A Retrospective Study on Anthropometrical, Physical Fitness, and Motor Coordination Characteristics That Influence Dropout, Contract Status, and First-Team Playing Time in High-Level Soccer Players Aged Eight to Eighteen Years

Abstract

The goal of this article was twofold, and a 2-study approach was conducted. The first study aimed to expose the anthropometrical, physical performance, and motor coordination characteristics that influence dropout from a high-level soccer training program in players aged 8-16 years. The mixed-longitudinal sample included 388 Belgian youth soccer players who were assigned to either a "club group" or a "dropout group." In the second study, cross-sectional data of anthropometry, physical performance, and motor coordination were retrospectively explored to investigate which characteristics influence future contract status (contract vs. no contract group) and first-team playing time for 72 high-level youth soccer players (mean age = 16.2 years). Generally, club players outperformed their dropout peers for motor coordination, soccer-specific aerobic endurance, and speed. Anthropometry and estimated maturity status did not discriminate between club and dropout players. Contract players jumped further (p = 0.011) and had faster times for a 5-m sprint (p = 0.041) than no contract players. The following prediction equation explains 16.7% of the variance in future playing minutes in adolescent youth male soccer players: -2,869.3 + 14.6 × standing broad jump. Practitioners should include the evaluation of motor coordination, aerobic endurance, and speed performances to distinguish high-level soccer players further succeeding a talent development program and future dropout players, between 8 and 16 years. From the age of 16 years, measures of explosivity are supportive when selecting players into a future professional soccer career.

Norwegian Junior Football Players – Player’S Perception Of Stress According To Playing Time

“…Depending on the coaches understanding on when it is to late to become an professional football player, these players should be given the opportunity to develop within their team, to maximize their potential. Furthermore, the players' ability to develop coping strategies (Reeves et al, 2009) could also be important, especially because the research indicates the difficulty of identifying potentially top-level players at an early age (Deprez, Fransen, Lenoir, Philippaerts, & Vaeyens, 2015;Saether, 2015).…”

Anthropometric and physical fitness parameters versus specific performance tests in Brazilian field hockey athletes: a pilot study

“…However, physical fitness in sport has a more specific definition, and its correlation with performance has been investigated in previous studies [2,9,13,23,24,27]. In this sense, some components needed to practice field hockey at a high level of performance are: agility to perform quick changes of direction without loss of speed, efficiency to recover between sprints, endurance of the stabilizing muscles of the spine to maintain the adopted posture during practice, and technical skills [18].…”

“…Correlations between these variables and sports performance are widely related in the scientific literature in several sports [9,14,15,29,30,34].…”

Bone age and height prediction of young Brazilian goalkeepers

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