News

15/11/2022 00:00, In Blog /

We are pleased to share the process and changes for the next 4-year cycle (2022 – 2026) for Welsh Athletics Transition Programme, formerly known as Welsh Athletics Futures Programme.

Drivers for Change

Global athletic performance standards are continually progressing, whilst Olympic and World championships qualification have significantly moved forward in recent years. In a bid to:

• Drive up domestic standards
• Close the performance gap to the rest of the world
• Increase the number of athletes making GB Teams
• Strengthen the performance profile of CWG potential athletes to be able to affect an increased quota of Team Wales Athletics allocated places  

Entry onto Welsh Athletics Performance Programmes for 2022 – 2026 are now aligned to reaching a minimum requirement of being within a certain % of European Championship (Senior/U23/U20/U18) standards.

This further supports our Welsh Athletics strategic objective of “Increasing the number of top 6 performances at the Commonwealth Games with 75% of athletes achieving personal best performances”.

In addition, Sport Wales has changed its strategic remit, and governing bodies in Wales are now responsible for providing most of the service provision for athletes across all sports. The cost for all support services is now incurred by the governing bodies which again has forced sports to look at the scale of investment that can be provided at different levels across all programmes.

Chris Jones, National Coach at Welsh Athletics shared:

“Our aim of the Welsh Athletics Transition Programme is to support athletes and coaches through what is a critical period of development.

 

The Welsh Athletics pathway is very clear in supporting athletes and coaches through our Regional and National Development Programmes. Transitioning onto a Senior Programme needs careful management and support and identifying what is the right environment for young athletes is crucial to support their ongoing development.

 

The Transition Programme offers a holistic approach in supporting athletes and coaches on what is best for their overall long-term development.”

Programme Entry Criteria - Welsh Athletics Transition Programme

For the Welsh Athletics Transition Programme, the athlete profile considers:

• Reaches Welsh Athletics’ Performance Event Group Consideration Standards. These sit within % of the UKA European Championship U18/U20/U23 age group standards. 15%
• Has demonstrated outstanding performances at Age Group/British Championships that are aligned with standards required to transition to a senior programme athlete. 20%
• Athletes will have agreed performance/process goals aligned to their athlete improvement plan with evidence-based information supporting progression of key performance markers. 25%
• Athlete and coaches are engaging with support and resource from Welsh Athletics and key partners that will influence performance development. 40%

Event Group Performance Consideration tables can be viewed here along with an overview of the Welsh Athletics Transition Programme for 2022 – 2026 which can be accessed here.

Please be aware performance consideration standards may be subject to change and will be aligned to UKA European Championship qualification standards once released.

Selection will take place in the coming weeks and athletes will be informed directly.