Carsten H. Larsen, Dorthee Alfermann, Kristoffer Henriksen, and Mette K. Christenson
The Big Idea
One easy way to understand the big idea of this research study into improved talent development in a sport such as soccer is to use an analogy. When the authors speak as they do of a holistic ecological approach to sporting talent development, it is hard not to think of growing a garden. If we want high yield in our garden we begin with the right seeds; we carefully prepare the soil and add fertiliser; we plant not helter-skelter but with care, all the while removing the weeds and pests; we then tend the garden over time; and with luck and some prayers to Ceres, the Roman god of agriculture, we reap what we sow.
Likewise, if we are developing young players for eventual harvesting, we would do well to create an environment for growth rooted in positive human development principles: respect for one another and for the game; responsible and self-aware attitudes; strong, hardy, tolerant weather-resistant stock; and finding plenty of light for cultivating friendships, community, gratitude, and honourable high performance.
Takeaways
- There is nothing easy about creating successful programs of player talent development for the professional games.
- But it appears that when dealing with youth player development in something like soccer, it is best to take into account the overall environment of a player’s life when designing our programs.
- Necessary is to create a world within the player youth development program that reflects and reinforces the social and psychological needs of life outside of the sport.
- The love of the game is enhanced when youth players recognize their playing life is integrated into the larger whole where commitment, focus, decision-making, self-awareness, collisions of duties, and team play reign.
- But the withering of that love of the game can occur if there are no handy professional role models, or if team cohesion and group dynamics are ignored.
- Withering is far less likely if youth players believe their lives truly matter to the club leadership. Time spent on youth player care and feeding is time well spent.
The Research
So the idea of a holistic ecological approach to talent development isn’t unlike cultivating a garden and working hard for high yield. In this study the authors are focused on the newish approach to developing elite soccer players. They are testing what is called an athletic talent development environment (ATDE). This dynamic system of coaching is composed of the athletes’ immediate surroundings, interrelations between these surroundings, the larger context of the surroundings, and the organisational culture of the sports club. This study is also the first one to look at team sports using this model since all other studies used individual sports.
The objectives of the study were: 1) to provide a holistic description of a successful ADTE in a select soccer club in Denmark; 2) to examine factors influencing the success of the environment; and 3) to analyse if and in what ways the features of ADTE are present in the Denmark club environment. These features are: 1) supportive training groups; 2) near-by role models; 3) wide support of training goals; 4) psychosocial skill support; 5) training allowing for diversification; 6) focus on long term development; 7) a coherent and strong organisational culture; and 8) integrations of efforts.
Here’s what the researchers did. They wanted to find out about successful talent development in pre-professional soccer. So they asked themselves why not find such a program and figure out what they do to be successful? They gained permission to do a case study of the AGF Soccer Club (Aarhus Gymnastikforening), one of the most successful soccer clubs in Denmark. It is part of the Elite Sports Academy Aarhus; its professional senior section plays in the Danish Premier League. The structure of the study was to use the eight ATDE categories as a measuring stick for evaluating a successful talent development environment.
The researchers focused on the U-17 team. The case study followed a moderate participant observation model where the principal investigator was both a trained physical education teacher and soccer player. He assisted the head coach on 21 days during the seven month long season. In this manner he was able to see the varied contexts of the players and coaches, including the entire environment of the club. He also conducted 15 individual open-ended interviews including players, coaches, managers, administrators, and professional alumni of the club. Finally, the club archives were studied for a larger context of the club’s performance over time.
The research team was able to produce a couple of text figures that represent what they call the “environment success” of AGF. The reader is encouraged to take a look at the model drawings. They say in two drawings what the actual embedded researcher needed many words to describe. But here in a few words and in summary is what the research team descriptively reported.
There was clear evidence that the AGF Soccer Club satisfied the majority of the eight ADTE characteristics. In this elite pre-professional program, there were four outcomes that were consistent with the existing literature on sport career transitions from developmental to mastery levels. First, there was a focus on player long-term education and development rather than on merely early success. The specialisation should come later in a player’s development, they reported. Second, there was strong and coherent organisational culture, clear vision and mission, and coherence between what people “say they did” and what they “actually did.” Third, the over-arching governing principle was a strong family feeling and the virtue of hard work. In fact, one ADG coach preferred recruiting a lad with slightly less talent but a strong work ethic to a very talented but lazy athlete. And fourth, the environment was based on cooperation, openness, and sharing knowledge. The players were coached to learn that player development meant a holistic development of competencies not just for soccer play, but for life success.
And yet the researchers also reported that there were some barriers for successful transition from youth play to becoming a professional player. The biggest omission was the absence of any significant professional role model interaction and/or communication with the youth players. It is likely that in the transition upwards, these AGF club players may experience “culture shock.” The professional department of AGF has little in common with the developmental levels thus leaving the younger players to figure out the changing culture on their own.
Another concern was in the area of team development and achievement. Clearly the players were learning much about team goals and processes, tactical knowledge, modern soccer principles (e.g. ball possession), defensive strength, and psychological momentum. But there was little attention paid to helping the players in U-17 understand their own team in particular over team development and achievement in general; in other words anonymous team knowledge trumped their knowledge of their own team.
In the end, however, the researchers did find that the winning ways of the AGF Soccer Club were largely due to their use of a holistic ecological approach to successful talent development. By teaching and coaching players as human beings first and as athletes second, there was an implicit effort to find an appropriate life balance at work and in play. And that’s how a garden grows.
