As per Canada Soccer, LTPD is a model of athlete development that parallels what doctors and psychologists have long used to better understand human development: as a series of distinct stages, which takes us from infancy through to adulthood. A person’s abilities, behaviours, and emotions, as well as their understanding of the world around them, varies from stage to stage.

Similarly, experts in sport science have identified seven stagesof development — each with its own physical and psychological characteristics —that form the basis for LTPD. When young soccer players are able to train and compete in an environment that’s appropriate to their stage of development, they not only perform at their best, they also have more fun.