Dear Ana,

I am afraid that I didn't understood your question, but since I am working with high level athletes in one of the top clubs, maybe I can help you.... just please reconstruct the question.

Vladimir

Hi Vladimir,

Thanks for your answer. I am writing an article about quality of life of athletes that live in Sports Centers and athletes that just play in an ordinary team. I found this site http://sportperformancecenters.org but I would like to know how they are structured and based on what (theory) they think the activities and the facilities for the athletes.

Olá Ana,

It's a large question, interesting but and I think that a little complicated it. However, I will try to reply it. In any case, I recommend a book, which deal with your question: Sport Development in the United States: High Performance and Mass Participation. 

So,  I found it, however, only a little presentation. In this way, I recommend also you look mainly the research and studies which are developped in the USA Universities, I'm sure there are many centers of excellence in trainning for athletes in these Universities. Indeed, independently of sports modality. They apply a model of trainning that we know it's efficient, and many other countries apply successfully it .  

I hope this helps.

Sinecerely yours.

https://publi.cz/books/52/02.html

Dear Ana,

By my experiences with high ranked or talented athletes it looks like this:

Usually only young and talented athletes live in sports centers, or hotels or other kind of living places that are build next to the building of sports center. Professional athletes normally have their flats which are payed by sports club. 

Young athletes are usually collected from different places in the country, they have contract with the club, they live in the mentioned living place (hotel, apartments which are in the sports center and etc), they are normally by the contract with sport club obligated to go to school, and to train 7-10 times a week, depending on the sport, competitions, type of sport and etc.  By the contract they are usually strictly obligated to be on every training, in the case they don't come on the training and they don't have proper reason there are different kinds of penalties.

Similar is with senior professional athletes, differences is that usually they live in flats payed by club, which are larger, more exclusive and etc, they receive bigger amount of money (young and talented athletes usually receive smaller amount of money, since the club is usually paying the restaurant for them), they are not obligated to go to school end etc.

Both senior and young athletes can be by the contract restricted to have any kind of regular physical activity (trainings with other coaches, extreme sports etc.) outside of the club trainings or without of allowance of club coach.

In amateur clubs and in "sports schools", majority of the things are on voluntary base. So athletes and coaches dont have strict contracts, or they dont have them at all. In sport schools young athletes are paying to the clubs and to the coaches to be coached... Number of training depends on the possibilities which they have (access to gyms, courts, pools and so on)....

I hope I helped a little bit, sorry if there was any gramma or typing mistakes since I was really in lack of time.

Regards,

Vladimir

Hi Vladimir and Marcelo,

Thank you so much for your answers. The book helps a lot and the description about how athletes live is exactly what I am trying to understand better. My problem is: what theory supports the structures where athletes lives? What are the consequences in long terms for these athletes? I just wrote a paper about post career of athletes and one thing that call my attention is that athletes who have profound identity with sport had been more difficult to have a life as a non-athlete. So, what are the mechanisms that help them to have some kind of normal life? My study at the present moment  showed that athletes of high-performance centers sometimes have  a lower quality of life, and I want to explain that, because maybe the place I perform my study didn't think about the life of athletes in general and only consider the athletic aspect.

Anyway, I am trying...

Thank you once more...

Best wishes,

Ana

Dear Ana,

I found an interesting material which deal about your last question. However, the author investigated a group of college student-athletes. In any way, I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Hi Marcelo,

Thank you so much. I will read it carefully and see how can fit in my new study.

Best Wishes,

Ana

• Portuguese sport centers: centro de alto rendimento do Jamor and centro de alto rendimento de rio maior

Hi Catarina,

Thank you for the tip. I will look for more information about Portuguese Sport Centers. It interest me particularly because I have Portuguese citizenship too, and my family is from area of Rio Douro.

Best wishes.

Ana

In Brazil there is http://www.narsp.com.br/. They work with the evaluation high sports performance.