SSA Athlete Pathway FTEM framework

Ski & Snowboard Australia (SSA) is committed to providing a functional Athlete Snowsports Pathway, from Participation through to High Performance.

SSA recently adopted the Sport Australia's (SA) FTEM (Foundation, Talent, Elite and Mastery) framework, and by doing so, has reviewed, developed, and aligned all pathway activities to ensure an evidence-based approach to athlete development.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) originally developed the FTEM framework to directly support these key outcomes of sport participation being; Active Lifestyle, Sports Participation, and Sporting Excellence. The FTEM model is a fully integrated, evidence-based framework representing the Foundaion, Talent, Elite and Mastery of the 'whole of sport' pathway continuum. It categorises key features of each stage of an athlete's journey and provides a practical method to assist sport and athlete stakeholders to maximise and manage athlete development. For more information please click here to visit the AIS website.

To assist the community with understanding the different stages of athlete development, SSA has developed discipline-specific SSA Athlete Pathways.

The Athlete Pathway allows SSA to:

• Provide clear and visible pathway opportunities for ALL stakeholders including athletes and parents
• Recognise and acknowledge key partnerships, programs and support
• Provide a practical method to assist our sporting stakeholders to construct a more functional athlete and sport development system that aligns with the SSA Strategic Plan
• Develop evidence-based programs and strategies, including talent identification, confirmation, development and transition
• Provide a platform to easily identify and support potential talent to achieve sustained High Performance success.

The SSA Athlete Pathway allows our Snowsports community to:

• Easily understand each stage of athletic development within the participation and performance pathways
• Better understand the critical importance of the acquisition and refinement of fundamental movement skills to lifelong sports participation and high performance athlete development
• Reach their optimal performance level, be it recreational, interscool, club, national or international competition
• Acquire the skills to encourage lifelong engagement in Snowsports

Alpine and Snowboard Cross will be the first pathways released to the community with the other disciplines to follow shortly after.