Exploring the feasibility of a novel experimental method to study talent selection and decision making in high performance sport

Abstract

Talent selection in sport takes place from early stages of development through professional ranks. Athletes are regularly selected for youth teams, high school teams, as well as collegiate and professional teams (Jones, Johnston & Baker, 2020). Even with so much selection occurring, identifying talent is difficult and inaccurate. This is made evident by the poor ability of professional sports teams with ample resources to be able to accurately draft and select players for their teams (Koz, Fraser-Thomas, & Baker, 2012). This study aimed to pilot test a method for understanding what Canadian basketball coaches look for when deciding between athletes available for selection. Specifically, using blinded data, coaches and decision makers were asked to make talent predictions. Participants from various levels of coaching across Canada were able to complete the task. Results suggest that this method and task was challenging, and has the potential to inform talent identification decision making.