technical (what to do) & Tactical (how to do it): ◦ Case studies (choose two from three) assessing the: Movement proficiency of all 4-11 year olds Sport-specific Physical competency of 11-14 year olds Sport-specific ‘Full-view’ capabilities of sport-specific,

sub-elite, 14-18 year olds Cool-down: Top tips…

Assessment in sport: ◦ Draw it… ◦ Rationalise it… ◦ Problematise it…

Assessment

Learning Coaching

Task

Environment Individual

SPECIALISING

RECREATION

RECREATION

SAMPLING

INVESTMENT

Usually occurs between 7 and 12 years Characterised by engagement in a wide range of sports Main motivation for young people at this stage is

enjoyment Emphasis is much more on playing than on training or

competing. Focus, particularly at end of stage on ‘deliberate play’,

which means structured activities that require the development of technical and/or tactical competence

Three options at this phase, aged around 14 years: ◦ carry on sampling sports ◦ switch to more informal and recreational play ◦ move onto to play sport more seriously

The number of sports played reduces, normally to one or two Changes from fun to competition and to winning ‘Deliberate play’ becomes ‘deliberate practice’ as young

players focus increasingly on improving their levels of performance and increase the frequency and intensity of their training

Two options at this phase: ◦ If the player is ready to focus on one sport and to

serious and intense training and competition, they move to the ‘investment phase’. The predominant motivation for continuing to play is to win ◦ If they do not wish to continue to this stage, they

need not leave sport, as there are opportunities for them to carry on playing recreationally

90,000 children taking part in the Champion schools knock-out competition each year.

The development of young players is of great importance to the game and it is believed that by facilitating a smooth transition at the adolescent stage, the quality of players progressing from junior to senior level can be increased.

Solution: Pilot a talent development intervention, named Embed the Pathway (EtP) within the Under 14 age category.

Purpose: assess player ‘movement’ and ‘physical’ capabilities within a 6-panel talent development framework used by the National Governing Body.

Rationale: assessment of the Under 14 age group crucial as it’s a key period of maturation for the players in terms of transiting through Peak Height Velocity and players were about to be formally selected onto the first exclusive segment of the RFL talent pathway.

Explore the relationship between the results of a dual fitness and movement assessment protocol, relative age, maturation and anthropometric characteristics of Under 14 junior Rugby League players, within the context of a talent development intervention.

With a partner, write the physical characteristics of a talented performer in RL on post-its (one word per post-it) and stick them, face down, on a piece of paper

Swap your post-its with another group. In pairs, stick the post-its one at a time on

your forehead and your partner has to describe the word to you, without saying the word

One minute each- how many can you get?

Fitness assessments

Vertical jump

Medicine ball throw

20m sprint

Zigzag agility

Taken from: Morley, D., Pyke, K. & Till, K. (in press). An investigation into the use of a movement assessment protocol for Under 14 Rugby League players in a talent development environment. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching.

Relatively older players demonstrated greater anthropometrical measurements but did not perform better in the MAP.

Coaches need to be educated on the potential effects of relative age within annual-age groups on size and performance.

Maturation has a significant impact on anthropometric measures along with upper body power and sprint speed.

These findings question the use of upper body power and sprint speed assessments within talent identification programs by annual-age category.

Instead, practitioners should consider fitness assessments in relation to maturational status when assessing an individual’s performance.

If Movement Assessment Protocols are to be used for the purpose of talent identification they should not consist of assessments that allow for relative age and maturational biases and should be developmentally appropriate for the target population.

Multidimensionality to trait recognition of talented athletes

Explore ‘taken for granted’ player assumptions

Coach-athlete relationship Self-regulation: ◦ “Self-regulated learners have the skills to self-

monitor their progress, manage their emotions, focus on self-improvement and seek help from others when necessary”

(MacNamara & Collins, 2012)

Adapted from Jones (1993)

Profiling

Monitor progress

Intervention ID

Maximise player

motivation

RFL LTAD

Technical

Movement

Mental preparation

Tactical

Movement

Physical conditioning

1. To explore how coaches and players perceived the required competencies of junior players

2. To develop a tool to allow players to take control of the enhancement of their capabilities

MUFC

6 coaches

5 players

RFL

7 P&C staff

Participants

With a partner, write the characteristics of a talented performer on post-its (one word per post-it) and stick them, face down, on a piece of paper

Swap your post-its with another group. In pairs, stick the post-its one at a time on

your forehead and your partner has to describe the word to you, without saying the word

One minute each- how many can you get?

Findings: Round 2

Player Development

contexts

Game

Coachability

Mental attributes

Movement

Findings: Round 3

Players’ priorities

Coaches’ priorities

Findings- priorities

Bio

•Movement •Game •Game •Training

Psycho

•Mental attributes •Coachability •Personal •School •Training •Lifestyle

Social

•Coachability •Social •School •Lifestyle

Delphi technique increases ownership through large-scale involvement in the initial design of the profiling tool

DT enabled an initial consensus of agreement on player competencies. This consensus became skewed once group dynamics came into play.

Coaches and players generally agreed on the multidimensionality of player characteristics, with some minor variations in which traits were priorities

An increase in self-regulation is questionable; further investigation required: ◦ % coach-athlete engagement, roles and responsibilities ◦ Quantifiable measurement of self-regulation needs to be

monitored and assessed

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the RFL and participants from all of the studies for

their involvement.

Thanks to research colleagues: Dr Gareth Morgan, Ian

Smallwood, Graham Turner, Daniel Pyke, Dr Kevin Till, Paul

Ogilvie, Dr Adam Nicholls, Professor Jeanne Keay, Professor

Jim McKenna

Baker, J. & Schorer, J. (2010) Identification and Development of Talent in Sport – Introduction to the Special Issue, Talent Development & Excellence, 2, 2, 119-121.

MacNamara, A. & Collins, D. (2012) Building talent development systems. In, J. Baker, S. Cobley & J. Schorer. (Eds) Talent identification and development in sport. Oxford: Routledge.

Morley, D. & Bailey, R. P. (2011) Modelling Long-Term Athlete development in sport. In, A. Navin (Ed.) Sports Coaching: a reference guide for students, coaches and competitors. Marlborough: Crowood Press.

Morley, D. & Bailey, R. (2014) Talent in Sport. In, H. Haag (Ed) Directory of Sport Sciences, 5th Edition. Champaign, IL. Human Kinetics.

Morley, D., Pyke, K. & Till, K. (in press). An investigation into the use of a movement assessment protocol for Under 14 Rugby League players in a talent development environment. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching.

Morley, D., Morgan, G., McKenna, J. & Nicholls, A. (2014) Coaches’ and players’ perceptions of development contexts and features of elite academy football players. International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching, 9 (1) 216- 232.

1. View assessment in sport as a dynamic process (Formative/ Summative, TIE, ACL)

2. Understand the ‘Lifespan’ developmental needs of your athletes

3. Determine the specific demands of the environment in which athletes are being assessed

4. Map out the balance of formative and summative assessment

5. Ensure equitable and reliable practices throughout the assessment

6. Factor in the use/sharing of the assessment data

D.m.morley@ljmu.ac.uk