An eye for talent: The recruiters’ role in the Australian Football talent pathway

Larkin, Paul; Marchant, Daryl; Syder, Amy; Farrow, Damian

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241307

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Including qualitative data could have provided additional insights into why scouts hold the perceptions that were found in this study and whether these align with what scouts do in practice (cf. Larkin et al, 2020;MacMahon et al, 2019;Roberts et al, 2019a). For example, in-depth interviews or think-aloud protocols could reveal what type of player scouts generally are selecting for (i.e.…”

Section: Limitations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How soccer scouts identify talented players

Bergkamp

Frencken

Niessen

et al. 2021

European Journal of Sport Science

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Scouts of soccer clubs are often the first to identify talented players. However, there is a lack of research on how these scouts assess and predict overall soccer performance. Therefore, we conducted a large-scaled study to examine the process of talent identification among 125 soccer scouts. Through an online self-report questionnaire, scouts were asked about (1) the players' age at which they can predict players' soccer performance, (2) the attributes they consider relevant, and (3) the extent to which they predict performance in a structured manner. The most important results are as follows. First, scouts who observed 12-year-old and younger players perceived they could predict at older ages (13.6 years old, on average) whether a player has the potential to become a professional soccer player. This suggests that scouts are aware of the idea that early indicators of later performance are often lacking, yet do advise on selection of players at younger ages. Second, when identifying talented players, scouts considered more easily observable attributes, such as technical attributes. However, scouts described these often in a broad sense rather than in terms of specific predictors of future performance. Finally, scouts reported that they assess attributes of players in a structured manner. Yet, they ultimately based their prediction (i.e. final score) on an intuitive integration of different performance attributes, which is a suboptimal strategy according to existing literature. Taken together, these outcomes provide specific clues to improve the reliability and validity of the scouting process. Highlights. Based on a large sample of soccer scouts, we examine three issues that are important in the process of identifying talented soccer players: The age at which good performance predictions can be made, which attributes are relevant predictors, and how performance predictions are formed. . Scouts who observe players in young age cohorts believe that the age at which they can predict performance is older than the players they typically scout, suggesting that they are aware that early indicators of performance are often lacking. . Technical performance attributes are considered as most important performance predictors by scouts, but these are often described in a broad -rather than specific -sense. . Scouts indicate that they predict performance in a structured manner, but form their overall performance prediction on an intuitive integration of different performance attributes, which can be a suboptimal approach.

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Section: Limitations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How soccer scouts identify talented players

Bergkamp

Frencken

Niessen

et al. 2021

European Journal of Sport Science

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“…Often, rather than selecting the athletes with the highest potential for later success (i.e., "talk"), sports organizations select the currently highest-performing young athletes (i.e., "action") as evidenced in high annual turnover rates within youth academies or youth squads (Ford et al 2020;Güllich 2014;Schroepf and Lames 2017). Further, we can observe that the concept and understanding of talent varies widely among the individuals, such as coaches or talent scouts, who are assigned with the task to select the athletes to be promoted by the respective organization (Bergkamp et al 2021;Jokuschies et al 2017;Larkin et al 2020). From an organizational perspective, the lack of inter-individual reliability of talent assessments can be traced back to the high degree of structural variety within sports organizations.…”

Section: A Constructivist Model Of Talent and Talent Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Talent as a social construction: Proposing a constructivist conceptualization of athletic talent

John

Thiel

2022

Z Erziehungswiss

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Talent identification, selection, and development represent critical areas of inquiry for sport scientists as indicated in the large amount of research attention dedicated to these topics. However, talent researchers rarely explicitly discuss their underlying conceptual understanding of “talent”.Within this article, we approach the construct “talent” from the perspective of social constructivism. We consider talent as a social construction that is historically changing and contextually embedded. Organizations that act as “purchasers” of talent (sports clubs, youth squads, etc.) have to develop ideas about which athletes represent the best fit against the background of the performance conditions within the respective sport (in the sense of possessing the set of characteristics that is most promising for future success). The purpose of these organizational “talent” descriptions is to try to ensure that the person with the highest chance of being successful is promoted. However, multidimensionality, asynchronicity, and discontinuity of talent development make the prediction of sporting success extremely difficult. Talent development needs to be thought of as an iterative process that is highly individualized and idiosyncratic. To make a person fit to the expectations of an organization requires a high degree of flexibility, reflexivity, and, not least, patience from talent development programs.Using the example of athletic talent, we show that the principles of constructivism provide a useful terminological, theoretical, and methodological basis for the empirical analysis of the complex process of talent emergence and development. Methodologically, idiographic approaches are needed that explore the intrinsic dynamics of talent development pathways.

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“…Given the challenges associated with talent identification, standard talent identification procedures often rely on the evaluation of athletes' current performance by coaches and scouts (Williams et al, 2020). Within this process, coaches' experience and expertise in identifying potential talent comprise an important tool (Larkin et al, 2020). To this end, researchers have used interview techniques to determine what experienced soccer coaches look for when identifying potential talent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nationwide Subjective and Objective Assessments of Potential Talent Predictors in Elite Youth Soccer: An Investigation of Prognostic Validity in a Prospective Study

Höner

Murr

Larkin

et al. 2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Recent studies have provided empirical evidence on the prognostic relevance of objective performance diagnostics in the soccer talent identification and development process. However, little is known about the prognostic validity of coaches' subjective evaluations of performance. This study evaluated objective and subjective assessments within a nationwide talent development program and addressed motor, perceptual skill, and personality-related performance factors. Male players (N = 13,869; Mage = 12.59 ± 1.07 years) from the age groups U12 to U15 of the German soccer talent development program participated in this study. Participants completed an objective motor diagnostic (sprint, agility, dribbling, ball control, juggling) and were subjectively rated by their coaches (kicking skills, endurance, individual tactical skills, psychosocial skills). All nine predictors were assessed with sufficient psychometric properties (α ≥ 0.72; except dribbling and ball control: α ≥ 0.53). Players' success three seasons later was operationalized by achieving professional youth academy level or not (success rate, 9%). Independent-samples t-tests analyzed univariate mean group comparisons between future selected and non-selected players. Logistic regression models examined the multivariate prognostic validity of all assessments by predicting success with subjective (model 1), objective (model 2), and both groups of predictors (model 3). Confirming the univariate prognostic validity, future selected outperformed non-selected players regarding all predictors (each p < 0.001, except for agility in U15: p < 0.01). Tactical skills, kicking skills, and sprint were of highest predictive value (d ≥ 0.61 in each age group). Multivariate results provided empirical evidence for the subjective (7% ≤ Nagelkerke's R2 ≤ 11%; each p < 0.001) and objective (8% ≤ Nagelkerke's R2 ≤ 13%; each p < 0.001) assessments' prognostic validity. However, model 3 revealed the best statistical explanatory power in each age group (0.15 ≤ Nagelkerke's R2 ≤ 0.20; p < 0.001). In this combined assessment model, sprint, tactical skills, and dribbling were found to be the most predictive variables. In conclusion, this study reinforces the call for multidimensional diagnostics integrating objective and subjective assessments. Future research is needed to address the demands for longitudinal analyses of subjective ratings, the integration of biological maturation, and empirical evidence for female soccer.

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An eye for talent: The recruiters’ role in the Australian Football talent pathway

Cited by 18 publications

References 53 publications

How soccer scouts identify talented players

How soccer scouts identify talented players

Talent as a social construction: Proposing a constructivist conceptualization of athletic talent

Nationwide Subjective and Objective Assessments of Potential Talent Predictors in Elite Youth Soccer: An Investigation of Prognostic Validity in a Prospective Study

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