Long Term Athlete Development

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BCRA Policy Manual

RingNation - Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)

You may have heard rumours about the LTAD that is going to change our game as we know it. Are we getting rid of tiering? Is the name of our game changing? What's happening with the age divisions? Will we be playing with a pink ring with feathers on it (this is a joke)? This page is designed to clear up some rumours and keep you up to date with the latest and greatest changes.

The LTAD powerpoint presentation from the Ringette Canada Travelling RoadShow that was presented at the BCRA AGM, can be found and downloaded at the right hand side of the page. Keep up to date with LTAD development's and progress on the RingNation Blog. Click here to read the discussion paper about LTAD Change Leadership that was distributed at the Ringette Canada AGM in June.

If you are looking for general information about Sport Canada's Long Term Athlete Development, check out www.ltad.ca for supplementary info including the Parent's Guide to LTAD.

FAQ Top 10

1. Who came up with LTAD and do we have to do it? How many sports are on board with the LTAD? Will every sport have an LTAD?

LTAD was an initiative of Sport Canada. As a strong percentage of our funding comes from our proven ability to get on board with LTAD, we will be doing it. Ringette is in the “third wave” of LTAD. Sports are at various stages between the first wave (done and implemented) to the fourth wave (just starting). All sports are doing LTAD.

2. Are the division names changing? What does the U classification mean?

The current age divisions in Ringette are changing as below. Many other sports use this system. The U stands for Under. So the U19 program is for athletes who are under the age of 19, so ages 18 and below. This still allows for pulling players up an age division. There is overlap between the current Bunnies to Novice stage, and the current Belle to Open stage. The ages below are based on the female categories.

3. Why are the ages different for males compared to females? Is the goal to have male and female Ringette?

The ages are different to reflect the different growth and developmental ages of males and females. The different ages exist for teams that are only male or only female. In the current program where males play on the same teams as female, we will continue to use the female ages. The goal is to eventually have male and female Ringette.

4. There will be no tiering of petites, so how will the associations deal with this? How do they implement?

Team selection based on the try-out / “cutting of players” will not begin before the Training to Train Stage of LTAD.

5. How are we going to deal with this when natural instinct is to compete and to win? Can you still have games even though there is no competition?

Team selection based on the try-out / “cutting of players” will not begin before the Training to Train Stage of LTAD. Not having formal structured games does not mean there will not be competition. Sport is a venue for children to learn about healthy competition, and LTAD will continue to provide this opportunity. There are no children who have become “worse” athletes by playing with those of a lesser caliber. Instead they have the opportunity to develop other life skills such as leadership and teamwork. Ringette is a late specialization sport, which means that children cannot only start late but they can hit their peak late. We have athletes on Team Canada who did not start playing AA until Junior and even Belle.

6. Have the ages for Canada Winter Games (CWG) changed? What about BC Winter Games (BCWG)?

The Canada Games ages has been moved up by one year. As the Canada Games Council would like the Games to be for “Next Generation National Team Athletes” it was felt that bringing the age down would increase the gap between our National Team and the Canada Games Athletes. The new age group will now be U20 for Canada Games. Our athletes would then be in the Learning to Win Stage of their development.It is important to note that U20 ‘age division’ would exist for Canada Games and International events only. See charts below. The ages for BC Winter Games are also changing accordingly. BCWG will now be ages 14&15 (or U16) in the higher Training to Train phase.

LTAD STAGE	TRAINING TO TRAIN "I Am On The Team"	TRAINING TO COMPETE "I Am A Competitor"	LEARNING TO WIN "I Am Exceeding My Limits"		COMPETING TO WIN "I Am A Champion"
Current Name	Junior	Belle	--		Open
LTAD Ages	F (14-15) & M (15-16)	F (16-18) & M (17-19)	F (18-19) & M (19-20)			F (18+) & M (19+)
LTAD Age Divisions (female)	U15	U19		18+
Major Competition	BC Winter Games	Canadian Ringette Championships	Canada Winter Games U20 "Junior" World Ringette Championships		National Ringette League World Ringette Championships (Team Canada)

7. What about assessments for players or evaluations to determine where they players should be? Will there be criteria for moving players up? Will there be any direction for associations?

Ringette Canada and the Provincial Ringette associations will work with associations to develop a process for this. Associations will not be left on their own to determine who moves where. It is important to keep in mind that an athlete’s physical ability on the ice does not completely determine where she should play. She may have the physical strength to compete in the higher division, but it does not mean she has the cognitive, mental, or developmental ability. In other words, what is discussed in a dressing room of 10 years olds is very different from that of 12 year olds!!

8. We are going to lose our players to hockey. How does hockey's LTAD compare to this? What is hockey doing now and aren't they still running initiation divisions.

Hockey Canada is on board with LTAD and they are currently working to develop their program.

9. How are you going to get the parents on board?

Educate them. Sport Canda has done this by creating a Parent’s Guide to LTAD, and in Fall 2008 the Ringette Canada LTAD Parent’s Guide will be published and available. It will be on the website and will be sent out to everyone.

10. What does this have to do with me?

The success of LTAD will rely on YOUR ability to implement the program. Whether you are a Belle B player, a parent, a novice player, an official, a spectator, an association executive member, a league administrator, or anyone else involved in the game. YOU have to power to make this happen.