THE GERMAN SPORTS SCHOOL SYSTEM

Elite  Sportschules (sports schools)  are a vital component of the German system of identification and development of talented athletes in many disciplines. A democratised legacy of the East German athlete development programmes, the sportschules have produced a multitude of Olympic and world champion athletes over the years; in fact, the collection of Olympic medals in 2008  garnered by the Potsdam elite sportschule would have placed it in seventeenth place in the list of medal-winning nations. Here is an article describing how these elite schools produce numbers of internationally successful athletes out of all proportion to the size of the population. Why do you think that this method of nurturing talented youth would or would not work in Canada.

Champion cyclist Erik Zabel's son Rick is a product of this system and has just earned a contract from

Rabobank Continental as a result of his performances to date. He cites his four years at a sportschule as being a major component of his success.