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In this paper we examine and challenge the competency-based models which currently dominate accreditation and development systems in sport support disciplines, largely the sciences and coaching. Through consideration of exemplar shortcomings, the limitations of competency-based systems are presented as failing to cater for the complexity of decision making and the need for proactive experimentation essential to effective practice. To provide a better fit with the challenges of the various disciplines in their work with performers, an alternative approach is presented which focuses on the promotion, evaluation and elaboration of expertise. Such an approach resonates with important characteristics of professions, whilst also providing for the essential 'shades of grey' inherent in work with human participants. Key differences between the approaches are considered through exemplars of evaluation processes. The expertise-focused method, although inherently more complex, is seen as offering a less ambiguous and more positive route, both through more accurate representation of essential professional competence and through facilitation of future growth in proficiency and evolution of expertise in practice. Examples from the literature are also presented, offering further support for the practicalities of this approach. Key PointsThe paper examines limitations in the commonly applied competency method of evaluation for support professions and promotes an alternative, expertise-focused approach.The expertise approach goes beyond the use of competency-based systems, and even the definitions of competence provided in this paper, to evaluate and facilitate capacities for more elaborative and adaptive thinking, judgment and growth.Bodies responsible for professional development and evaluation need to lead a long overdue, widespread shift from competency-driven to expert practice across the spectrum of science and coaching in sport, reflecting the situation already common in medicine.

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Stimulated by growing interest in the organizational and performance leadership components of Olympic success, sport psychology researchers have identified Performance Director-led culture change as a process of particular theoretical and applied significance. To build on initial work in this area, and develop practically meaningful understanding, a pragmatic research philosophy and grounded theory methodology were engaged to uncover culture change best practice from the perspective of newly appointed Performance Directors.Delivered in complex and contested settings, results revealed that the optimal change process consisted of an initial evaluation, planning, and impact phase adjoined to the immediate and enduring management of a multi-directional, perception-and power-based social system. As the first inquiry of its kind, these findings provide a foundation for the continued theoretical development of culture change in Olympic sport performance teams and a first model on which applied practice can be based.Keywords: change management, elite sport, management, success cultures, succession Running Head: CULTURE CHANGE IN OLYMPIC SPORT PERFORMANCE TEAMS 3 Driving and Sustaining Culture Change in Olympic Sport Performance Teams: A First Exploration and Grounded TheoryAs one of the most significant global sporting events, preparation for and performance at the Olympic Games has long been an area of intrigue for sport psychologists. Reflecting this interest, scholars and consultants are continually seeking new ways in which success can be seized and sustained. Most recently, this pursuit has seen researchers move to examine the organizational and management factors which contribute to peak performance (Fletcher & Wagstaff, 2009;Wagstaff, Fletcher, & Hanton, 2012a;Wagstaff, Hanton, & Fletcher, 2013).While study in this budding area has primarily focused on holistic organizational functioning (incorporating strategic, policy, and administrative elements on top of traditional performance facets), it has concomitantly reinforced the significance of management-led processes within and for the principal gain of the performance department; including the Performance Director (hereafter PD) led creation and maintenance of a high performing culture (Fletcher & Arnold, 2011). With limited knowledge on this particular process unearthed to date, work is therefore required through which PD-led culture change can be theoretically understood and practically delivered (cf. Fletcher & Arnold, 2011).Corresponding to "the shared values, beliefs, expectations, and practices across the members and generations of a defined group" (Cruickshank & Collins, 2012a, p. 340), sport psychologists have long been aware of culture's role in shaping team and individual behavior and performance (Hardy & Crace, 1997;Krane & Baird, 2005;Lee, Shaw, & Chesterfield, 2009), and increasingly so in Olympic environments (Fletcher & Arnold, 2011;Wagstaff et al., 2012a). Indeed, the need for Olympic sports teams to operate in a setting which consistently...

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