Скачать или смотреть NASPSPA 2020 PoucherZ - Organizational Systems in UK Sport

Presentation Title: Organizational Systems in Sport and their Impact on Athlete Development and Mental Health.

Contributors: Zoë A. Poucher, Katherine A. Tamminen, & Christopher R. D. Wagstaff

Acknowledgments: Funded by a Mitacs Globalink Award

Abstract
Background: Sport organizations have consistently been noted to be pivotal to the success and failure of their athletes, with a substantial body of research pointing to factors, such as team culture, that support and hinder performance and wellbeing in performance environments (Wagstaff, 2017; 2019).
Purpose: The purpose of this project was to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of how high-performance sport organizations support the personal development of athletes.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 key stakeholders (N=14 men, M=36 years old) from the United Kingdom’s elite sport system. Stakeholders were employed by Sport England, the English Institute of Sport, and Sport Northern Ireland. Based on the purposes of this study, thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
Results: Stakeholders described nine different mechanisms of support for elite athletes including: performance lifestyle advice, sport psychology, financial assistance, sport medicine, physiotherapy, performance analysis, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and physiology; participants emphasized the importance of the first three for promoting AD. Several stakeholders observed that despite the extensive support available to athletes, the prevalence of a performance narrative (i.e., pursuit of medals) has led to an environment that discourages holistic AD.
Discussion: Despite extensive available support, it was noted that many athletes do not engage with the support they have access to. As such, sport organizations should consider developing alternate strategies for engaging athletes in some disciplines of science and medicine support. Additionally, employing full-time sport psychologists, who also work as performance lifestyle advisors, within funded sports offers a valuable opportunity to enhance holistic AD support. Sport organizations should also look to support the well being of their staff who may then be able to more effectively support their athletes.