Unveiling Insights: Shaping the Future of Cycling Ireland’s High Performance Pathway
After the conclusion of the 2023 racing season, Cycling Ireland High Performance Development Coach Michael Black set about taking steps to reinvigorate Cycling Ireland’s HP Pathway for aspiring young racing cyclists. The process began with a large-scale online consultation. This consultation process has provided vital information and now the outcomes and next steps are emerging.
Cycling Ireland’s recent pathway consultation exercise sought to understand the landscape of the high performance pathway for young aspiring cyclists in Ireland. With a focus on understanding the dynamics between key stakeholders along the pathway, our aim is to enhance Talent Development Environment decisions, culminating in publishing a visible High Performance (HP) Pathway which is aligned with wider Cycling Ireland (CI) strategy in participation and development by Quarter 4, 2024. This process seeks to establish a consistently delivered talent development system, grounded in the needs of our young athletes at every stage of their journey.
Part 1 of the consultation invited parents, coaches, volunteers, administrators, and athletes to participate in a survey comprising 21 questions. The response was positive, with 98 participants contributing their invaluable insights. The breakdown of respondents included 37% parents, 22% athletes, 17% coaches, 15% club members/volunteers/administrators, and 7% others. Each respondent was encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences, providing a rich view of perspectives within the talent pathway environment.
From the wealth of information gathered, we distilled five main themes, accompanied by seven lower-order themes. These themes serve as guiding pillars as we navigate towards a more cohesive and effective high-performance cycling system.
Main Themes from the Consultation:
1. Understanding Talent Development Environments: The survey highlighted a lack of clarity and understanding surrounding Talent Development Environments, signalling a need for greater information, education, and awareness among stakeholders.
2. Communication Upwards and Downwards: Communication between stakeholders emerged as a significant challenge, underscoring the importance of streamlined communication channels to foster collaboration and alignment throughout the pathway.
3. Reliance on the National Governing Body (NGB): There was a consensus on an dependence on the NGB to deliver all aspects of the Talent Development Environment, suggesting the potential benefits for a more distributed approach to responsibilities.
4. Clarity between Participation, Development, and Performance: Understanding the differences between participation, development, and performance stages led to confusion regarding roles and responsibilities, highlighting the necessity for clarity and accountability.
5. Confidence in the NGB: Transparency of processes and historical apathy eroded confidence in the NGB, emphasizing the need for greater transparency and accountability to rebuild trust within the community.
Delving Deeper into the Themes:
1. Long-Term Development: Stakeholders emphasized the importance of adopting a long-term approach to athlete development, focusing on sustainable growth and progression.
2. Coherence Between Stakeholders: Achieving coherence and alignment among stakeholders emerged as a critical factor in optimizing the talent development pathway.
3. Individualized Approach: Recognizing the unique needs of each athlete, there was a call for a more individualized approach to talent development, catering to diverse strengths and aspirations.
4. Relationships Between Regional Boards and Commissions: Differences in objectives among regional boards and commissions highlighted the need for enhanced collaboration and synergy at all levels of governance.
5. Financial and Human Resource Support: Adequate financial and human resource support emerged as essential enablers for effective talent development initiatives.
6. Focus on Early Competition at Youth Level: There was a notable emphasis on early competition at the youth level from all respondents, underscoring the importance of age-appropriate development opportunities at youth level.
7. Transparency of the Process, Historical Apathy: Transparency and accountability in decision-making processes were identified as key factors in addressing historical apathy and rebuilding trust within the community.
The consultation process has unearthed invaluable insights that will shape the future of Cycling Ireland’s High Performance Pathway. Armed with a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the talent development environment, we are committed to fostering a more cohesive, transparent, and athlete-centred ecosystem that empowers our most promising young cyclists to reach their full potential, both nationally and internationally.
The next step as part of this process is the implementation of focus groups. Through focus groups, diverse stakeholders within the talent development system, including coaches, athletes, parents, athletes, and administrators, are brought together to explore and examine coherence, shared understanding, and alignment. This method facilitates the exploration of multiple perspectives, allowing for a rich and comprehensive analysis of the talent development ecosystem.
This process seeks to build on the key insights from the consultation and offer practical recommendations for optimising talent development strategies in Cycling Ireland. Michael Black will develop several focus groups and will be in contact with a range of stakeholder respondents including parents, coaches, administrators, and commissions. The groups will be selected based on several factors including but not limited to, coaches who have experience in caching talented juniors, administrators with experience in managing and overseeing junior cycling programs at a regional level, and parents actively involved in talented junior cyclists.
Additionally, the heightened consultation process has spurred stakeholders to join forces on various projects and initiatives spanning multiple departments, commissions, and regions. This collaboration underscores the paramount significance of effective communication and alignment within our dynamic operational framework. We will continue to work on the positive engagement we have had with everyone and provide an open-door policy when working with all the relevant stakeholders along the pathway.