Research question: Due to increasing competition, national governing bodies (NGBs) are put under pressure to deliver collective success and develop talent programmes for their athletes at an increasingly young age. This paper seeks to make a contribution to the talent development literature from an organisational perspective. It addresses the following research question: How and at what age have athletes received support services as upcoming talent from their sport clubs and NGBs? Research methods: A total of 2041 elite athletes from 15 nations and 37 different sports were surveyed. Analysis of variance (ANCOVA and MANCOVA) was used to examine the data and identify differences between sports, countries and athletes` sporting achievement levels. Results and findings: The data revealed that athletes received club or NGB support at a relatively late age. This differed by gender, by sport and between sports in which athletes specialise at younger or older ages. Athletes with higher achievement levels (e.g. in the world`s top eight) were slightly younger when they received support services compared with lower level athletes (e.g. national level); however, effect sizes are small. Most elite athletes received a variety of support services and only slight differences were found according to athletes` achievement levels. Implications: The relevance of these findings relates to the role that sports clubs (can) play in the total development of an athletic career. This paper has practical implications for the management of talent development by NGBs and clubs, national sport associations and for coach education.
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