This presentation answers the questions of what talent development is and why its difficult before discussing holistic development.

Sergio Lara-Bercial makes one thing clear early in his 2023 IIHF Coaching Symposium presentation: he does not come from a hockey background. In fact, he tailored the session plan for his 57-minute presentation into Neutral Zone, Defending Zone and Attacking Zone sessions to better connect with his audience… “Don’t tell anyone I’m using hockey analogies because the basketball community will disown me!”

Hockey background or not, Lara-Bercial, a Professor of Sport Coaching at Leeds Beckett University and the Vice President for Strategy & Development International Council for Coaching Excellence, was an excellent addition to the IIHF Coaching Symposium because of his unique background.

Lara-Bercial’s presentation aims to answer the questions of what talent development is and why talent development is difficult before he re-imagines talent development environments. The co-founder of ICOACHKIDS, a global movement helping coaches put kids first in sport, who consults for multiple high-level organisations such as Nike, UEFA and FIBA, then dives into holistic development, why it’s important and the six key principles to practice it effectively.