Herrebrøden Henrik, Bjørndal Christian Thue
RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Front Sports Act Living. 2022 Apr 13;4:875530. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.875530. eCollection 2022.
Athlete participation in youth international competitions is often regarded as crucial to the attainment of future success. However, the link between participation and performance in sports at youth levels and senior levels is unclear at best. To understand this relationship better we conducted two studies of male football players. In Study 1, we examined adult performance at the upper levels of football using a factor analysis and identified the characteristics that define what we termed a "Super Elite" level, which is the highest level of participation. This outcome measure was used in Study 2 to explore further the link between youth international experience and athletes' Super Elite experience. Overall, our results indicated that youth international experience is a limited predictor of participation at the Super Elite level of football. Participation at the U21 level was the strongest, most consistent predictor of Super Elite level participation. U17 participation was found to be either an insignificant or a negative predictor of subsequent participation in international football. The effect of U19 participation on later participation was partly significant, but weaker than the effect of U21 participation, and depended on the national context and the playing positions of the athletes. When looking at the effect of different youth career types, careers involving U21 international experience were the strongest predictors of later careers as Super Elite athletes. National governing bodies that want to ensure success in talent identification and development should therefore consider focusing fewer resources on youth international competitions in age categories before adulthood. A total of 1,482 players who had national football team experience at either the U17, U19, U21, or senior levels were included in our studies.
运动员参与青少年国际比赛通常被视为取得未来成功的关键。然而，青少年阶段和成年阶段体育参与与表现之间的联系充其量也不明确。为了更好地理解这种关系，我们对男性足球运动员进行了两项研究。在研究1中，我们使用因素分析考察了足球顶级水平的成年球员表现，并确定了定义我们所称“超级精英”水平（即最高参与水平）的特征。这一结果指标在研究2中被用于进一步探究青少年国际比赛经历与运动员超级精英经历之间的联系。总体而言，我们的结果表明，青少年国际比赛经历对足球超级精英水平的参与是一个有限的预测指标。21岁以下年龄段的参与是超级精英水平参与最强、最一致的预测指标。17岁以下年龄段的参与被发现对后续参与国际足球比赛要么无显著影响，要么是负面预测指标。19岁以下年龄段参与对后期参与的影响部分显著，但弱于21岁以下年龄段参与的影响，并且取决于国家背景和运动员的比赛位置。在考察不同青少年职业生涯类型的影响时，涉及21岁以下国际比赛经历的职业生涯是后期成为超级精英运动员的最强预测指标。因此，想要确保在人才识别和培养方面取得成功的国家管理机构应考虑将更少的资源集中在成年前各年龄段的青少年国际比赛上。我们的研究共纳入了1482名曾在17岁以下、19岁以下、21岁以下或成年国家队层面有过经历的球员。
