scholarly journals The developmental activities of skilled youth CONCACAF soccer players and the contribution of their development system

Author(s):  
Matthew Andrew ◽  
Giltan Z. Baptise ◽  
Matthew J. Reeves ◽  
Simon J. Roberts ◽  
Allistair P. McRobert ◽  
...  

Small/er soccer nations rely strongly on developing youth athletes into experts in adulthood due to financial, logistical, and coach education constraints. One factor that contributes to this expertise is activities engaged in during childhood. Researchers have described these activities by focusing on larger, well-developed countries that often have larger participation rates and higher competition levels than their smaller counterparts. Therefore, to provide more specific information to support talent development in smaller soccer nations, a survey of the youth development system of a small soccer nation was conducted, alongside recording the developmental activities of skilled and less-skilled soccer players within this system. Key stakeholders (e.g., technical director) completed a youth development system survey. Skilled soccer players ( n = 12) who were representing their country at U17 level and less-skilled players ( n = 13) that had never played for their country completed a Participation History Questionnaire. Skilled players engaged in significantly higher amounts of individual practice in both childhood and early adolescence compared to less-skilled players. Survey data indicated that the greater amounts of individual practice for the skilled players stemmed from a lack of finances, playing facilities, and a formal coach education program. Results from this study may inform future practices and processes in the youth development systems of small/er soccer nations and their national associations.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-27
Author(s):  
Craig A. Williams

In 2017, considerable attention has been paid by researchers on early sports specialization for youth athletes. Issues related to injury, burnout, and talent development to name a few have been debated, particularly when contrasted against other opposing youth development approaches, such as a multisport approach. The increasing professionalization of young athletes, a particular concern of this author, is coupled with the ensuing physical and mental pressures on these youngsters, as highlighted by the 2 highlighted publications in this commentary. Moreover, the financial costs to parents to support talented youngsters lead me to conclude that we must not treat them as “mini-adult athletes.” Trying to predict too far into the sporting future of a 9- or 10-year athlete can lead us to forgetting that they are just a 9 year, who typically wants to play, have fun, and be with their friends. Embarking on concentrated training programs, endless travel for tournaments, and an overemphasis on winning can be detrimental to participation rates as shown by recent data in the United States. Therefore, the challenge for researchers in elite youth sports is to ensure that practices we pursue with our young charges promote their health and well-being and that sports is for the benefit of the athlete and not the other way around.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 398-406
Author(s):  
Tarkington J. Newman ◽  
Fernando Santos ◽  
António Cardoso ◽  
Paulo Pereira

Coaches’ role in positive youth development (PYD) has been extensively studied around the globe. Coach education has been considered crucial in helping foster PYD outcomes, such as emotional regulation, goal setting, and leadership. Thus, several researchers have attempted to provide a comprehensive understanding about how experiential learning could be utilized within PYD-focused coach education programs. The purpose of this article was to provide insight on the implications for research and practice associated with the integration of experiential learning opportunities within PYD-focused coach education. The authors shed light on how the existent literature on experiential learning may help bridge the gap between the delivery of PYD-focused coach education programs and actual coaching practices. Implications for research and practice are discussed in order to provide insight on how PYD-focused coach education programs could be configured to effectively train coaches and enhance their ability to promote PYD outcomes, such as life skill development, among youth athletes across a range of contexts.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Imen Lamiri ◽  
Adel Boubaker

<p>This article explores the informational role of three essential modern financial markets actors such IFRS norms, the Big”4” and the financial analysts for a panel of emergent and developed countries during the period from 2001 to 2010. We hypothesis that these mechanisms help improving the quality of specific information incorporated into stock prices measured by the stock price synchronicity (SPS). The main result is that both financial analyst’s coverage and IFRS adoption's effects seem to be stronger for emerging than developed markets. The results also show a negative relationship between auditors’ opinion and coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>).</p>


2012 ◽  
pp. 341-369
Author(s):  
Ahmed Imran ◽  
Shirley Gregor

Least developed countries (LDCs), have been struggling to find a workable strategy to adopt information and communication technology (ICT) and e-government in their public sector organizations. Despite a number of high-level initiatives at national and international levels, the progress is still unsatisfactory in this area. Consequently, the countries are failing to keep pace in the global e-government race, further increasing the digital divide. This chapter reports on an exploratory study in a least developed country, Bangladesh, involving a series of focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders. A lack of knowledge and entrenched attitudes and mindsets are seen as the key underlying contributors to the lack of progress. The analysis of the relationships among the major barriers to progress led to a process model, which suggests a pathway for e-government adoption in an LDC such as Bangladesh. The chapter introduces important directions for the formulation of long-term strategies for the successful adoption of ICT in the public sector of LDCs and provides a basis for further theoretical development.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 (130) ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corliss Outley ◽  
Jason N. Bocarro ◽  
Chris T. Boleman

Author(s):  
Graham G. Williams ◽  
Áine MacNamara

There is compelling evidence supporting the critical role of high-quality coaching practice in supporting talented youth athletes through and beyond the talent pathway. The purpose of this study was to explore the coaching philosophies of ex-talent pathway athletes and how the meaning and purpose of their coaching in a talent pathway was influenced by their previous pathway experience. Nine participants were purposefully sampled based on their prior involvement as a youth athlete in a talent pathway and current involvement coaching in a talent pathway. The participants identified how their pathway experience influenced their coaching philosophy and applied coaching practice. Specifically, the participants described how their own youth sport experience influenced their current coaching practice through the formation of a developmental coaching philosophy, through their applied coaching practice orientated towards supporting individual development, and by using their previous pathway experience to support coaching success. These findings suggest that the philosophy underpinning talent pathway coaches’ practice was influenced by their own pathway experience, and the purpose of their practice was orientated to positively impact youth development for and beyond sport. Thus, talent pathways in sport have the capability to be recognised as positively influencing the developmental experiences of future coaching practitioners.


Author(s):  
Gerrit Schwiertz ◽  
Rainer Beurskens ◽  
Thomas Muehlbauer

Abstract Background The Lower (YBT-LQ) and Upper (YBT-UQ) Quarter Y Balance Test have been widely used for the assessment of dynamic balance and shoulder mobility/stability, respectively. However, investigations on the validity of the two tests in youth are lacking. Therefore, we performed two studies to determine discriminative validity of the YBT-LQ (study 1) and the YBT-UQ (study 2) in healthy youth. Methods Sixty-nine male soccer players (age: 14.4 ± 1.9 yrs) and 69 age-matched untrained male subjects (14.3 ± 1.6 yrs) participated in study 1 and 37 young swimmers (age: 12.3 ± 2.1 yrs) as well as 37 age−/sex-matched individuals (age: 12.5 ± 2.0 yrs) took part in study 2. Absolute (cm) and relative (% leg/arm length) maximal reach distances per reach direction and the composite score of the YBT-LQ/UQ were used as outcome measures. One-way analysis of variance and the receiver operator characteristic curve analysis (i.e., calculating the area under the curve [AUC]) were conducted to assess discriminative validity. Results Concerning the relative values, youth athletes showed significantly better YBT-LQ (study 1: p < 0.001, d = 0.86–1.21) and YBT-UQ (study 2: p < 0.001, d = 0.88–1.48) test performances compared to age- and sex-matched untrained subjects. Further, AUC-values indicated a chance of ≥74% (YBT-LQ) and ≥ 71% (YBT-UQ) to discriminate between youth athletes and controls. These findings were confirmed when using the absolute data for analysis. Conclusions According to our results, the YBT-LQ and the YBT-UQ seem to be useful test instruments to discriminate trained and untrained healthy youth performance for dynamic balance and shoulder mobility/stability, respectively.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 621-630
Author(s):  
Dany J MacDonald ◽  
Martin Camiré ◽  
Karl Erickson ◽  
Fernando Santos

The purpose of this study was to examine if a positive youth development (PYD) coach education course would (i) result in more positive developmental experiences perceived by athletes of participant coaches and (ii) increase the frequency of PYD-oriented behaviors exhibited by participant coaches. A total of 14 coaches and 270 athletes participated in the study. Eight coaches ( Mage = 38.0 years) overseeing 154 athletes ( Mage = 13.8 years) were in the control group, while six coaches ( Mage = 36.7 years) overseeing 116 athletes ( Mage = 13.9 years) were in the experimental group. The 10-week intervention combined a group-based PYD coach education course with individualized coach meetings. Seven practices per coach were observed and recorded at baseline ( n = 2), intervention ( n = 3), and follow-up ( n = 2). Athletes completed measures of coach-athlete relationships and sport experiences at the three time points. Results of the 2 × 3 (group × time) mixed ANOVAs demonstrated that coaches in the intervention group increased the frequency of their PYD-oriented behaviors during the intervention but returned to levels slightly above baseline at follow-up. Coaches in the control group did not change their behaviors over the same period. Athlete reports of their developmental experiences were high at all time points and did not change over time. Findings suggest PYD coach education has the potential to influence coach behavior, but further research is required to determine how to create sustained changes for coaches and increases in athletes’ perceived positive developmental experiences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Santos ◽  
Martin Camiré ◽  
Dany J. MacDonald ◽  
Henrique Campos ◽  
Manuel Conceição ◽  
...  

Positive youth development (PYD) is a framework that has been widely used within sport research to outline sport’s potential as a developmental context. Past research has indicated how coaches play important roles in facilitating PYD through sport and yet, PYD-related material remains largely absent from mainstream coach education courses (CEC). The purpose of the current study was to examine youth sport coaches’ perspective on PYD and its worth in mainstream coach education courses. The participants were twelve Portuguese youth field hockey coaches (one female and eleven males) who coached athletes between four and eighteen years of age. Findings indicated that coaches valued PYD within their coaching philosophy, but were also highly motivated by performance and improving their players’ motor skills. The participants deemed that CEC generally lack PYD-related material, adding that practical strategies informed by the PYD approach should be inherently part of CEC delivery. The findings have practical implications for coach educators, indicating a need and a desire on the part of coaches to have PYD-related content in mainstream CEC.


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