Logo image
Back
Time management skills: A prerequisite for all Australian elite athletes? An evaluation of athlete perceptions of ACE assistance upon their athletic performance
Abstract   Peer reviewed

Time management skills: A prerequisite for all Australian elite athletes? An evaluation of athlete perceptions of ACE assistance upon their athletic performance

Lisa Fraser, G Fogarty and M Albion
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Vol.13(Supplement 1), p.e72
Asics Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport: Hot topics in the tropics, 2010 (Port Douglas, Australia, 03-Nov-2010–06-Nov-2010)
2010
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2010.10.614
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2010.10.614View
Published Version

Abstract

Human Movement and Sports Science time management performance athletes
Introduction: Interest in the holistic development of athletes emerged from studies indicating that athletes experience many difficulties with development of life skills, career planning, decision-making, identity foreclosure, and transition away from sport. The Athlete Career and Education (ACE) program was set up to address these issues by providing an integrated program of support for Australia's elite athletes. Based on the Victorian Institute of Sport ACE program which commenced in 1990, the National ACE program was developed in 1994 and implemented in 1995. Previous evaluations of the program have revealed positive results, with most athletes shown to be aware of the various services offered through the program and to be generally satisfied with the usefulness, delivery, and quality of those services. However, these evaluations have not measured the perceptions of the athletes using these services in relation to the impact that ACE assistance may have had in relation to their sporting performances. The current study aimed to gauge whether the athletes who have used ACE services perceived that the service had contributed to the improvement of their athletic performance in any way. Method: The participants in the study were 286 athletes (171 females) linked with the Australian Institute of Sport who had indicated that they had previously used ACE services. 256 participants were current sporting scholarship holders, while 30 participants had retired from elite sport and were therefore no longer on scholarship. Each athlete was asked to respond to a brief questionnaire designed for the study which asked them to indicate whether (a) they had accessed ACE services in five specific areas, and (b) to what degree they felt that the assistance that was provided to them by ACE contributed to the improvement of their athletic performance. Results/discussion: Of those athletes who indicated that they had accessed one of the five ACE services investigated, at least 78% of athletes in any one instance reported that accessing the service contributed to the improvement of their athletic performance. 91% of those athletes who accessed time management assistance through ACE felt this way. Implications of these and other findings in relation to gender and career status will be discussed.

Details

Metrics

4 File views/ downloads
744 Record Views
Logo image