Significance of Managerial Skills for Talent Development in Ethiopian Athletes

Background: Talent development is essential for sports success, highlighting the critical role of skilled management in discovering, training, and nurturing athletes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance and relevance of managerial skills for talent development in Ethiopian athletes. Methodology: A descriptive survey method was employed. Five public clubs were purposively sampled, and 156 athletes were randomly selected from a total of 257. Data were collected using the Long-term Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (LTDEQ), revealing a reliability value of 0.75 (r) in a pilot study conducted to ascertain the scientific authenticity of the adapted questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The original LTDEQ has seven dimensions namely: Long-term development focus (LTDF), Quality preparation (QP), Communication (CO), Understanding athlete (UA), Supportive network (SN), Challenge and supportive environment (CSE), and Long-term development fundamental understanding (LTDFU). Thereafter, factor analysis was performed, resulting in eight dimensions, of which six were hybrid, and two were independent. The factors were named: i) LTDF LTDFU; ii) LTDF, CO LTDFU; iii) LTDF QP; iv) SN LTDFU; v) LTDF LTDFU; vi) LTDFU; vii) LTDF; viii) QP CSE. Mean and standard deviation with P values for each dimension were 4.15±1.11 (p0.000), 3.82±1.01 (p0.001), 3.74±1.08 (p0.000), 3.89±1.18 (p0.002), 3.87±1.12 (p0.000), 3.99±0.89 (p0.001), 3.61±1.11 (p0.000), and 2.96±1.42 (p0.001), respectively. The study considered questions regarding data reduction, feasibility, validation, and reliability of Ethiopian adaptations of LTDEQ. The analysis indicated enhanced reliability (test-retest) for the Ethiopian adaptation along with significant factor loadings (ranged from.643 to.892) as compared to the original LTDEQ (.311 to.892). Ethiopian adaptation of LTDEQ correlation increased (ranged from.142 to 1.000**), surpassing the original range (.018 to.869**). Cronbach’s alpha improved from r =.927 to r =.932, affirming future validity in the Ethiopian population. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study recommends the consideration of Ethiopian adaptations for all purposes with sufficient construct validity based on the improved reliability and internal consistency observed in the adaptation compared to the original version of LTDEQ.