US Paralympics has launched an American Development Model (ADM) for Paralympic Sport which aims to help athletes reach their full potential.
The five-stage model has been designed with the aim of promoting sustained sport participation and will be used to develop a path from recreational interest up to participation in elite competition.
A key aim of US Paralympics is to improve the well-being of future generations in the country, while also growing the number of athletes that they will be able to pick from for future Paralympic Games.
The ADM will integrate training, competition and recovery with relation to biological development, while it will also aim to offer equal opportunities for people to compete or take part in sport recreationally.
“Paralympic sport is no different from any other sport; there is a process for growth, education and training to help an athlete reach his or her potential,” said Rick Adams, the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) chief of Paralympic sport and National Governing Body organisational development.
“This supplement to the ADM allows Paralympic-eligible athletes and their coaches to curtail their own athlete success plan.
“The ultimate goal is to provide a resource to enable more athletes to participate in Paralympic sport at all levels, and hopefully, to spur continued growth of the movement throughout the United States.”
US Paralympics, a division of the USOC, have stated the ADM should be used as a blueprint to guide organisations towards building and developing athlete focused programmes.
Among the target audience are National Governing Bodies and High Performance Management Organisations, as well as administrators, coaches and parents.
The idea of the ADM was initially developed by USA Hockey in 2009, with the organisation partnering with USOC in 2014 to focus on long-term athlete development in the country.
It saw them create a unified programme for developing ice hockey players at all ages and levels, with the model being supported by the National Hockey League (NHL).
- By Michael Pavitt, this article was republished with permission from the original publisher Inside the Games www.insidethegames.biz