Kelly L. Lockwood & Julie Stevens - Brock University,
SRG – Research Time Stipend 2006
Français
A Hockey Intervention Program (HIP) was established as an innovative vehicle to evaluate the infrastructure-athlete relation for training athletes participating in the sport of hockey.
The purpose of the research was to examine what factors influence stakeholders’ decisions
to access and/or integrate infrastructure into athlete development and how infrastructure can best provide effective support for athlete development throughout the stages of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD). Methodologies used to investigate markers of effective infrastructure and athlete development included both qualitative and quantitative measurement tools.
Twenty athletes in each of the seven stages of LTAD were recruited and tracked over a two-year period. Qualitative measures were collected via surveys and interviews of key stakeholders who make choices around an athlete’s career development, including parents, coaches,and hockey leaders. Quantitative measures included biomechanical, physiological, and sport-specific performance assessments conducted before and after each athlete’s exposure to HIP. Currently, both cross-sectional (yearly) and longitudinal data is being analyzed. To date, qualitative results have emphasised three themes: why access sport specific infrastructure, when to access or the timing of ‘first access’ of sport specific infrastructure, and the quality or ‘perceived impact’
of facility time and expertise associated with sport specific infrastructure exposure. Quantitative results have also emphasized three themes: mechanical literacy, confidence, and physical literacy gleaned as a result of exposure to HIP, whereby mechanical literacy and confidence were somewhat precursors of physical literacy. The amalgamation and interpretation of both qualitative and quantitative results through the diverse disciplines of sport management, biomechanics and sport physiology within a hockey research context has provided a framework to assess the sport infrastructure-athlete connection. Outcomes have provided strong support
for the value of sport specific infrastructure programs, such as HIP, as a part of the development pathway of every athlete.
Although Canadian Sport Policy (CSP) (Government of Canada, 2002) and the Long-Term
Athlete Development (LTAD) Discussion Paper, titled Canadian Sport for Life (Canadian Sport
Centres, 2005) demonstrate efforts to advance amateur and professional sport, research is
needed to thoroughly understand how the system-wide CSP and the athlete-specific LTAD
discussion paper can be coordinated in order to optimize sport performance. Consequently, the
purpose of the current research program is to examine how sport infrastructure can provide
effective support for athlete development throughout the stages of the LTAD model. Or in simple
terms, how do we best develop and support our athletes through their careers.
Given the gap between system-level (CSP) and athlete-level (LTAD model) initiatives, this
project is driven by two inter-disciplinary themes. First, this project is concerned with the
utilization of sport infrastructure. Hence, system-level research draws upon the sport
management and policy disciplines to explore factors influencing sport infrastructure access by
key athlete stakeholders, such as parents, coaches, minor hockey leaders, and scouts/agents.
Second, this project is concerned with athlete training, as it seeks to examine how infrastructure
can provide support for athlete development at each stage of the LTAD model. The
infrastructure-training research combination will enable the development of strategies to
improve the coordination of hard (facilities) and soft (expertise) infrastructure to enhance athlete
development, be it participation or performance focused, at the community sport level.
For the purpose of this research, a Hockey Intervention Program (HIP) is being utilized as an
innovative vehicle to evaluate the infrastructure-training relation for athletes participating in
hockey associations and leagues from tykes to pros. Athletes in each of the seven stages of the LTAD participate in an eight week training program, per year, tracked over two years. The
program and specific activities were designed by Dr. Lockwood in accordance with the
anaerobic and sport-specific demands of the sport of hockey (Montgomery, 2000). Frequency
and intensity of training programs were based on chronological age and developmental stage
(LTAD) (Balyi, 2001). Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to investigate markers of effective infrastructure and athlete development. Qualitative measures are gleaned via questionnaires completed by stakeholders (ie., parents, coaches, agents, scouts, league
administrators) associated with the athlete and who make choices around an athlete’s career
development. Quantitative measures include a combination of biomechanical, physiological, and sport-specific performance assessments conducted pre and post the HIP.
The focus of this presentation is to present preliminary findings from the Year 1 of the HIP
program. It is anticipated that the results of this study will inform and have the potential to
impact both the system- and athlete-levels of amateur and professional hockey. System related
findings will lead to recommendations regarding the strategic utilization of hockey infrastructure
to enhance LTAD and athlete related outcomes will identify the most profound performance
improvements that can be acquired each stage of long term athlete development through
training that utilizes innovative infrastructure. Potential implications for the broader sport context
will also be addressed.
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