CS4L

CANADIAN SPORT FOR LIFE


Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) is a movement to improve the quality of sport and physical activity in Canada. CS4L links sport, education, recreation and health and aligns community, provincial and national programming. LTAD is a seven-stage training, competition and recovery pathway guiding an individual’s experience in sport and physical activity from infancy through all phases of adulthood. CS4L, with LTAD, represents a paradigm shift in the way Canadians lead and deliver sport and physical activity in Canada.

LONG TERM ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT

A clear path to better sport, greater health, and higher achievement.

Children, youth and adults need to do the right things at the right time to develop in their sport or activity – whether they want to be hockey players, dancers, figure skaters or gymnasts. Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) describes the things athletes need to be doing at specific ages and stages.

Science, research and decades of experience all point to the same thing: kids and adults will get active, stay active, and even reach the greatest heights of sport achievement if they do the right things at the right times. This is the logic behind the Long-Term Athlete Development model (LTAD).

There are seven stages within the basic LTAD model:

Stages 1, 2 and 3 develop physical literacy before puberty so children have the basic skills to be active for life. Physical literacy also provides the foundation for those who choose to pursue elite training in one sport or activity after age 12.

Stages 4, 5 and 6 provide elite training for those who want to specialize in one sport and compete at the highest level, maximizing the physical, mental and emotional development of each athlete.

Stage 7 is about staying Active for Life through lifelong participation in competitive or recreational sport or physical activity.

>> Learn more about LTAD.
 

 

Physical Literacy

Physical literacy is the concept that children must learn how to move properly when they are in preschool and elementary school. Contrary to popular belief, no one is a “natural born athlete.”

The idea behind physical literacy is this: if we give children the opportunity to do the right physical activities at the right time in their development, more of them will enjoy getting active and stay active. They will develop more confidence in their bodies and better sport skills – with better chances to become the next Wayne Gretzky or Steve Nash!

Some people think you need “natural born” skills to participate in sport and activity. The truth is really the opposite.

Even the top professionals first had to develop physical literacy as children. And they had to practice their skills for years, before they were ever recognized as special talents.

In fact, scientific research has proven that you need 10,000 hours of practice to become an “expert.”

To develop physical literacy, children need to learn fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills. What’s more, they need to practice these fundamental skills for hundreds of hours in the playground, at school, in recreation programs, and within sport clubs before they reach puberty.

Physical literacy also means that children learn to “read” what is going on around them in an activity and reacting appropriately.

Children should acquire physical literacy in each of the four activity environments – land, water, air, and snow and ice.

With physical literacy, the door opens to a world of opportunities in sport and physical activity.

How can you get kids practicing their fundamental skills?  Make it fun. You can get started with these games and activities. You can also measure your child’s physical literacy with the physical literacy checklist.

Without physical literacy, research shows many children and youth withdraw from physical activity and sport.  Children report that not having the skills to play is one major reason they drop out.