Talent Identification in Youth Soccer: Prognosis of U17 Soccer Performance on the Basis of General Athleticism and Talent Promotion Interventions in Second-Grade Children.

Andreas Hohmann,Maximilian Siener

doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.625645

Abstract

Several talent identification programs in elementary school have implemented motor diagnostics to introduce children to groups of sports, like game sports, or even to particular sports like soccer. However, as in most other sports, in youth soccer, the predictive value of such early testing is still unclear. This prospective study evaluated the midterm prognostic validity of generic motor performance tests. The sample consisted of male second-grade children, which had received a recommendation to participate in soccer. The talent screening campaign was a basic check comprising two anthropometric parameters, five physical fitness, and three motor competence diagnostics of the German Motor Test 6–18. The test data were collected from the participating elementary school classes of the years 2010 to 2014. The soccer competition performance of those children having completed the age of at least 15 years (n = 502) up to the end of the season 2019/2020 (2020, September 30) was recorded. This group of U17 players was then assigned individually to five different competition levels. The prognostic validity of the physical and physiological tests was determined using ANOVAs, odds ratios, and a regression path analysis. All diagnostic methods exhibited medium-to-high prognostic validity over the 8 year time span from the talent screening to the later soccer competitions in the adolescent age groups. For later success in soccer on the province level, the 6-min run (OR = 4.28), dynamic balance (OR = 4.04), and 20-m sprint (OR = 2.46), as well as the participation in the training center of the German Soccer Federation (OR = 5.67) and the diversity of club sport activities (OR = 3.56), were of particular importance.

Highlights

Long-term talent development programs combine a diagnostic talent identification process with a sustainable talent promotion strategy
The adequacy of this selection is corroborated by the result that the soccer group exhibited already in the talent screening campaign in the second grade especially in these tests much better soccer-oriented performance prerequisites than did the non-athletes
ANOVAs and Odds Ratios Within the group of the U9 soccer players (n = 502), the ANOVAs demonstrated significant differences in the performance characteristics, which were in line with the differences in the later performance levels reached by the children as adolescents in the U17 age group

Summary

Introduction

Long-term talent development programs combine a diagnostic talent identification process with a sustainable talent promotion strategy (see Figure 1). Most of the soccer federations administer their talent selection campaigns at a later point of time, when youth athletes have already trained for some years and developed into more homogeneous samples (Pion, 2015), early talent orientation at elementaryschool age could contribute positively to the ongoing debate in talent research In this debate, some academics warn against talent selection procedures that are conducted too early (Meylan et al, 2010), whereas others acknowledge that these selections are worthwhile to help the sport federations to focus their resources on the most talented young athletes (Unnithan et al, 2012; Zuber et al, 2015, 2016; Hoener and Votteler, 2016). If the final step of the scientific verification of the former talent prognosis was included in the talent development program of the federations, an early talent orientation could lead to a more successful talent development model in soccer

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