ABSTRACT
The developmental journey of an athlete from their 'grass-roots' to international podium, is a long and at times, arduous one. At the 'pinnacle' of the athlete pathway, conversion rates from national representative to podium are limited, while an inability to negotiate the myriad of high performance stressors and difficulty maintaining a healthy sport-life balance are impacting athletes' well-being and ability to sustain performance on the world stage. Closer in fit to a 'paradigm', Foundation, Talent, Elite & Mastery (FTEM) provides essentially a flexible and broad overarching framework for better understanding and negotiating the athlete pathway through its advocacy of contemporary 'best practice'. Whilst FTEM appears 'linear' and 'uniform' in its representation of the developmental phases, it is inherently non-linear and flexible in that it can be compressed and extended. An advantage of the framework is its 'permeability' or 'porosity' in catering for the sport-specific and individual nuances of athlete development.
