The Auckland Football Federation Player Development Programmes follow the long-term athlete development model. An explanation of the model is provided below for your information.

Long Term Athlete Development Model

Scientific research has concluded that it takes eight to twelve years of training for a talented athlete to reach elite levels. This is called the ten year or 10,000 hour rule.

For athletes, coaches and parents this translates as slightly more than three hours of practice daily for ten years. Unfortunately, parents and coaches in many sports still approach training with an attitude best characterized as the "peaking by Friday" approach.

We now know that a long-term commitment to training is required to produce elite athletes in all sports.

The long term athlete development model for football consists of four stages:

1. FUNdamental
2. Training to Train
3. Training to Compete
4. Training to Win

It must be noted that the ages described above are general guidelines. The individual tempo of development maturation will influence how athletes will reach the various stages of long-term development.

However, they all will go through the same stages. Some early maturing athletes may have as much as a four-year physiological advantage over their late maturing peers.

Stage 1 – The Fundamental Stage
AGE: 5-10 years old (males & female)

The FUNdamental stage is well structured and fun! The emphasis is on the overall development of the athlete’s physical capacities, and fundamental movement skills, and the ABC's of athleticism - Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed.

Participation in as many sports as possible is encouraged. Speed, power and endurance are developed using FUN games. Correct running, jumping and throwing techniques are taught, using the ABC's of athletics.

Stage 2 – Training to Train
AGE: Males 10-14 years old/Females 10-13 years old

During the Training to Train stage young athletes learn how to train and they also learn the basic skills of a specific sport.

As well, they are introduced to the basic technical/tactical skills and ancillary capacities including: warm up and cool down, stretching, hydration and nutrition, recovery and regeneration, mental preparation, taper and peak, integrated pre-competition routines and post-competition recovery.

During competitions athletes’ play to win and to do their best, but the major focus of training is on learning the basics as opposed to competing.

The Training to Train stage addresses the critical or sensitive periods of physical and skill development.

Athletes who miss this stage of training will never reach their full potential, regardless of any remedial program they may participate in. The reason why so many athletes plateau during the later stage of their careers is primarily because of an over emphasis on competition instead of on training during this important period in their athletic development.

Stage 3 – Training to Compete
AGE: Males 14-18 years old/Females 13-17 years old

This phase of development is introduced after the goals and objectives of the Training to Train stage have been achieved.

The training to competition and competition specific training ratio now changes to 50:50. Fifty percent of training is devoted to the development  of technical and tactical skills, and fitness improvements, and fifty percent is devoted to competition-specific training.

During the Training to Compete stage, high intensity individual and sport-specific training is provided to athletes year round. Athletes, who are now proficient at performing both basic and sport specific skills, learn to perform these skills under a variety of competitive conditions during training.

Special emphasis is placed on optimum preparation by modelling training and competition. Fitness programs, recovery programs, psychological preparation and technical development are now individually tailored to a greater degree. This emphasis on individual preparation addresses each athlete’s individual strength and weaknesses.

Stage 4 – The Training to Win
AGE: Males 18 years and older/Females 17 years and older

This is the final stage of athletic preparation. All of the athlete’s physical, technical, tactical, mental, and ancillary capacities are now fully established and the focus of training has shifted to the optimisation of performance. Athletes are trained to peak for major competitions. Training is characterized by high intensity and relatively high volume.

The principle focus is that appropriate activities should be conducted with young people at the most appropriate time of their physical and psychological development.

The process also takes into account that young people mature, physically, at different rates, and that girls tend to mature earlier than boys. Research shows that a young person aged 13 could physically have the characteristics of an ‘average’ 11 year old or a 15 year old – clearly this has enormous implications for how they will develop as a player at any given stage of their development.

Fundamental to Long Term Athlete Development, therefore, are the following core principles that sport should:

• adopt an athlete centred approach and not treat all players in the same way
• view player development as a long term process (10+ years)
• focus on optimal training and competition ratios to enhance  development and avoid overplaying
• utilise critical windows of trainability during specific periods of physical development to help players reach their true potential