McEwan Gary P, Unnithan Viswanath B, Carter Mark, Dugdale James H, Datson Naomi
Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
Division of Sport and Exercise, University of the West of Scotland, Glasgow, UK.
Sci Med Footb. 2024 Sep 18:1-9. doi: 10.1080/24733938.2024.2404920.
The question of how best to identify and develop youth soccer players has received considerable attention from the scientific community. Existing literature has, however, largely focused on male players, with comparatively little exploration of the specific approaches employed within women's soccer. Accordingly, we sought to investigate the key factors deemed important by elite women's soccer clubs concerning the: 1) identification of potential talent; 2) development of players within the player pathway; and 3) selection of players for the next age group or senior team. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with 11 key representatives from seven elite women's soccer clubs. Clubs were purposefully sampled to include the highest performing teams (38 domestic titles and 10 UEFA Women's Champions League titles) from five European nations (Spain, France, Sweden, Germany, and Italy). Data were analysed using thematic content analysis, resulting in six higher-order themes: 1) prioritising local talent; 2) recruitment from mixed grassroots leagues; 3) creating challenging developmental environments; 4) ensuring player wellbeing; 5) patience in decision-making; and 6) facilitating the youth-to-senior transition through a top-down approach. A total of 17 lower-order themes were subsequently identified. The present study offers novel insights of key strategies deemed important by some of the most successful women's clubs in top-performing European nations. Future research examining the efficacy of such approaches could help inform the development of evidence-based practices for nurturing the next generation of elite female players.
如何最好地识别和培养青少年足球运动员这一问题已受到科学界的广泛关注。然而，现有文献主要聚焦于男性球员，对女子足球所采用的具体方法探索相对较少。因此，我们试图调查欧洲顶级女子足球俱乐部认为重要的关键因素，这些因素涉及：1）潜在人才的识别；2）球员在培养路径中的发展；3）为下一年龄组或成年队选拔球员。通过对来自7家顶级女子足球俱乐部的11名关键代表进行半结构化访谈来收集数据。俱乐部经过有目的抽样，纳入了来自五个欧洲国家（西班牙、法国、瑞典、德国和意大利）表现最佳的球队（获得38个国内冠军和10个欧洲女子冠军联赛冠军）。使用主题内容分析法对数据进行分析，得出六个高阶主题：1）优先考虑本土人才；2）从混合基层联赛招募球员；3）创造具有挑战性的发展环境；4）确保球员福祉；5）决策要有耐心；6）通过自上而下的方法促进从青年队到成年队的过渡。随后共确定了17个低阶主题。本研究为欧洲顶级国家一些最成功的女子俱乐部认为重要的关键策略提供了新颖见解。未来研究此类方法的有效性，有助于为培养下一代精英女球员制定循证实践提供参考。
