ABSTRACT

The emergence of state-sponsored, elite sports development (ESD) ‘systems’ has become an increasingly prominent feature of sport policy in numerous countries throughout the world, most especially since the 1960s and 1970s. It should be noted that when we refer to systems in this chapter we are aware, of course, that they do not exist independently of human interaction. Indeed, the ESD systems to which we will refer are, in fact, the figurations of interdependent groups of people that have developed quite specifically with the aim of developing elite-level sport. With the growing social significance of sport internationally, governments have sought to invest in promoting international sporting success, most particularly, though not exclusively, in Olympic sports. The global dissemination of achievement sport, and the subsequent desire to succeed on the global media stage, has seen a dynamic interchange of ideas regarding ESD systems. This growing interdependency of sporting systems, and the people comprising them, has contributed to a diminution in the disparity between the approaches taken by people to develop elite sports structures in the major sporting nations in the world. The central objective of this chapter is to examine the emergence of the increasing willingness of governments to intervene in setting the ESD policy process and the organization of ESD systems. This has contributed to more systematic talent identification and development (TID) programmes being implemented in several countries. We will also examine the growing emphasis that is being placed upon sports science support and the provision of ‘modern’ sporting facilities for the exclusive use of elite sports performers. These developments cannot be understood adequately unless they are conceptualized as elements in the increasing professionalization of coaching systems. They have involved governments in devising more specific strategies for the prioritization and targeting of funding. These

are the key characteristics of the modern ESD system that will be discussed within this chapter. However, in many countries the extent to which governments facilitate the implementation of ESD over and above their contribution to mass sport promotion has been prominent in the debate. In several countries this has resulted in considerable tension between the prevailing focus on elite sports and the development of mass sports. There have also been various other domestic issues that have impacted on the development of elite sport systems that have contributed simultaneously to the emergence of subtle variations in the ESD systems that are currently in operation in many countries. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of the ‘diminishing contrasts and increasing varieties’ (Elias, 2000) that are, it will be argued, characteristic of the global spread of ESD policies.