Credit: John Borren
Sport and recreation is an important part of the New Zealand lifestyle. We learn, grow, set and achieve goals, develop and master movement skills, find a sense of belonging and community – and excel and win – through sport and recreation.
The ‘Sport and Recreation Pathway’ is life-long. It is made up of the various stages and phases described below. As we grow older and gain more experience, we move through the pathway – but it’s about stages and progression rather than age.
Ultimately, the pathway is about lifelong participation and high performance. These two outcomes are achieved as part of one integrated sport and recreation system. This link outlines the Sport and Recreation Pathway.
Download the Sport and Recreation Pathway presentation (PDF, 118 Kb)
The Pathway and its phases is outlined below.
Foundation Phase
In the ‘Foundation’ phase of the Pathway, you progress through the ‘Explore’ and ‘Learn’ stages. This phase recognises that early childhood experiences are critical to the development of the skills, attitudes and confidence required to become an active participant in sport and recreation in later life.
This phase also recognises that early experiences need to be structured to meet the needs of children within a planned pathway that targets sequential development and promotes sport and recreation through youth and adult life.
Explore stage
- The majority of children transition through this stage in the first seven years of life.
- Child development is fostered in an environment that is caring, safe, supportive, and encourages movement exploration, play, and fun.
- The development of basic movement patterns, skills confidence in movement, and a willingness to attempt new activities is critical for children if they are to enter sport and recreation.
- Children at this stage need many and varied movement experiences every day.
Learn stage
- Entry level to sport and recreation activities.
- Most children will transition through this stage by the time they are twelve.
- Development is fostered by the provision of playful, fun, and supportive environments where children experience success, develop skills, and learn positive attitudes towards sport and recreation.
- Coaches, parents, and clubs should be encouraged to take a long term view of children’s participation. The development of skills and positive attitudes in children is more important than winning every week – the focus is on playing and striving.
- Specialisation should be avoided.
- Multiple sport and recreational experiences are important.
- Multiple positions and roles within sport are important.
- Talent identification and representative programmes are not required.
Community Sport and Recreation Phase
Participate stage
This phase is about sport and physical recreation for youth and adult life. This is a diverse and complex phase where enjoyment and fun are the key drivers for participation, but at the same time performance, challenge and improvement are often key motivators. During this phase, both these aspirations across a wide age range need to be catered for.
The pathway through this stage is not linear, and changes are common. It is therefore important that multiple formats and options are available to cater for the diverse needs of participants.
Talented Athlete Phase
This phase is all about realising athletes’ performance potential. In this phase athletes with the potential to perform to a very high level in the future are identified (talent identification).
These athletes will transition through the perform stage with the ultimate goal of reaching the excel stage and maximising their performance level.
Talent identification
The process of talent identification is sport specific but should be based around the following principles.
It should:
- be inclusive rather than exclusive
- be conducted often throughout the participate stage as individuals will develop at varying rates
- avoid early specialisation even with identified athletes as this will lead to athlete burnout and/or drop out
- implement clear development programmes around identified individuals. Development rather than competition success should be the key outcome
Perform Stage
- Open to any age.
- Participant is involved in many sports but only one or perhaps two pursued seriously.
- Practice is frequent with a focus on skills development.
- Positions or roles are identified within chosen sports.
- Success and failure are both viewed as valuable experiences.
- Long term vision around the development of the individual is key.
Excel stage
- Open to any age.
- Athletes are able to translate their training and technical skills into competing at a world-class level and achieving excellence in one sport.
- The focus of this stage is on optimisation of performance.
- Athletes need to be integrated into the decision-making process.
- Specialised support is needed to deal with the stresses associated with elite competition.
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