The study’s purpose was to describe a handball ATDE (Athletic Talent Development Environment) in the south of Sweden and to examine and derive the success factors of the ATDE, and within this context explore the motivational climate and autonomy support as perceived by members of the ATDE. The study is based on three theories: the Holistic ecological approach, Self Determination theory and Achievement Goal theory. The study’s participants all represented a club in the south of Sweden and consisted of players in the age of 15-19, the club manager, coaches and parents. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews, observations and analysis of documents surrounding the club's vision and training/match policies. A total of seven interviews with four players, two coaches and the manager were conducted. Five observations at a minimum of 90 minutes gave the authors a broader view of the ATDE. An analysis of content and a triangulation with the supervisor were conducted in order to interpret the empirical data. The study revealed that the club is under re-organization, and its enthusiasm to evolve and become even better. The study found the ATDE to have a mastery oriented and autonomy supportive climate which in many ways contributed to the successful features of the ATDE. The study confirms earlier research regarding ATDE success factors as well as connections between SDT and AGT. The results also provide a deeper understanding of how successful factors, relationships, motivational climate and the autonomy support in an ATDE, affects young handball player’s motivation to evolve and reach their full potential. Implications with a basis in the theories used are presented.

The holistic ecological approach (HEA) suggests that athlete’s talent development is influenced by the environment in which the athlete is embedded, and that some environments are more successful in facilitating athlete’s junior to senior transition. This study uses the HEA and the two working models to examine one effective talent development environment in Swedish table tennis. HEA promotes a case study design where the two working models are subsequently transformed into empirical models acting as a summary of the case. The focal environment was centred around a training group with supportive relationships, especially between the prospective and senior elite athletes. Furthermore, the environment supported the athletes in their dual careers (i.e., combination of sport and education), which helped the athletes to maintain a balanced lifestyle and to develop in both sport and life. The environment was characterized by a strong and coherent organizational culture centred around a basic assumption “we are community of committed members” contributing to the environment’s effectiveness, that is, to producing senior elite athletes, club growth, recognition, youth results and committed athletes in all ages. This study examines the pathway to sporting excellence in Swedish table tennis using the HEA and provides important insights to sport organizations working with talent development in a complex racket-sport, such as table tennis.

Research on talent development has developed to highlight the central role of the environment and have found that good and supportive environments can ease prospective elite athletes’ transition from junior to senior elite level in sport. The aim of this study was to examine a successful athletic talent development environment in female football through a holistic ecological approach, in order to provide a holistic description of the environment. Furthermore, the aim was to explain how factors are influencing the environmental success in developing prospective elite athletes into senior elite athletes. The study was designed as a case-study and data collection included a total of eight interviews from multiple perspectives (prospective elite athletes, head coach, elite athletes and sport manager) and analysis of documents. The environment was characterized by good communication and cooperation, centered around the relationships between prospects, coaches and school. Moreover, the environment included a strong organizational culture characterized by good attitude and motivation, a whole person approach and coordinated and integrated efforts. The results showed many similarities with research conducted in other successful athletic talent development environments.

Elite sport is tied to high demands and the sport milieus are on a constant quest to get new top results and produce new talented athletes to achieve them. According to Systems Theory, no phenomena is to be understood without understanding the context in which it exists. Former research within the Holistic Ecological Approach have relied on this perspective to study how the environment can be formed to develop talented athletes. What has not been studies is elite athletes’ own perceptions of how the characteristics of the environment has contributed to their athletic career, and what characteristics of the environment they find important to be able to continue their elite career. This purpose of this thesis was therefore to investigate this by interviewing 10 elite athletes who compete with the world top athletes in their sport. Each of the participants lived in the south-west of Sweden and represented traditionally individual sports. The thesis concluded that the values of the family and the competition friendly culture of the childhood sports club had been important environmental characteristics in developing the career, together with interactions of key persons and key events. To continue their careers, the participants expressed the importance of a holistic wellbeing through the understanding from all parts of their environment, together with the possibility of equal sparring as most important. / Elitidrott har många höga krav knutna till sig och idrottsmiljöer strävar ständigt efter nya toppresultat och att få fram nya talangfulla elitidrottare som kan utföra dem. Enligt systemteorin kan inget fenomen - så även elitidrott - förstås om man inte också förstår kontexten det befinner sig i, och tidigare forskning inom det holistiskt ekologiska perspektivet har utifrån detta undersökt miljöns betydelse ur ett Holistiskt Ekologiskt Perspektiv för att undersöka hur miljön kan utformas för att bidra till talangutveckling. Vad som inte undersökts är elitidrottares egen uppfattning om hur miljön har bidragit till deras idrottskarriär, och vilka egenskaper i miljön de ser som viktiga för att kunna fortsätta bedriva elitidrottskarriär. Syftet för uppsatsen var därför att undersöka detta genom att intervjua 10 elitidrottare som tävlar på internationell elitnivå inom respektive idrotter. Samtliga deltagare var bosatta i sydvästra Sverige och representerade traditionellt individuella idrotter. Det framkom att familjens värderingar och en positiv tävlingskultur i moderklubben varit viktiga för idrottskarriären, samt interaktionen med nyckelpersoner och nyckelhändelser. För att fortsätta utvecklas såg idrottarna ett holistiskt välmående genom förståelse från alla delar av sin miljö, och möjlighet till jämbördig sparring som de viktigaste miljöegenskaperna.