Team BG Elite Athlete Development Project
EADP

Project Goal
The primary objective of this project is to provide support, resources and expertise to Elite athletes from emerging/developing National Federations to compete at a World Cup level and at the same time increase the number of coaches from emerging/developing National Federations gaining experience in the preparation and support of athletes competing at a World Cup level.

Project Outline
Emerging/developing National Federations are invited to submit applications. Applications for athletes that have already proven themselves at a World Cup or Continental Cup level will be considered.  Applications should be submitted as per the timelines prescribed in the ITU World Cup Online entry system. Three World Cup events will be earmarked as the TEAM BG Elite Athlete Development Project events.  At each of these events a full support team (coaches, bike mechanic and athletic trainer) will be on hand for the athletes selected and the group will be accommodated as a ‘team’ and supported as such pre, during and post event.

Target Group
The target group will be athletes from emerging/developing National Federations who have already shown a high level of competence at Continental Cup level and are looking to make the step up to World Cup level of racing but need support in order to do so. These athletes should be seen as Olympic prospects (2008 and 2012) by their National Federations.

Qualification Criteria
Athletes must be registered with their National Federations and have shown the ability to race at a high level in Continental Cup or World Cup events within the last year.  The athletes nominated should be committed to competing in the long term and have the Olympic Games as an ultimate objective.  While there are five (5) male and five (5) female slots available athletes will be selected at the discretion of the ITU Sport Development Staff and in some cases not all the slots will be filled.

Time Line
The pilot project was launched in September 2006 for the Beijing World Cup and from 2007 onwards the project will nominate three (3) events per year as the TEAM BG events.

Applications for each of the designated events must be submitted in writing to libby@triathlon.org and each applicant must also be entered by their National Federation with ITU via the online entry method by the closing date for entry for the specific event they are applying for.

A National Federation may nominate no more than two (2) male and two (2) females for each of the three designated events.

 

Designated Event		Application Deadline	Online entry Deadline
30 March	Mooloolaba World Cup	Monday 18th February	Friday 29th February
06 April	New Plymouth World Cup	Monday 18th February	Friday 29th February
25 May	Madrid World Cup	Monday 7th April	Friday 25th April

Budget
All athletes selected will be funded by the TEAM BG Elite Athlete Development Project funding. This will include the following:

1. Return economy class flight from home to event destination.
2. Hotel accommodation (on a shared basis) for maximum 5 days
3. Meals – 3 per day (or a meal stipend)
4. Bike mechanic services
5. Medical support
6. Coaching support

Evaluation
The athletes selected will be tracked over the years to determine their progress and feedback sheets will be completed by all of the participants prior to and post each event.

 

Definition and Explanation of National Federation Status

For the purpose of the ITU Sport Development (Athlete and Coaching) we have categorized National Federations into three (3) categories:

Olympic NF’s are those NF’s who had at least two competitors at the Athens Olympics

Emerging NF’s are those NF’s with only one or no competitors at the Athens Olympics but have some representation at the World Championships in the Elite, U/23 or Junior Categories over the past two years.

Developing NF’s are those NF’s with no representation at the World Triathlon Championships in the Elite, U/23 and Junior Categories in the past two years.

The Athlete and Coaching Development Programme specifically targets Emerging and DevelopingNF’s.

 

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