Sports Development Continuum

The Sports Development Continuum, also known as the performance pyramid, is a model that represents a persons’ involvement in sport by what stage they are at. It can also highlight the route a performer can take to become an elite performer. The model has 4 stages. These are the Foundation stage, the Participation stage, the Performance stage and the Excellence stage. It is believed that encouraging more people to participate in sport, therefore widening the base of the pyramid at the foundation stage, will result in more people getting to the excellence stage. This would mean that this country would have an increased chance of success on the world stage, as we would have more elite athletes.

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The Foundation Stage

At the bottom of the pyramid this consists of people who are beginners in sport. This stage will generally contain younger children who will not understand all the rules of the game but will be developing basic skills and movements. It is important that good habits are instilled into the performer here, for use further up the pyramid. The foundation stage is categorised by people being introduced to the basic skills of a sport, this mainly happens at school via PE lessons and is the first contact children have with some sports.

The Participation Stage

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