Young football player’s selection: There is a biological bias?
-
António J. Figueiredo [1] ; Hugo Sarmento [1] ; Eder Gonçalves [1] ; Marcelo Matta [2] ; Francisco Zacaron Werneck [2]
-
[1] Universidade de Coimbra
Universidade de Coimbra
Coimbra (Sé Nova), Portugal
-
[2] Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto
Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto
Brasil
-
- Localización: Actividad física y deporte: ciencia y profesión, ISSN 1578-2484, ISSN-e 2659-8930, Nº. 31, 2019, págs. 37-37
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
-
Resumen
There is a strong link between maturational development and growth and performance.
Organizing age-groups using the criteria of chronological age leads to a big difference in size, composition and performance, and adolescence is the period when these differences are more visible and the ages between 13 and 15 years old seems to be the most heterogeneous period. In the same age group, the subjects maturationally more advanced are in general heavier and taller than their peers of the same chronological age since childhood until the end of adolescence. However, adults don’t usually show the same differences when the same comparison is made. This situation can be explained by the catch-up phenomenon in the late maturers individuals.
The initial process to identify promising athletes is multidimensional and the literature in the area show that growth and maturation are two important concepts to better understand the identification, selection, and development processes of young athletes. Usually young players tend to be above the mean for height and mass and tend to be advanced in biological maturity status with increasing age during adolescence and in elite development programs. Worst results is been reported for body size and functional performance in young soccer players who were not selected to play in more demanding competitions or who dropped out from sport. The same trend was visible in academy players to whom were not proposed a professional contract. Despite of the lack of evidence that the anthropometrical, maturational and physical characteristics in the beginning of the process are not direct associated with the exceptional performance in the adulthood it is of interest to understand that these indicators may open the doors of academies and others training canters of excellence promoting better conditions and better coaching to the selected players. Recently were not found decennial differences in the entrance profile of soccer players in a club academy. This finding suggests that the sport (soccer) promoting strategies are being maintained despite of the increased demanding in the anthropometric characteristics of professional players and demands of the actual professional soccer competitions.
