0000000000089684
AUTHOR
Stig Arve Sæther
Relative age and perceptions of soccer specific skills among elite youth players in Norway
One common feature among the selected players in talent development programs are the well-known relative age effect (RAE), characterized by a skewed birth distribution among selected players with an over-representation of players born early in the selection year. The aim of the present study was to examine potential differences in soccer-specific skills between players selected for national talent program born in the first half of the year compared to the players born in the second half of the year. A total of 753 elite male U 14 (N = 363) and U 13 players (N = 390) from 16 of 18 soccer regions in Norway participated. The results showed players born early in the selection year considered th…
Norwegian Football Academy Players – Player´S Self-Assessed Skills, Stress and Coach-Athlete Relationship
Background: Being part of a football academy environment is associated with many advantages. Even so, academy players will also encounter a range of personal and interpersonal challenges that might affect their development, including stress and the coach-athlete relationship. Objective: This study’s purpose was to investigate how football academy players assessed their own skills compared to their teammates, and how this is associated with perceived stressors and their perceived relationship with their coach. Method: Participants (N= 122) represented 3 football academies (12-19 years old). Instruments used were CART-Q and a modified version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire. Results: …
A Qualitative Exploration of Collective Collapse in a Norwegian Qualifying Premier League Soccer Match—The Successful Team's Perspective
The current case study focused on a crucial match in the qualification for the Norwegian Premier League (Eliteserien). In the match, the participants of the study experienced a radical change in performance toward the end of the second half, from being behind by several goals to scoring 3 goals in 6 min and winning the qualifying game. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine the perceptions and reflections of players and coaches (sporting director) on what occurred within their own team and within the opposing team. The momentum shift in the opposition team can be described as a collective collapse. In the study, the theoretical collective collapse process model was used as a gui…
Talent development abroad. Young football players’ experiences and challenges on being recruited to English academies
The aim of the current study was to gain insight into talented Norwegian football players who made a club transfer to an English football academy, by investigating the players’ choice of academy, main challenges upon arrival, how they settled in both athletically and socially and their day-to-day life in the academy. Eight Norwegian players registered in an English professional football academy between the ages of 16 and 18 years were interviewed in retrospect. The challenges that the players met were mostly related to their efforts to develop as players, such as going into an extremely high-performance environment, which was quite different from what they perceived in their original club. …
The balancing act of combining school and football in the transition from a non-professional club into junior-elite academy football
Football players in the transition from junior-to-senior are usually involved in dual careers, combining school and football – a process that makes them dependent on a holistic talent-development journey. The aim of the current study was to describe how male junior elite football players (N=10; 5=living at home, 5=living away from home) perceived stressors in the transition from a non-professional club into a junior elite academy. Furthermore, the school transition (between lower- and upper-secondary school) and social transition (based on the school and football transitions) as a consequence of the football transition into academy football. Based on Wylleman and Lavallee’s (2004) and Stamb…
Talent Development Environments in Football: Comparing the Top-Five and Bottom-Five-Ranked Football Academies in Norway
Background: The aim of this study was to examine junior-elite football players’ perception of their talent development environment by comparing clubs ranked as the top-five and bottom-five in the 2017 Norwegian academy classification. Methods: In total, 92 male junior-elite football players recruited from under-19 teams from five professional football club academies took part in the study. The Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (TDEQ-5