Needs Analysis

The aim of this section is to establish and identify your needs or priorities.

Having your own defined set of personal needs allows you to move forward to the Exploring Options and Informed Choice stages with a more targeted approach. Your needs will guide the information you gather and subsequent decisions you make.

The Needs Analysis is broken into 2 parts that can downloaded either directly below or at the bottom of the page.

The Needs Analysis –the key questions that will establish your needs
The Guidance Document – a guide to completing the process.

Our suggestion would be that this process is best carried as a conversation between you, the athlete, and a trusted supporter who knows you well, be that a parent, coach, sibling, etc. Of course this isn’t the only way the analysis can work and you may for example prefer to do it alone or with a training partner who is going the process themselves too.

However you decide to approach this, for best results we would suggest that at least one person involved has sight of, and has read, the guidance document. One of you should also be ready to collect some notes be that in written form, voice recording, a mind map, etc.

Alternatively you may be more comfortable with inventing your own process completely which we would positively encourage – whatever you chose to do key is establishing your real needs. In so doing be very clear in defining between wants and needs, simply put needs are our necessities and wants our desires, we can live without wants but not without needs; it is important to be aware that we don't always need what we want!

Once you have finished your Needs Analysis please move forward to the Exploring Options stage.