Purpose
The overall aim of the study was to investigate how the organisational context of Norwegian handball shapes and influence youth national team athlete’s experiences and development.
Results
The results from the study as a whole shows that successful athlete development is not only dependent on the individual significance of each actor (e.g. clubs, sport-schools or the national handball federation) but in how well each actor complements the others. This organizing creates multiple pathways to the adult elite level. However, the costs of coordination are high and athletes’ frequently experience the talent development model as one which is exhausting. Talented handball players are strongly at risk of experiencing career threatening injuries, and when this issue does not get special consideration, the outcome of the transition from the youth elite to the adult elite level might become quite coincidental.
Talent development as an ecology of games: a case study of Norwegian handball