Junior Talent Programme
England Athletics works to grow opportunities for everyone to experience athletics and running, to enable them to reach their full potential.
The Talented Athlete and Coach Pathway provides a progressive support structure for athletes and coaches to develop skills and competencies with the aim of moving athletes on to representative honours at England and GB & NI Level.
Aims of the programme
The England Athletics talent pathway aims to increase the number of talented athletes who have the skills, competencies, knowledge, and resilience to progress to World Class Programmes, succeed at Senior Championships and gain a positive life experience from the journey. It will aim to do this across all events.
Following completion of the Youth Talent Programme (YTP) or through direct selection, English athletes will have the opportunity to transition onto the Junior Talent Programme. Places on the JTP are limited due to the capacity of the team to deliver the programme ambitions. England Athletics manage a selection process based on applications to the programme on an annual basis. Decisions on the level of support/programme an athlete will receive are taken at the selection stage.
Applications for the Junior Talent Programme
The selection process is split across four stages:
- Stage 1: Athlete/Coach application. Please return to this page for details of future application windows.
- Stage 2: Pathway Event Review
- Stage 3: Selection Panel
- Stage 4: Induction
The purpose of the selection panel is to prioritise athletes who have highlighted potential aligned to the below criteria and are deemed to have shown signs of progressing onto the next stage of the pathway (e.g. UKA Futures, England Athletics Senior Talent Programme).
The selection panel will comprise of the following:
- UKA Performance Pathway Manager (Olympic)
- EA Head of Talent Development
- EA Event Group Lead Speed (or representative)
- EA Event Group Lead Endurance (or representative)
- EA Event Group Lead Jumps & Combined Events (or representative)
- EA Event Group Lead Throws (or representative)
- EA National Talent Event Leads (or representatives)
- Talent Hub Managers (or representatives)
Guidance
- Download the Junior Talent Programme guide for athletes and coaches (PDF 1MB)
Talent Programme 2022-23 launch webinar
An overview of the Talent Pathway along with an update on the Youth and Junior Talent Programmes, plus an outline of the application process and a chance for attendees to ask questions.
A recording of the live webinar hosted by Alan Richardson (YTP Manager) and Darren Ritchie (Junior Talent Programme Project Lead), 18 July 2022.
- View the accompanying webinar slides (PDF 4MB)
- Watch the webinar on YouTube