Evaluación de formaciones durante la Perforación

Gorely, Lavallee, Bruce, Teale, and Lavallee (2001) evaluated the Australian Athlete Career and Education (ACE) Programme in terms of its content, quality, access and

implementation. They present levels of use of, general satisfaction with and the suggestions of athletes for the future for this programme, using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The Lifeskills for Elite Athletes Programme was initiated in Australia in 1989 and has merged into the Athlete Career and Education (ACE) programme in order to offer Australia’s high performance athletes a national level of continuous career and education service

(Australian Institute of Sport, 1995). In order to assist athletes, Australia, South Africa and the United States have developed the Olympic Job Opportunities Programme (1996), but there is little research on the quality of those programmes (Wylleman, Lavallee, & Aflermann, 1999). Gorely et al. (2001) assessed the content, quality, access and implementation of ACE by determining levels of use of the programme, identifying the perceived needs of athletes and determining overall satisfaction with the programme.

The Australian ACE Programme service consists of career planning, educational guidance, business referrals and a career transition programme. It also includes over 30 professional development workshops to help athletes meet their educational and career pursuits.

Gorely et al. (2001) used a two-phase iterative research design. They interviewed six focus groups with key sub-groups of athletes and one focus group with coaches and

administrators in the first phase, and a survey instrument based on the results from the first phase in the second phase.

Levels of Use

Findings indicate that athletes use the career guidance/planning service mostly to help with school or university, professional development workshops for nutrition/cooking, time management, goal setting, and finding/establishing a job. Athletes use the career transition service least (less than one percent uses this service). Gorely et al. (2001) hypothesise that this is because athletes do not perceive career transition as necessary until they reach the point of retirement. Athletes need to be educated about the necessity of long-term career transition planning (Lavallee, Gordon, & Grove, 1997).

Athletes who use ACE services report that they use the services because “they may help my life outside sport”, “they may help my sporting career”, “a coach or administrator suggested it” (Gorely et al., 2001). Reasonable programme systems, such as low prices and the availability of ACE representatives, affected their service use. Some reported that they used the ACE programme for performance-related reasons, indicating the need for further research on this topic.

The primary reasons for not using the ACE programme were 1) lack of perceived need (“other priorities”, “using alternative resources” or “simply having no need for the ACE programme), 2) personal factors (“nothing”, “not getting around to it” and “laziness”) and 3) issues with aspects of the programme (lack of awareness of the services offered and

unsuitable venues or timing of services). Personal factors might imply athletes were unmotivated to use the programme.

Gorely et al. (2001) propose how these barriers to using the programme can be overcome. First, issues with aspects of the programme can be resolved by making services available at various times, ensuring convenient locations and increasing awareness of the programme among athletes (Petitpas & Champagne, 2000). Second, lack of perceived need can be solved by targeting particular groups for current services, ensuring that athletes are

informed about the advantages of the programme and adding services to satisfy the particular needs of various athlete groups. Personal factors can be addressed using the strategies above. It can be a challenge for programmes such as the ACE to increase the personal motivation of athletes. This depends upon establishing an environment with coaches and parents that encourages socially- and personally-balanced development (Petitpas, Champagne, Chartrand, Danish, & Murphy, 1997; Taylor & Ogilvie, 1998).

Satisfaction with the Programme

Athletes were satisfied overall with the practical services and courses of the programme, specifically with goal setting and public speaking. They perceived the

information as realistic and suitable, the courses as individualised and implemented at the proper level and the courses as led by a good instructor. The satisfaction of athletes with individual career guidance was also enhanced by the development of applied skills, the identification of options rather than dictating paths and the provision of support for work- related issues.

A number of factors caused dissatisfaction with the service: 1) slow responses, 2) being sent to interviews unrelated to desired careers, 3) obtaining jobs of no value for the future, 4) jobs unsuited to the required time commitments, 5) unasked-for contact from employers that jeopardised current positions, 6) not preparing athletes for referrals, 7) not caring about what the athlete did and 8) forcing athletes into jobs they did not want. Athletes reported several problems associated with dissatisfaction with the issues as a perceived lack of proactivity or follow-up activities from the ACE programme and did not believe they were adequately informed in terms of what ACE could offer them.

Developing a sense of responsibility in and offering assistance to athletes during both phases of the assessment, levels of usage and satisfaction with the programme must be balanced (Gorely et al., 2001).

Athletes’ suggestions for the future

Athletes suggest several possible solutions: 1) founding regional stations that enable athletes outside big cities to take courses, 2) employing a broad range of delivery forms, 3) ensuring the credibility of advisors, 4) empathising with the individual needs and aspirations of athletes, 5) maintaining personal contact with athletes, 6) offering progressive courses and 7) maintaining a balance between allowing all athletes able to access the programme and not forcing them to employ the services (Gorely et al., 2001).

According to the findings, the present ACE Programme has a concrete foundation of use and satisfaction. Several important points are common to these types of programmes. First, career and education programmes would take advantage of clarifying the differences between helping and facilitating, and of confirming that athletes comprehend the distinction. Second, the programme would benefit from targeting and encouraging the programme courses to specific groups by providing different services in different ways. Alternative ways to access the programme should be offered: the current service provided by the ACE Programme is centralised, rendering the services inaccessible to athletes outside large cities (Gorely et al., 2001).

Gorely et al. (2001) examined the ACE Programme in terms of levels of use and satisfaction with the programme, but not its efficacy in terms of behavioural change. They demonstrated the aspects upon which sport organisational programmes such as the ACE should focus and how they can improve their current programmes. The current thesis would explore the extent to which such organisational programmes have improved in recent years.

The ACE programme, especially, is still offered to high performance athletes in Australia. Here, a comprehensive review of such organisational intervention programmes worldwide, including the ACE programme in Australia, is provided.

2.4.2. Investigation of potential users of career transition services in the United Kingdom