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Purpose: To investigate the influence of recruitment age on retention and release across the development pathway and to explore the influence of anthropometric and physical characteristics on retention and release at different ages throughout the development pathway and the likelihood of obtaining a professional contract. Methods: Following receipt of ethics approval, a cross-sectional study tracking 4 cohorts of players over 5 years assessed 76 male youth football players (11–16 y) from an English football academy on 3 occasions annually in anthropometry, countermovement jump height, and linear (30 and 15 m) and multidirectional sprint time. Players were categorized based on their start and release date. Results: Starting early (ie, before U12) in an academy was a key indicator of obtaining a professional contract, representing 87% of the players signed. Bayesian regression models suggest that the majority of differences in physical characteristics between players that were released and retained are trivial, small, and/or uncertain. Players who attained a professional contract at 18 had slower 15- and 30-m sprint times at U13 to U15 (P > 0 =.87–.99), slower multidirectional sprint times at U14 (P > 0 =.99), and lower countermovement jump height at U13 to U16 (P > 0 =.88–.99) compared with players who did not gain a contract. Conclusion: Players recruited early have an increased likelihood of gaining a professional contract. Physical assessments lack utility when used in isolation as a talent-identification tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the role of fundamental movement skills (FMS) and perceived competence in the relationship between physical fitness and technical soccer skills in children. Seventy boys aged 7-12 years of age (Mean ± SD = 9 ± 2 years) who were regularly engaged in grassroots soccer participated in the present study. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (Ulrich, 2001. Test of gross motor development (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED) was used to assess FMS and the Perceived Physical Ability Scale for Children (Colella, Morano, Bortoli, & Robazza, 2008. A physical self-efficacy scale for children. Social Behavior and Personality: an International Journal, 36, 841–848) was used to assess perceived competence. Technical skill was determined from three tests reflecting dribbling, passing and shooting. Z-scores of each measure were summed, creating a composite measure of technical skill. Three measures of physical fitness were employed; 15m sprint time, standing long jump, and seated medicine ball (1kg) throw. Z-scores for each measure were summed creating a composite measure of physical fitness. The relationship between technical skill and FMS, fitness, perceived competence and age was examined via path analysis. Results indicated two significant mediated pathways: from physical fitness to technical skills via FMS, and from physical fitness to technical skills via perceived competence. Once these mediators had been accounted for, there was no direct link from physical fitness to technical skills. Coaches should therefore seek to avoid one-sided delivery of practice by not solely focusing on football type drills, and focusing on a range of activities which enhance a broad foundation of FMS and promote strategies to positively influence a child's perception of their own competence. Highlights Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are considered the foundation for physical activity and sport performance yet they tend to be overlooked, in favour of physical fitness, in the development of soccer talent. We examined mediating effects of FMS and perceived competence in the relationship between physical fitness and technical soccer skills in 70, 7-12 year old grassroots soccer players. We suggests there is no direct effect of physical fitness on technical skills in soccer but both FMS and perceived competence act as mediators of the physical fitness-technical skill relationship in children aged 7-12 years old. Coaches should therefore look to develop a broad base of FMS and a higher perception of competence to improve children's technical soccer skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2011 English Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) stipulates training volumes that could put elite youth players at high risk of non-functional overreaching. The aim of the study was to assess player perceptions of well-being and physical performance to these high training loads. Fourteen academy football players (mean ± SD: age 17 ± 1 years; stature 179 ± 6 cm; body mass 70.8 ± 8.6 kg, at pre-season) completed a perception of well-being questionnaire 1–4 times per week throughout each training block (pre-season, in-season 1, 2, 3). Physical performance tests were carried out at the end of each training block. Increases in training exposure (P < 0.05;= 0.52) and moderate to large deteriorations in perceptions of well-being (motivation, sleep quality, recovery, appetite, fatigue, stress, muscle sorenessP < 0.05;= 0.30–0.53) were evident as the season progressed. A moderate decrease in 30 m sprint performance (P < 0.05;= 0.48), a large improvement in Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test performance (P < 0.05;= 0.93) and small decreases in countermovement jump (P > 0.05;= 0.18) and arrowhead agility (P < 0.05;= 0.24) performance were evident as the season progressed. The present findings show an imbalance between stress and recovery in English elite youth players even when players experience lower training exposure than stipulated by the EPPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]