Developmental Contexts and Features of Elite Academy Football Players: Coach and Player Perspectives

Abstract

Player profiling can reap many benefits; through reflective coach-athlete dialogue that produces a profile the athlete has a raised awareness of their own development, while the coach has an opportunity to understand the athlete's viewpoint. In this study, we explored how coaches and players perceived the development features of an elite academy footballer and the contexts in which these features are revealed, in order to develop a player profile to be used for mentoring players. Using a Delphi polling technique, coaches and players experienced a number of 'rounds' of expressing their opinions regarding player development contexts and features, ultimately reduced into a consensus. Players and coaches had differing priorities on the key contexts of player development. These contexts, when they reflect the consensus between players and coaches were heavily dominated by ability within the game and training. Personal, social, school, and lifestyle contexts featured less prominently. Although 'discipline' was frequently mentioned as an important player development feature, coaches and players disagreed on the importance of 'training'.

A holistic perspective on career development in UK female soccer players: A negative case analysis

“…By being given permission to miss training and games, or facing no sanctions for missing these voluntarily, high-level players placed less value on leading a disciplined soccer lifestyle. This finding is stark given the widely held notion of lifestyle discipline being a determinant of talent development in soccer (e.g., Morley et al 2014). As a result, players would focus more on enjoying a 'normal' mid-late adolescent teenage life of socialising with friends.…”

“…Initially we focussed this review on studies that demonstrated positive cases of talent development in soccer (e.g., Gledhill & Harwood, 2014;Holt & Dunn, 2004) or factors considered important for talent development in soccer (e.g., Mills et al 2012;Morley et al 2014). This was followed by a broader consideration of wider literature associated with developmental considerations presented through the grounded theory, such as; learning (e.g., Eisenkopf, 2010), self-regulation (e.g., Toering et al 2009), role strain (e.g., Goldberg & Chandler, 1991), career transitions (e.g., Stambulova et al 2012) and dual career experiences (e.g., .…”

“…This has included identifying psychosocial assets of soccer players who are considered elite in their domain (e.g., Gledhill & Harwood, 2014;Holt & Dunn, 2004;Van Yperen, 2009) and examining the views of those tasked with developing male soccer players to an elite level (e.g., Morgan, McKenna, & Nicholls, 2014) in order to outline personal resources that will facilitate normative career transitions in soccer. Frequently, literature has provided confirmatory findings that support the notion of important player-level assets (e.g., resilience, self-regulation) and/or socio-environmental factors (e.g., parental, peer or sibling support) that may positively influence talent development.…”

Psychosocial factors associated with talent development in football: A systematic review

“…In addition to motivation, coaches creating an appropriate level of challenge for their players, or allowing players to create this for each other during game play, can enhance resilience, increase player self-awareness, instigate the use of social support seeking behaviours, and initiate problem-focussed coping behaviours (e.g., Collins & MacNamara, 2012). Each of these qualities is identified in football literature as desired or requisite for talent development (e.g., Holt & Dunn, 2004;Holt & Mitchell, 2006;Mills et al, 2012;Morley et al, 2014;Van Yperen, 2009). Engagement in problem-focussed coping behaviours and seeking social support differentiated between Dutch players who made it to an elite level and those that did not (Van Yperen, 2009), whilst a lack of coping strategies was reported by players on the verge of being released from English professional football (Holt & Mitchell, 2006).…”

“…progression. This is because it is the factor most valued by coaches when deciding whether a player should progress at a football club, such as from academy to senior team (e.g., Morley, Morgan, Nicholls & McKenna, 2014).…”