Managing high Performance Sport

As the discipline of sport management matures, high performance sport management emerges as a swiftly developing branch of knowledge. The high performance industry and sport practitioners are leading the way by adopting practices that recognise the significance of managing high performance sport. Indicative of these practices is also the recognition and establishment of the role of high performance directors on athlete performance. These shifts in industry practices (i.e., hiring high performance directors and placing an emphasis on high performance management practices) have not been matched with an equivalent focus of academic inquiry that would help define the field, distinguish it from other fields and illustrate its significance in empirical ways. Chapter 1, written by Popi Sotiriadou, represents the start of an inquiry into defining the discipline of managing high performance sport and the roles of high performance directors in athlete success.

At this point, we wish to introduce to the readers the funnel of high performance sport management (HPSM) illustrated in Figure A. The funnel of HPSM is a conceptual framework for examining, studying or analysing high performance sport management in this book.
Figure A The Funnel of High Performance Sport Management

FIGURE A NEAR HERE

The funnel of HPSM is comprised of three interrelated components; (a) high performance management (Part A of this book), (b) managing high performance athletes (Part B of this book), and (c) issues in high performance sport (Part C of this book). The funnel of HPSM implies that athlete performance (at the lowest part of Figure A) is a factor of all three components. Unquestionably, performances at top-level sports are the result of a combination of the broader environmental and physical circumstances in which people live; the opportunities they are offered to excel through sport systems; and the genetic qualities they are born with and other athlete related issues. Accordingly, the factors that contribute to international sporting success can be classified at three different levels. The macro-level (Part A: High Performance Management), the meso-level (Part B: Managing High Performance Athletes) and the micro level (Part C: Issues in High Performance Sport). Factors at each level are systematically considered in the three parts of this this book.

Part A: High Performance Management (Chapters 2-7)
Macro-level factors reflect the different political ideologies, social and cultural factors that impact the systems, policies and athlete pathways. As described by Barrie Houlihan in Chapter 2, these factors are closely intertwined and affect the operation of national and international organizations at the public, not-for-profit or commercial sectors. The management context of high performance sport is consequently complex. This is also related to the complexity of measuring success or output in elite sport, as is demonstrated by Simon Shibli in Chapter 3. The author illustrates the various layers of performance. He uses the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as a case to describe the different methods of measuring performance output. As not all nations win medals at Olympic Games, the author proposes alternative measures of success, such as season's best performance. Then, in Chapter 4 Veerle De Bosscher, Marteen Van Bottenburg and Simon Shibli search for answers in how to best manage sporting success and conclude that nine pillars of national policies represented in their 'SPLISS' model help explain national sporting successes. The SPLISS model presents a useful tool for the evaluation of effectiveness in other contexts, such as the level of national sport organizations, clubs, regions or even commercial teams. The 'mix and match' of these policy factors, or pillars, varies considerably across nations. This divergence of sport systems is demonstrated in Chapter 5 by Winston To, Peter Smolianov and Darwin Semotiuk who compare the high performance systems of the USSR and Russia, the United States of America, and Canada. They take the reader on a journey in time that explores what these countries have done to succeed in sport at the elite level.

From exploring the broader environment and policies around high performance sport, Part A of the book continues by offering accounts on high performance management from an organizational level. In Chapter 6, Jo Van Hoecke, Hugo Schoukens and Paul De Knop discuss the principles of effective management and quality management in high performance organizations, such as national sport organizations, professional clubs or youth academies. Following this, in Chapter 7, Lesley Ferkins and Maarten van Bottenburg illustrate how sport organizations, from local clubs to national bodies, government agencies, sport service organizations and professional teams around the world, need to be directed, controlled and regulated. The authors apply governance principles to an elite sport setting and make an important distinction between governance of organizations and governance between organizations.

Part B: Managing High Performance Athletes (Chapters 8-12)
In order to manage high performance athletes, high performance directors need to first develop systems and processes that would attract, retain and nurture these athletes. In Chapter 8, Sotiriadou and Shilbury explain how sport development processes form the backbone of athlete development in high performance sports. The authors present an empirically delivered sport development model; the attraction, retention/transition, and nurturing (ARTN) process, and discuss the stakeholders involved in shaping sport development pathways. In Chapter 9 Paul Wylleman, Anke Reints and Paul De Knop stress that high performance requires both talent and a system. They describe how athlete success is influenced by various transitions and stages during athletic, physical, and academic development. The chapter also offers an understanding on how to use the lifespan model to optimise the chances for smooth transitions. Peter Fricker, in Chapter 10, adds to this discussion of athlete transition by an elaborate examination of the nature of sports sciences and sport medicine and the counselling services which can be provided to athletes and coaches in a high performance environment. Most importantly, Chapter 10 links the roles of the coach and to the role of the high performance director and the relationship between service provision and high performance coordination.

The role of coaches and the requirements to be a successful high performance coach receive further attention in Chapter 11. In this chapter, Dave Collins, John Trower and Andrew Cruickshank explain the changes in coaching systems at different stages of athlete or coaching careers. An athlete can only be as successful as his or her own retirement from sports. In support of this proposition, Anke Reints and Paul Wylleman close Part B of this book with Chapter 12 by identifying the factors that facilitate adjustment to post-athletic careers. The authors recognise and discuss the importance and availability of career support services to athletes.

Part C: Issues in High Performance Sport (Chapters 13-15)
High performance sports operate in fast changing and highly volatile environments where athletes and teams are exposed to pressures from media, sponsors, society, coaches, peers and family to mention a few. This environment, as Hans Westerbeek and Allan Hahn explain in Chapter 13 is driven by economic values that lead to the commercialization and globalization of aspects of high performance sports. Chapter 13 presents the main trends, pressures and responses by institutes, government bodies and sport businesses Also, the authors explain how these developments have led to the emergence of a sub-industry of high performance experts, agents, coaches, and consultants. In Chapter 14, Dag Vidar Hanstad and Svein Andersen discuss another just as critical issue in high performance sport. They explore the management of a major sport event from the perspective of a participating team. They present a framework to identify risk management issues and to implement risk minimization strategies. In the last chapter of this book and in closing Part C, Jason Mazanov tackles a long-standing concern; the prevention of performance enhancing substances and uses in sports. Using an innovative approach the author provides high performance directors with the necessary background to make policy and operational decisions around the role of performance enhancing drugs in their programs.

David Lavalle's concluding comments in the Afterword are undoubtedly the pinnacle in this book. After reading this volume, in his review, David notes the potential of this book to have a wide appeal to readers of various backgrounds. More importantly, he foresees the theoretical and practical implications of the content in this book in the ways that knowledge in the field of managing high performance is being shaped. Also, he projects and illustrates (see Figure B) the intellectual influences and challenges this book may present to researchers, students, and practitioners in managing high performance sport.