HALL OF FAME

Case study: Taekwondo Talent Academy

The Taekwondo Talent Academy based in Western Europe applies the Hall of Fame tool with a group of 15- to 16-year-olds. These talented athletes are approaching the age where parallel developments and transitions in their dual career are about to increase, encompassing athletic, school-related/vocational and personal aspects.

Reason to select this tool

The Hall of Fame tool was selected for this group as one element of goal-setting workshops. Via group activities, an Athlete Development Manager (ADM) has been supporting young individuals in their development of future visions and helping them gain a greater understanding of their identities and values.

Application

The ADM introduces the session by asking the group to imagine the following scenario: “15-20 years in the future, when you have reached the end of your sporting career, you are about to be inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame. You are asked to give a speech to all the important people in your life.”

Using the The Speech (pdf) worksheet, each athlete is given 10 minutes to reflect on what kind of person they hoped to be by then, what they want to have achieved and how they would be feeling about their pathway. The athletes are then put into small groups to discuss their thoughts and feeling, encouraging each other to expand on their images, and form a clear vision. Following the group discussions, each athlete works individually again, using the framework they had development to write their speech.

Conclusions

The talented athletes reported to benefit from the session. Each individual appeared to have a better understanding of what they wanted to achieve in both their sport and life. The ADM intends to repeat the exercise with the group on an annual basis over the next few years, to continously support the athletes as they grow and develop a greater sense of their vision, identity, and values. An annual review will also function as a “check-in point” to see whether the athlete’s actions and behaviours are still in line with their vision.