Long Term Player Development / Développement à Long Terme du Joueur


Canadian Sport for Life - Long Term Athlete Development

This consultation paper describes a 7-stage Canadian framework of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), a training, competition, and recovery program based on developmental age - the maturation level of an individual - rather than chronological age.

This resource is an update on CS4L- Long-Term Athlete Development that, in the spirit of “Kaizen” or continuous improvement, builds on the original 2005 Canadian Sport for Life - Long-Term Athlete Development Resource Paper.

Actively Engaging Women and Girls

The purpose of this resource is to increase awareness about the experiences of women and girls, and provide recommendations to address the psycho-social factors that influence female athlete development.

Everyone has a role to play in actively engaging women and girls in sport and physical activity.

Sleep, Recovery and Human Performance

Sleep has a direct effect on metabolic processes such as energy balance, appetite and weight control.

Attending to the importance of it will reduce the risk of over-training/under-recovery, enhance resistance to illness and will improve recovery from energy. This article will explore the importance of considering sleep in LTAD.

LTPD Parents Information

Long-Term Player Development A Guide for Softball Parents
This resource is a 24-page document intended for parents to help them understand the key components outlined in the Long-Term Player Development Guide for Softball in Canada. In addition to information on each of the stages, this document also includes recommendations for parents on how to develop their children’s physical abilities properly according to Long-Term Player Development principles.

CS4L - A Sport Parent’s Guide
As parents, we recognize that sports and physical activity play an important role in our children’s healthy growth and development, but recently physical activity has suffered serious decline among Canadian children.

Medical and sport research shows that our children are increasingly at risk for obesity and disease due to low levels of activity and poor nutritional habits.

How Young is Too Young?
For many young children, organized sport participation is a key contributor to physical activity levels. It is important to focus on fun and active play in the early years, rather than on skills mastery and competition.

NCCP - Long Term Athlete Development Information for Parents
Doing what is best for your child is what LTAD is all about, and Canadian sport is working hard to develop LTAD plans for all sports.

What those plans tell us is that early specialization, and early intense training in most sports just doesn’t help the child develop to be the best they could possibly be.

LTPD Plans & Resources

Softball New Brunswick Long Term Player Development Implementation Plan

Softball Canada created a Long Term Player Development Guideline. The premise of the document is to align all members of Softball NB with the Softball Canada Long Term Player Development Plan and the Canadian Sport for Life stages of athlete development.

Need more information on what exact is Long Term Player Development? CLICK HERE for general LTPD information from Softball Canada

Check out the Softball Canada website by CLICKING HERE to download many Long-Term Athlete Development Resources FREE to you!


These resources include:


Softball Canada Athlete Development Matrix (ADM) Version 2

  • Gold Medal Profile (Female Standards)
  • Coach Resource - GMP Standards T2T
  • Coach Resource - GMP Standards T2C
  • Coach Resource - GMP Standards T2W
  • Coach Resource - GMP Standards L2W
  • What to know about the ADM
  • LTP Parents Guide (FirstEdition)
  • PlayBall - Softball Canada’s Competition Review (First Edition)
  • LTPD Brochure

Questions regarding Softball New Brunswick’s Long Term Player Development Implementation Plan can be sent to:

Cameron Rogers
Softball NB Executive Director
Tel: (902) 219-4797
Email: executivedirector@softballnb.ca

LTPD Framework

This is a one page brochure that was developed to give a quick overview of the Long-Term Player Development Guide for Softball in Canada. The brochure highlights the key objectives for each stage of development.

LTPD Framework 

An Athlete Development Matrix V2 (ADM) is an outline of the skills and attributes of athletes progressing through each stage of development to providing the greatest probability of success to the individual as they mature - not just with athletic success but also participation for health and social benefits.
Softball Canada’s ADM is a document to help guide coaches and steer the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) content. It lays out in great detail what a player should be able to do at each stage of their Long-Term Athlete Development. Softball’s ADM tries to ensure that players do not miss critical skills early in learning the game - therefore leading to more
successful softball development.

CLICK HERE for more information on the Athlete Development Matrix (ADM), a short video, and to order your own copy for FREE!