Abstract
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 following the academy closure and was classified as a persistence/progression (“Reselected”) or attrition (“Deselected”) in playing level. Of the 79 released players, a total of 60 players (76%) were re-signed to a junior-elite academy within 6 months. Differences were observed for overall ratings of skill, psychological, and physical abilities in favor of the “Reselected” player group. “Reselected” players were also rated higher by coaches for all attributes categorized as skill and psychological, as well as performing better at all physical fitness tests. However, “Reselected” players were lesser in stature and body mass and less mature than “Deselected” players. Our findings suggest that reselection is not a product of anthropometric criteria and, therefore, a pathway for selection remains open for later maturing players. We also inform upon desirable qualities associated with player reselection and provide a case study approach of a unique, yet highly relevant, scenario for talent identification and development in youth soccer.
Highlights
Talent identification (TI) and talent development (TD) of youth players are important factors when considering future financial and competitive benefits for soccer clubs (Unnithan et al, 2012)
Recruitment and prolonged exposure to TD programmes is highly desirable for coaches and recruiters, as it provides a greater timeframe to develop skills and expertise necessary to succeed at the professional level (Vaeyens et al, 2008; Burgess and Naughton, 2010; Williams et al, 2020)
The finding that the majority of our sample were re-signed in the 6 months following the academy closure supports the notion that individuals released from TD programmes are often recruited by rival clubs (Vaeyens et al, 2008; Unnithan et al, 2012)
Summary
Talent identification (TI) and talent development (TD) of youth players are important factors when considering future financial and competitive benefits for soccer clubs (Unnithan et al, 2012). High turnover of youth players is reported within professional soccer academies, with only ∼10% of players successful in obtaining professional contracts (Grossmann and Lames, 2015). It is well-established that potential predictors of talent are multidimensional in nature (Reilly et al, 2000; Unnithan et al, 2012; Sieghartsleitner et al, 2019). Evidence from the extant literature suggest that differences in multidimensional characteristics are evident between distinct playing standards of youth soccer players (Waldron and Worsfold, 2010; Huijgen et al, 2015; Dugdale et al, 2019), and they develop resultant of exposure to TD programmes (Burgess and Naughton, 2010; Williams et al, 2020). Due to the contracted nature of many TD programmes, limited empirical data exist on players deselected from (or reselected to) youth soccer academies
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