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We all participate in sport, but for many different reasons. Participation in sport
can lead to three key outcomes.
Whatever the motivation, the Australian Institute of Sport wanted to show how these three different
pathways work together. After all, having an active, healthy lifestyle or playing sport
for sport’s sake is just as important as becoming a high performance sportsperson.
Using insights from the last 30 years, the AIS came up with a new, inclusive sports framework
called FTEM.
Foundations, Talent, Elite and Mastery.
Each describes the major phases of athlete development
The FTEM framework will help us ensure that sportspeople get the right support, at the
right time to get the right outcomes.
The FTEM framework has up to 10 phases – starting with early movement experiences.
When we are young we learn the basics of movement.
Through more challenging movement environments and good quality physical education we can
advance our repertoire of movement skills.
Together, these important foundations help us to pursue and engage in an active lifestyle.
At the third phase, we commit to developing our sports skills through sports specific
training and competition. This typically occurs within sporting clubs, and many of us happily
stay within this sports participation pathway.
T1 is the entry point for the high performance pathway for those promising talents who demonstrate
physical, psychological and movement potential.
At the T2 level, experienced coaches with a discerning ‘eye’ for talent, further
assess attributes such as ‘coachability’, determination and positive self-management
to verify future sporting potential.
Athletes at the T3 level are committed to achieving higher levels of sports performance
through focussed practice and training.
At this stage, holistic athlete support is critical to reduce dropout and underachievement.
As they move through the pathway to T4, athletes reach a significant breakthrough performance
and are rewarded for their efforts.
At E1, athletes achieve elite status through selection and representation at the highest
senior levels of international or professional sport.
At E2, athletes win medals at the biggest events, or in the case of professional sports,
dominate their sport week in, week out.
A few rare athletes achieve sports Mastery — the most advanced example of sporting
excellence, characterised by sustained success over multiple high performance cycles.
Optimising your understanding of athlete pathways using the FTEM framework, will improve and
enrich your pathway outcomes.
For more information on FTEM, go to our website: ausport.gov.au/ftem