The revision of the Act on Elite sport in 2004 contained two new tasks for Team Denmark. The aims of the institution are to develop Danish elite sport in a socially responsible way. Firstly, the so-called 15-year rule was abolished, which meant that Team Denmark also had the opportunity to take responsibility for recruiting and developing the youngest talents. From the law\u2019s remarks it appeared, that \u201c\u2026 it no longer seems appropriate that Team Denmark cannot protect, advise and support the children under 15 years who participate in intensive training when the institution is tasked with protecting the children over 15 years. Therefore, the current age limit is removed, and Team Denmark, in collaboration with the other relevant partners (parents, clubs, federation and DIF) is instructed to take care of the development of the very young talents, ie. taking into account the\u00a0 development of their motor, mental and social skills\u201d. Secondly, it became possible for Team Denmark to establish formalized colloboration with the country\u2019s municipalities in the form of mutually binding contracts. It was emphasized in the law\u2019s remarks that \u201c\u2026 such contracts can, for example, include the young talents with a view to providing them with good training conditions locally and to involve them in long-term education planning \u201d. The \u201cnew\u201d Act on Elite sport hereby gave Team Denmark new objectives, strategies and topics in relation to recruiting and developing more and better talents for Danish elite sport. The two new tasks were integrated in subsequent years, partly at national level with initiatives such as \u201cAge-related Training \u2013 ATK\u201d, sports-specific ATKs and preparation of \u201cCommon values for talent development in Danish sports\u201d and partly at local level with mutually binding contracts with a total of 23 of the 98 municipalities in Denmark.<\/p>\n
Team Denmark\u2019s Elite sport municipalities \u2013 a collaboration between many players<\/strong><\/p>\n The contracts between Team Danmark and the municipalities, which are typically concluded for a four-year period, have as a general aim to optimize the framework and promote conditions for elite sports and in particular talent development in the municipalities. The contracts are different from municipality to municipality, but the vast majority of contracts include topics such as priority sports, training sessions in primary schools, secondary schools, and higher schools; sports medicine, physical therapy, dietary guidance and sports psychology.<\/p>\n One of the focus topics \u2013 the collaboration between primary schools, municipalities, clubs, federations and Team Denmark on sports classes in primary schools, where children and adolecents participate in a \u201cdual career\u201d \u2013 is now described and discussed in the book: \u201cTalentudvikling og elitesport i skolen\u201d(Aarhus University Press, 2019). The book, edited by Jens Chr. Nielsen and Jesper Stilling Olesen, associated professors at DPU, Aarhus University educational psychology and educational anthropology, has been prepared on the basis of a four-year research project in the period 2013-2017. The researchers have followed a year of sports children at 4 primary schools from 7\u2019th to 9\u2019th grade using both qualitative methods (interviews and observation) and quantitative methods (questionnaires). In doing so, the sports children, both those who have been successful and those who have had difficulty living up to the expectations of a progressive sporting development, have followed in development and not least in the ups and downs that have brought them closer in some cases to elite sports and in other cases has brought to drop-out in elite sports.<\/p>\n New theories and perspectives on talent development and long-term education<\/strong><\/p>\n The book is generally well written and introduces new theories and perspectives to the existing literature on talent development and education. And not least, a number of key controversies and dilemmas about children, adolescents and elite sports are described and discussed based on extensive empirical material. The book contains 13 chapters on i.a. talent development under change, international research on talent development, sports classes under development, educational and cultural policy initiatives, preparation for dual careers, transitions in sport, the visible talents and the transition to high schools as well as a comprehensive literature list. In particular, I would like to highlight three topics in which the book gives Danish and international elite sports new knowledge based on theoretical considerations and the practice of reality.<\/p>\n Sports children in a sports class \u2013 and not talents in an elite sports class<\/strong><\/p>\n Firstly, the researchers emphasize that the target group for a combined school and sport offer in the primary schools should be defined as \u201csports children in a sports class\u201d. There is no doubt that talent development has in the past decade received a lot of focus both in the education system, the business world and in the cultural and sports world. The primary reason for this development has been that talent development has increasingly been regarded as a crucial factor for smaller nations such as Denmark can compete in the international sporting race. However, there is also no doubt that too many \u201ctalents\u201d have been \u201cprematurely\u201d identified in the last decade, especially in the world of sports. In my opinion, there is no greater mistake than the statement: \u201cEveryone has talent\u201d and it is quite a few percent of the sports children in the sports classes that can \u2013 and should \u2013 be included in Team Denmark\u2019s definition of \u201c\u2026 a talent that is a youth athlete with competences and skills in a sport that is likely to develop long-term as a senior athlete at the highest international senior level. \u201d The vast majority of sports children and adolecents, both inside and outside Team Denmark\u2019s Elite sport municipalities, never come close to that category. For this reason, all schools, clubs, federations and, of course, Team Denmark in the future should use the term \u201csports children\u201d and \u201csports classes\u201d instead of \u201ctalents\u201d and \u201celite sports classes\u201d \u2013 not least for the sake of the sports children and adolecents. Similarly, it is also valuable that the researchers introduce the concept of \u201cdual becoming\u201d instead of \u201cdual career\u201d. For sports children or adolecents at the age of 14-16, this is precisely a process of becoming and not a sports or educational \u201ccareer\u201d. In my opinion, this can at most be a career, both sports and educational, after completing high school and a sport transition from junior athlete to senior athlete.<\/p>\n \u201cDouble commitment\u201d \u2013 sports children who can and want to<\/strong><\/p>\n Secondly, the researchers point out that \u201cdouble commitment\u201d is crucial as an admission card for a good talent development. Commitment is an expression of a particularly strong commitment and can be defined as a general mental state that can explain a person\u2019s targeted actions over a longer period of time. The researcers also emphasize that commitment is a relational and dynamic phenomenon, which should ideally apply to both domains: Sport and school. The premise of being selected and staying in a sports class for three years is that the individual child has a certain level of competence within their sport, that the sport child can continue to develop this competence towards the elite level and that he or she have the will to do so. It is also expected that the sports child has professional school competence and willingness to, among other things, to do homework and deliver assignments. In other words, the sport children must \u201cbe able\u201d and \u201cwant\u201d, both the school and the sport. That task is solved by some sports children, but far from most. The majority of the sports children are thus often under a \u201ccross-pressure\u201d between the sport and the school, where different expectations and demands are set from eg. parents, teachers, coaches, peers and not least the sports children themselves. The book describes \u2013 specifically and directly \u2013 \u201ccross-pressed\u201d for the different types of sports children. One of the book\u2019s few weaknesses is that it gives no answer to how large a proportion of sports children who master both competences and commitment in the two domains and how many sports students are actually \u201cmisplaced\u201d in a sports class.<\/p>\n Significant differences between sports \u2013 and between girls and boys<\/strong><\/p>\n Thirdly, the researchers often emphasize in the book that sports children in sports classes should be viewed as procedural and relational phenomena involving many different actors: the sports children, teachers, coaches, coordinators, supervisors, parents, peers, and many others. A strong talent development environment consists not only of people, but also of a number of material facilities and objects such as school buildings, sports facilities, sports equipment and props, as well as policy documents, objectives, ideologies, norms and visions. The complex and controversial topic \u2013 talent development and elite sports in the primary schools \u2013 is also clearly expressed through the research project\u2019s descriptions and discussions of the marked differences in behavior and attitudes, both in two genders \u2013 girls and boys \u2013 and in between the different sports.<\/p>\n \u201cTalentudvikling og elitesport i skolen\u201d should, in my opinion, be a compulsory curriculum for any coach, teacher, parent, coordinator who deals with children, adolecents and elite sports \u2013 and who will follow them as best they can on their way in or\u2026. out of elite sports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"