Abstract
Youth soccer performance is multifaceted, includes physical growth, biological maturation, and physical fitness, and is linked to the sporting environment to which the players are exposed. We aim to describe age-related associations in body physique, body composition, physical performance technical and tactical skills, psychological and club characteristics of male soccer players aged 12 to 14 years. A total of 157 male soccer players clustered into three age-cohorts (12, 13 and 14 years) were recruited from six soccer clubs. Anthropometric, body composition and body physique, biological maturation, physical performance, skill/game proficiency data, psychological characteristics, and clubs’ characteristics were collected. Group means were compared using analysis of variance and covariance. Fourteen years old players were significantly taller, heavier, leaner, faster, stronger, and technically more skilled than their younger peers (p < 0.05). Differences in physical performance and technical skills (p < 0.05) were found between age groups when adjusting for confounders of soccer training and biological maturation. No significant differences (p > 0.05) between age groups were found in psychological domains. Our findings suggest that age, biological maturation, and training volume are key factors influencing young soccer players’ performance and development. Further, clubs’ conditions provide players with ample resources for their success in training and competition.
Highlights
Youth soccer performance is multifaceted and is linked to physical growth, biological maturation, physical fitness, motor skills and psychological development, all entwined with the family and sporting environments
In the present paper we describe age-associated differences in body physique, body composition, physical performance, technical and tactical skills psychological and club characteristics in male soccer players, aged 12–14 years of age
In contrast with Kannekens et al [18], who assessed tactical declarative skills using the Tactical Skills Inventory for Sports (TACSIS) in elite youth soccer players, we found no significant differences across age-groups, despite the relatively high scores
Summary
Youth soccer performance is multifaceted and is linked to physical growth, biological maturation, physical fitness, motor skills and psychological development, all entwined with the family and sporting environments. Biological maturation, and development, termed auxology, has a long history [1,2,3,4] and the young athlete, a specialized sub-group, has been extensively studied [5,6]. The young athletes’ physical growth, maturation, development, and performance are governed by the joint effects of their genetic make-up and the environment they develop within [8,9,10]. The young athletes surrounding environment is widely recognized as vital in the identification and optimization of young athletes’ performance, which in turn is linked to the continuous exposure to systematic training and competition.
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