This chapter outlines the three principles of managing high performance (HP) sport. These principles are (1) the elite athlete development process, (2) the determinants of managing the HP sport environment, and (3) the strategic management of HP sport. Understanding and applying these principles helps sport managers and sport organisations to manage HP sport environments, athletes and team successfully.

High performance sport is the top end of sport development and encapsulates any athlete or team that competes at an international or national level (Sotiriadou & Shilbury, 2013). High performance sport management is about identifying, measuring and developing the performance of athletes and teams, and aligning their performance with the strategic goals of the sport organisation. Therefore, HP sport management is defined as the process of (1) understanding what is to be achieved (planning), (2) developing the capacity of people and organisations to achieve it (capacity building and leading), (3) providing the required support (resourcing), and (4) offering feedback to athletes and teams to improve their performance (monitoring and evaluating). Planning, capacity building and leading, resourcing, and monitoring and evaluating athlete progress and performances represent the key performance management functions in managing HP sport. Consequently, managing HP sport is the application of performance management processes to the context of HP sport in order to obtain and maintain sporting excellence (Sotiriadou, 2013).