Exploring the feasibility of a novel experimental method to study talent selection and decision making in high performance sport

Talent selection in sport takes place from early stages of development through professional ranks. Athletes are regularly selected for youth teams, high school teams, as well as collegiate and professional teams (Jones, Johnston & Baker, 2020). Even with so much selection occurring, identifying talent is difficult and inaccurate. This is made evident by the poor ability of professional sports teams with ample resources to be able to accurately draft and select players for their teams (Koz, Fraser-Thomas, & Baker, 2012). This study aimed to pilot test a method for understanding what Canadian basketball coaches look for when deciding between athletes available for selection. Specifically, using blinded data, coaches and decision makers were asked to make talent predictions. Participants from various levels of coaching across Canada were able to complete the task. Results suggest that this method and task was challenging, and has the potential to inform talent identification decision making.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Health Sciences (MHSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Grantor

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Blakey, Garrett R.J.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Wattie, Nick

• Talent
• Basketball
• Selection
• Identification
• Coaching

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10155/1491

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/1491