A survey of talent identification and development processes in the youth academies of professional soccer clubs from around the world (original) (raw)
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Journal of Sports Sciences
Elite soccer clubs across Europe spend ever-increasing sums of money on transfers and salaries for worldclass players. Consequently, clubs' talent identification and development processes for junior players have become more professionalised. Based on a holistic ecological approach, this study presents an analysis of talent identification practices across some of the most productive soccer academies in Europe (N = 11). Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 11 heads of academy recruitment from clubs in the "big five" European leagues. Clubs were purposively sampled based on their player productivity ranking. Interviews ranged from 52:26 minutes to 114:06 minutes in length (m = 87:53 ± 20.10 minutes). This study argues that holistic ecological approaches the environments were characterised through the interplay of factors that ranged from high-level internal to international level relationships. This resulted in the identification and recruitment of players from local and international environments. The purpose of recruitment was suggested to have a dual purpose: recruitment of players for the first team; recruitment of players for further development/monitoring and/or selling to another club.
Case Studies From Elite Youth Soccer: Reflections on Talent Development Practices
International Sport Coaching Journal, 2021
With early specialisation being commonplace within elite youth soccer, knowledge of the psychosocial implications associated with talent development practices would be of considerable use for the coaching practitioner. This paper uses case studies as a platform to discuss potential psychosocial implications of early specialisation, and further, it also offers practical suggestions for the elite youth soccer coach. Three case studies were chosen; each is an account of observations that took place within a British soccer academy. Themes of the case studies included adult-led structures in early specialisation, awareness of need thwarting coach behaviours, and the retention or release of players. The case studies were deliberately chosen to prompt discussion, reflection, and action. Following the presentation of each case study, a theoretically driven discussion is formulated. Practical suggestions are then provided to assist in the management of talent development practices within eli...
The Opinion of Youth Soccer Coaches About Talent Selection for Soccer
SCIENCE International Journal, 2023
Society and clubs invest a lot of effort, time and money to discover young people who have the potential to develop into top athletes. But, there are still many questions about a universal theoretical approach, agreed terminology and possible characteristics of talent that would bring practical benefit.The purpose of this paper is to clarify the essence of talent concept in sports and to evaluate the degree of agreement between the opinions of Serbian youth soccer coaches on the important issues of detection, identification and selection of talented soccer players in comparison with other researches. 161 youth soccer coaches with a high level of competence participated in the survey.The word talent is often heard in everyday speech to emphasize the qualities or skills of a young person who achieves above-average results in a certain field. There is no universal definition of talent. Over time, talent concept expanded and dynamized, so that today talent is approached multidimensionally, assessed holistically, and a conclusion is reached with a certain degree of probability. Coaches traditionally select players based on personal taste, observing movement patterns in the game and using their intuition based on experience, and using test results to monitor changes in morphological characteristics and motor skills. In addition to the existence of a disposition for the development of appropriate abilities, strong motivation and a favorable environment with an optimal training process are needed to realize the talent according to the planned outcome in the form of a competitive result. A reliable judgment about the ultimate range of a talented athlete is hindered by intense developmental changes in childhood and youth, due to which talent changes its structure. Further research should be focused on discovering the main and secondary components of giftedness, their interconnections, influences and changes during childhood and youth. This topic raises many questions such as: How not to stifle the individuality of talent? Would the discovery of the undiscovered make the game of soccer lose its charm?
Successful talent development in soccer: The characteristics of the environment
Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 2013
The holistic ecological approach to research in talent development in sport highlights the central role of the overall environment, as it affects an athlete in his or her athletic development. Applying the holistic ecological approach, this article examines talent development among male under-17 soccer players in a Danish soccer club with a history of successfully developing several of its juniors to top-level soccer players. Principal methods of data collection include interviews, participant observations of daily life in the environment, and analysis of documents. The environment was centered around the relationship between players and a staff of coaches, assistants, and managers that helped the players to focus on: A holistic lifestyle, handling dual careers (sport and school), developing the ability to work hard, and being self-aware and responsible for their own training. Furthermore, the environment was characterized by a strong, open, and cohesive organizational culture based on integrated values concerned with the balance of the player's daily lives in school and sport. We argue that the holistic ecological approach opens new avenues and holds the potential to inspire coaches and practitioners to be sensitive to and analyze not only the individual player's athletic development but also the overall strategies and organizational settings, in the talent development environment.
Children
The implications of relative age grouping in sport are known as the Relative Age Effect (RAE). This study has the twofold purpose of analyzing RAE in Spanish youth national soccer teams and examining the prediction value of being selected for national youth teams to be a professional. The sample was composed of 548 players divided into five groups. A descriptive analysis of distribution and participation, frequencies, mean and standard deviation, crosstabs, Sankey charts, coefficient correlation and Cohen’s effect size criteria and two regression analyses were performed. Results established that the RAE is present in U’17 to U’21 Spanish youth national teams. Talent detection and selection programs are more reliable the closer they are to adulthood, reaching a success rate of almost 100% at the U’21 stage. The selection of players for such programs should be delayed as much as possible, thus, preventing younger players from dropping out and those selected from thinking they have alr...
Using the modified Delphi method, we aimed to understand the attributes youth coaches and recruiters perceive as important when identifying skilled youth performance at the entry level of representative soccer in Australia (i.e., Under 13 years). Furthermore, we also aimed to describe the current methods youth coaches and recruiters use to assess and identify these attributes in youth players. Australian regional youth technical directors and coaches (n = 20) completed a three stage process, including an initial interview and two subsequent questionnaires, whereby attributes and qualities associated with talent identification were rated and justified according to the importance for youth player performance and talent identification. Results indicate a hierarchy of attributes recruiters perceive as important for Under 13 soccer performance, including technical (i.e., first touch, striking the ball, one-versus one ability, and technical ability under pressure), tactical (i.e., decision-making ability) and psychological attributes (i.e., coachability and positive attitude). In addition, the findings indicated attributes and qualities not emphasised within the talent identification process including, physiological, anthropometrical, sociological and several psychological attributes. It is suggested talent recruiters apply a holistic multidisciplinary approach to talent identification , with the current findings potentially providing initial evidence to suggest recruiters do consider numerous attributes when selecting and identifying youth players.
The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of the relative age effect (RAE) on the selection and promotion processes in an elite soccer academy. One hundred and eleven elite youth players who belonged to an elite soccer club from the Spanish "La Liga" participated in this study. Players were classified into three age-categories: under 14 years (U14), under 16 years (U16) and under 18 years (U18); and they were also classified in quartiles based on their date of birth (i.e., January-March, Q1; April-June, Q2; July-September, Q3; October-December, Q4). In addition, two further classification criteria were established based on the selection (i.e., selected and non-selected players) and promotion (i.e., promoted and non-promoted players) processes. The main results showed that in U14 and U16 age-categories, players born early in the year were over-represented compared to players born late in the year, although birth-distribution was not associated with the likelihood of a player to be selected or promoted. In addition, less fat in sum skinfolds, less percentage of fat, higher percentage of muscle and lower endomorphy and mesomorphy components were showed in U14 selected players, in comparison with non-selected players. Likewise, better sprint performance was found in U16 selected players versus non-selected ones. However, no significant differences on anthropometry, body composition, somatotype and physical performance were found between promoted and non-promoted players. Therefore, our results suggest there is need for coaches to reorient their talent identification programs in order to make sure that players selected to continue playing in the club have the potential to promote to the excellence in soccer.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2021
Considering the perceived benefit of early recruitment and the time and resources spent developing youth players, individuals released from talent development programmes are often re-recruited by rival academies. However, due to the contractual nature of many talent development programmes, limited empirical data exists on players deselected from (or reselected to) youth soccer academies. Adopting a novel case study approach, differences in skill, psychological, and physical attributes associated with reselection following closure of a junior-elite soccer academy were explored. Overall subjective coach ratings for skill, psychological, and physical abilities; subjective coach ratings for skill and psychological attributes; and physical fitness test performance of 79 junior-elite soccer players (U11–U17) were assessed as part of regular scheduled testing and monitoring practices prior to the academy closure. Reselection status was monitored and recorded for all players in the 6 months...
Coaches’ Criteria for Talent Identification of Youth Male Soccer Players
Sports, 2022
Introduction: The main aim of this study was to examine which criteria coaches considered in the talent identification of youth male soccer players aged 13–16. The second aim was to describe how the coaches considered these criteria when identifying players for their club or regional teams and how these criteria take the impact of the relative age effect into consideration. Methods: We conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews with six male coaches from a professional club academy or a regional team within the Norwegian Football Federation. Results: In line with earlier research, the results showed that the coaches considered the technical, tactical, and mental factors as the most important in talent identification. Further in line with earlier research, they considered that the physiological and sociological factors were of secondary importance, while anthropometric measures were considered the least important. Regarding the relative age effect, the coaches were aware of th...
Journal of sports sciences, 2018
Elite soccer players (~15 yr) from professional academies in the UK were rated on technical, tactical, physical and creative skills by coaches at time 1 (T1). Players estimated accumulated hours in soccer practice (coach-led activities) and play (self-led activities) during childhood. Coach-ratings were again collected 2.5 yr later (T2) for players that received a professional contract (~17 yr). Adult-professional status was determined at T3 (~ 20 yr). Skill ratings distinguished across the three "future" groups (academy-only, youth-professional only and adult-professional), for all but creative skill. For players that transitioned to youth-professional, medium sized correlations were noted between childhood practice amounts and technical and creative skill ratings at T1, although practice amounts correlated more strongly with skill ratings at T2. Play amounts were not related to any skills. Within groups of youth elite athletes, domain-specific play in childhood, and to a...