The NST program brings together the best athletes in the country in a training environment that provides access to the best available athlete support capabilities – coaching, technical support and sport science and medicine. The program provides a continuum of graduated support that will enable selected athletes of specified ability and/or potential to develop and improve along the pathway specified in the Learning To Compete (L2C), Training To Compete (T2C) and Training To Win (T2W) stages of the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), with the ultimate objective of placing athletes on Olympic, World Senior Championships (WSC) and World Cup (WC) podiums.

There are three Teams: the World Cup Team; the Senior Development Team; and the Junior Development Team.  Athletes are selected to Teams each spring on the basis of criteria established for the previous winter.  This entitles the selected athletes to the level of support that is established for their respective Team, subject always to budget imposed limitations.  Support is designed to address specific performance deficits/strengths and permit targeted benchmark performances to be achieved.  Irrespective of Team composition, throughout the next competitive season athletes are selected for competition trips (e.g. WSC, early season WCs, Tour de Ski) on the basis of separate criteria, with all CCC licensed athletes being eligible.