Sports talent identification and development in Tanzanian secondary schools: what are the constraints and negotiation strategies?

Secondary schools are regarded as vehicles for spotting and developing students’ sports talent. Some constraints often prevent students from developing their sports talent. Since there is hardly any study conducted to establish negotiation strategies toward alleviating the constraints for developing students’ sports talent, this study therefore, based on qualitative research conducted in seven public secondary schools in Tanzania, determined the constraints and negotiation strategies toward identifying and developing sports talent. The study identified several constraints including inappropriate considerations of diversity for students in sports programmes, inappropriate sequence and supervision of sports programmes, limited sports facilities and equipment, competitive atmosphere as well as inadequate human resources and time allotted for sports talent programmes. Similarly, increasing the supply of human, physical and time resources, ensuring practices with consideration of training hours and strategic planning with adherence to sports policy were identified as the negotiation strategies toward alleviating the constraints toward sports talent identification and development. © 2024 World Council for Gifted and Talented Children.