Sports Management Issue 1 2012 - Leisure Opportunities

Talent development
programmes offer youngsters
access to high-quality coaching
of programmes to establish and develop
sustainable water polo clubs and produce
players for competition at all levels.
Thousands of children are involved in
ASA clubs and there is a clear development
structure to progress those that
have the potential through to national
squads. Once a young person’s talent
is identified it is nurtured to help them
reach their full potential.
Specific talent development programmes
take those youngsters who
have already shown promise in water
polo and gives them access to high-quality
coaching, athlete educational schemes
and sports science facilities in a training
camp environment to prepare them for
future international competition.
To be selected, players must reach certain
levels of attainment for swimming,
basic technique and game awareness.
They then receive varying support
depending on their level – including
training camps, anthropological measurements
and lifestyle management.
School and club-based projects
Responsible for delivering and developing
new players through robust school
and club links, there are established programmes
in Manchester and at Crystal
Swimming clubs are crucial in supporting the talent pathway
and many water polo clubs are being assisted towards
achieving the ASA’s swim2 accreditation to raise standards
Palace in London with other centres
being developed in locations such as
Sheffield and Basildon.
School swimming lessons at Crystal
Palace use the British Gas ASA Learn to
Swim Pathway, the national syllabus produced
by the ASA. Beginning with the
ASA Foundation Framework for early
years’ water confidence, the pathway
progresses from stages one to seven for
fundamental movement skills and the
core development of learning to swim.
Learners progress to the final three
stages where specific aquatic skills are
developed – including one specifically for
water polo called mini-polo. These stages
identify young hopefuls from the 800
or so young children who have learnt to
swim at the facility.
Programmes such as these are very
much a long-term investment designed
to produce performance athletes to
eventually move into a world-class
programme, which focuses primarily on
selecting and preparing the Great Britain
national squads for major European and
world competitions.
Within schools, the ASA and the
English Schools’ Swimming Association
(ESSA) are piloting a joint initiative to
try and expand the sport and encourage
participation. Cadet Polo is a small-sided
version of the game which has been introduced
with simplified rules.
Additionally, a pilot called RAPIDS
seeks to involve teenagers in the sport
through activities, which first take place
in the sports hall – replicating many of
the aquatic skills needed so that they can
fully appreciate the nature of the game
when played in water.
Swimming clubs are crucial in supporting
the talent pathway and many water
polo clubs are being encouraged and assisted
towards achieving the ASA’s swim21
accreditation, which raises the standard
Issue 1 2012 © cybertrek 2012 Read Sports Management online sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital 45