“WHEN EVERYONE LEAVES, HE KEEPS TRYING” PERCEPTIONS OF SPORT TALENT IN MOTOR SCIENCE STUDENTS. REFLECTIONS AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS DOWNSTREAM OF A FOCUS GROUP APPROACH

Recognizing talent in its various forms and knowing how to read its correlated specific needs has become an emerging theme in the special pedagogical debate (Pinnelli, 2017). Despite a shared multifaceted definition of Giftedness, in 2002, Persson already pointed out the absence of research on the identification of athletic talent and nowadays in Italy, there is still a lack of teachers’ identification tools of sport talent. In order to adapt the Scale for Identification of Sport Potential (SISP) (Platvoet et al., 2015) an exploratory step was the analysis of stakeholder representations through a Focus Group. This study describes the perceptions of sport talent of seven coaches enrolled in a motor sciences university course. The questions are anchored on the Model of Talent Development in Physical Education (PE) (Bailey and Morley, 2006) and the SISP factors covered. The study suggests important implications in the identification practice. Future research could explore the perception of élite coaches and PE teachers.