UK Sport

• You are here:
• Media Centre
• News

An eye for a gem

Subscribe

UK Sport/EIS 09 December 2008

UK SPORT SEEK TALENT TO UNEARTH TALENT

UK Sport has today launched a dedicated recruitment drive to unearth talented sport scientists who possess the essential skills, desire and will to support sports in unearthing and developing extraordinary sporting talent for their World Class Programmes towards 2012 and beyond. 

The new positions will strengthen the UK World Class Talent Team and will present unique and exciting career opportunities for those looking to apply their scientific skills in assisting targeted sports to sharpen their Talent Identification and Development models.

The new roles - Senior Talent Identification Scientist and Talent Identification Scientist - are required to drive the implementation of the 2009 – 2013 UK Talent Strategy. Following on from the announcement last week of funding awards for the London cycle the roles are being created as a direct result of UK Sport’s decision to refocus its existing budgets for Talent Identification and Development for the next four years, and centralise the funding available, so that it creates ‘economies of scale’ and maximises the impact on sports. 

This new strategy was created by UK Sport following an extensive UK Talent Health check across our 26 Summer Olympic Sports.  It will provide greater technical leadership, support and guidance to targeted national governing bodies, implementing their talent models towards 2012 and beyond. Chelsea Warr, UK Sport's World Class Talent Manager and mastermind of the new 2009 - 2013 UK Talent Strategy said:

“The London 2012 Olympic Games provide both sport and UK Sport with the platform to deliver the most competitive Team GB there has ever been and probably ever will be. The target is to ensure a top four finish in the medal table, winning more medals across more sports than ever before. This is an unprecedented time for the British elite sporting system and to be a part of it will be a once in a lifetime career opportunity.

“An analysis of the Olympic medal table at previous games shows that more countries are winning the market share of gold medals. One of the contributing factors is the proactive nature by which these countries identify and mobilise talent capable of becoming Olympic and/or World Champions.

“The new UK Talent Strategy will provide bespoke, ‘real world’ talent solutions in supporting targeted sports to hone their systems towards 2012 and beyond.  At its core, it’s about reducing the ‘luck factor’ by which exceptional talent is identified and promoted, and being smarter and sharper in our elite talent practices.

“These new Talent Identification positions present a once in a lifetime career opportunity for any young and ambitious sports scientists wishing to be involved in the journey towards 2012. As a result, we expect the attraction of these roles will be high, and we are eager to recruit exceptional, high energy, skilled practitioners to support our targeted sports leading into 2012 and beyond.”

Employed by the English Institute of Sport (EIS), but overseen by the UK Sport Talent Manager, the positions will play an instrumental role in the success of the UK Talent Strategy and its effective execution in partnership with targeted sports. 

Natalie Dunman, Talent Identification Scientist and an integral member of the UK Talent Team for the past two years, spoke of her experiences and how she has embraced the career opportunity:

“I joined the UK Talent Team after completing the UK Sport Fast-track Practitioner Programme as a physiology intern within the English Institute of Sport (EIS).  The internship provided me with a great opportunity to build on my previous sports science experience and work in a high performance system, alongside other practitioners, elite coaches and athletes. Essentially, it was my awakening experience in getting to grips with what ‘performance impact’ really meant on the frontline. 

“As I’ve moved into the area of Talent Identification, my role has become much more niche. It’s about knowing how to fundamentally apply various disciplines within sport science to predict (within high probability) future Olympic and/or World Champions – so it’s certainly a challenge, but one I really enjoy.  UK Sport and the EIS have provided tremendous training and development opportunities in the area if identifying and promoting talent – including meeting and visiting a number of world experts in different High Performance systems abroad.

“The role is unique and satisfying as you see daily, tangible outcomes. Nothing is more pleasing than conducting mass talent assessment events and having the National Coach rubbing his/her hands together with delight, having noticed a ‘sparkling gem’ and thinking about what could be genuinely possible.

“I’ve felt privileged to work with the athletes and National Coaches I have to date, and it’s going to get even more exciting leading un to 2012. It’s a tremendous opportunity to work alongside some of the UK’s leading Olympic Coaches  and really feel like you are making a difference to their pursuit for medals. The softer skills, including the ability to build relationships and positively influence a range of stakeholders come into play daily.

“Like many jobs in High Performance sport its needs to be a passion – not just a job.  The role involves significant commitment, continual drive and plenty of hard graft.  But to be honest, this is no different to the commitment coaches and athletes need to prepare to win in the Olympic arena. I would recommend this type of job to any young, enthusiastic sports scientist looking to really make his or her mark in the system, and who’s up for the 2012 challenge.”

Applications will close on Friday 16 January 2009 with interviews currently scheduled for 2 – 6 February 2009.

If you would like to see the job descriptions and find out how to apply, or read more about the exciting work of the UK Talent Team to date, please see the links below.

Back to news listing

Most Viewed