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Long Term Player Development (LTPD)

Softball Ontario is committed to Long Term Player Development and its principles. LTPD enables athletes to experience training and competition programs that consider their biological and training ages and prepare them for a life in sport.

The Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Sport have identified LTPD as the framework for sport development in Canada.

What is LTPD?

LTPD is a training, competition, and recovery program. It establishes guidelines for coaches, athletes, administrators, and parents in all areas, including planning, training, competition, and recovery. It takes into account the ever-changing competitive program and the overall demands on the athletes. Long-term athlete development is also about identifying potential and providing appropriate developmental pathways for that potential to be fully realized. It is about ensuring that everyone who wants to learn sport has the opportunity. ... The best sport development programs have a long-term vision, adapt and account for the rates at which an athlete matures rather than planning programs based solely on chronological age, are athlete centered, coach driven, but strongly supported by administration, sport science, and sponsors.

The objective of Softball’s Long-Term Player Development (LTPD) Guide is to provide a clear, well illustrated pathway for player development in softball. This pathway will give each player the best opportunity to reach their potential, whatever that might be – club, regional, provincial, national, or even at the international level. This brochure is a brief overview of what is covered in detail within the Long-Term Player Development Guide for Softball in Canada. It identifies some of the key benchmarks that need to be in place as a player progresses through softball’s developmental stages. It is important to realize that the pathway described and the ages referred to in this document are a guide to effective programming and that there is some degree of flexibility and an understanding of the need for individualization when appropriately implementing the suggested direction. The LTPD guide recognizes the need to promote a physically active lifestyle with informed healthy choices being made by all concerned and that the notion of being ‘Active for Life’ is a cornerstone objective.