A multifactorial comparison of Australian youth soccer players’ performance characteristics

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the performance characteristics that discriminate Australian youth soccer players according to their academy status. A total of 165 youth soccer players participated in this study and were sub-divided into either an early adolescence ( n = 92, age = 13.0 ± 0.6 years) or mid-adolescence ( n = 73 age = 14.8 ± 0.6 years) group. Players completed multifactorial assessments of anthropometry, motor competence, physical fitness, decision-making and psychological traits. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Multivariate analysis of variance identified dynamic balancing ability (both age groups), object manipulation (mid-adolescence), lateral jumping ability (both age groups), linear speed over 5 m (both age groups), change of direction skill (mid-adolescence), intermittent aerobic endurance (mid-adolescence) and total response time on a decision-making assessment (early adolescence) to discriminate academy status. Interestingly, a binomial logistical regression showed that a 0.1 s decrease in sprint time (i.e. running faster) increased the odds of a player belonging to a tier one academy by 19% and 47% for early and mid-adolescent players, respectively. Overall, performance in the motor competence and physical fitness assessments were in favour of the tier one academy players. These findings are indicative of a potential selection bias in the Australian talent pool or a training effect whereby tier one academy programmes emphasise the development of physical attributes. However, future research is required to further substantiate this in a larger sample of youth soccer players from other playing regions within Australia.

Longitudinal Physical Development of Future Professional Male Soccer Players: Implications for Talent Identification and Development?

“…A major focus of talent identification and development research in football has been on establishing whether, and if so which, physical characteristics may be associated with success, possibly due to the importance of physical attributes to excellence in match-play (Stolen et al, 2005 ; Faude et al, 2012 ). Based on a range of physical characteristics (such as stature, body mass, body composition, speed, agility, vertical jumping, power, repeated sprint ability, and endurance), researchers have differentiated more successful elite youth football players from those who were less successful (e.g., retained vs. released from an academy) at multiple age groups from U9-U21 (Visscher et al, 2006 ; Gil et al, 2007 , 2014 ; Gravina et al, 2008 ; Lago-Penas et al, 2011 , 2014 ; Huijgen et al, 2014 ; Deprez et al, 2015 ; Honer and Votteler, 2016 ; Bennett et al, 2019 ; Castillo et al, 2019 ; Patel et al, 2020 ). However, such studies are typically cross-sectional, and can only provide information on current, rather than future, accomplishments (Abbott and Collins, 2002 ; le Gall et al, 2010 ).…”

Decision-making assessments in youth team invasion game athletes: A systematic scoping review

“…While some laboratory tasks enabled large sample sizes, 11,12,48 this was largely facilitated via the implementation of specific technology to do so, namely the recording of video-based decision-making moments on iPads. While these studies were able to recruit a large sample, they simplified the action component of the decision-making process to involve pressing available options on a touch screen, effectively removing the sport-specific action component within their task.…”

“…Several such examples are the occluded soccer video clips first used by Vaeyens et al, 80,81 which were later used by Bennett et al' 12,51 and then again by O'Brien-Smith et al'. 11 These articles constitute 11% (n = 5) of all research studies included in this review.…”

“…6 However, lately there has been a vast increase in studies adopting a multifactorial perspective, 7–10 some of which have also included measures of decision-making skill alongside other components of performance. 11,12 While the inclusion of decision-making assessments to provide a more holistic picture of team invasion game performance seems logical, there is limited evidence to support its inclusion in multifactorial assessment batteries in youth team invasion-game athletes. Nonetheless, in volleyball – not a team invasion game – age-related differences in decision-making skill exist between younger and older youth players.…”

The reliability and validity of mobalytics proving ground as a perceptual-motor skill assessment for esports

“…Studies within other expertise domains such as sport provide an insight into the assessment of perceptual-motor skill. [7][8][9][10] Typically, assessments involve players verbalising, writing, or executing the most appropriate response after viewing video footage of simulated match-based situations. [11][12][13][14] Evidence from studies on perceptual-motor expertise in sport suggest that experts or players at higher competition levels can better perceive and respond to relevant environmental cues, revealing greater response accuracy and faster response times when compared with their non-expert or lower-level counterparts.…”