Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes
IntroductionExtensive research has been carried out on Talent Development (TD) environments and an increasing amount of work shows the development of psychological characteristics as an important formal part of the academy experience. Importantly, however, very little attention has been paid to what...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.990617/full |
| _version_ | 1827989928595685376 |
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| author | Foivos Papastaikoudis Rosie Collins Rosie Collins Dave Collins Dave Collins |
| author_facet | Foivos Papastaikoudis Rosie Collins Rosie Collins Dave Collins Dave Collins |
| author_sort | Foivos Papastaikoudis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionExtensive research has been carried out on Talent Development (TD) environments and an increasing amount of work shows the development of psychological characteristics as an important formal part of the academy experience. Importantly, however, very little attention has been paid to what types of skills, if any, young players arrive with. In other words, there seems to be an assumption that young athletes arrive at the academy as a blank canvas.MethodsAs such, to investigate whether players' arrive with these psychological characteristics, we looked across a sample of young footballers' and rugby players' personal experiences (such as, family input, sporting background or personal challenges) prior joining the academy. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were analysed via thematic analysis.ResultsOur findings suggested that young athletes acquired an aptitude from general experiences, whereby they had already started to develop and deploy specific skills (such as, reflective practice, mental skills or seeking social support) to navigate particular challenges, prior to arriving at the academy.ConclusionImplications include the need for coaches and psychologists to assess young athletes' skillsets and pre-academy experiences upon arrival and use this as a starting point for developing tailored and individualised pathways that would enable them maximise their potential. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T00:28:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7877a508dd84908a49c89098f0add09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-9367 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T00:28:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7877a508dd84908a49c89098f0add092023-03-15T05:46:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672023-03-01510.3389/fspor.2023.990617990617Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletesFoivos Papastaikoudis0Rosie Collins1Rosie Collins2Dave Collins3Dave Collins4Department of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United KingdomGrey Matters Performance Ltd., London, United KingdomGrey Matters Performance Ltd., London, United KingdomMoray Hopuse School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomIntroductionExtensive research has been carried out on Talent Development (TD) environments and an increasing amount of work shows the development of psychological characteristics as an important formal part of the academy experience. Importantly, however, very little attention has been paid to what types of skills, if any, young players arrive with. In other words, there seems to be an assumption that young athletes arrive at the academy as a blank canvas.MethodsAs such, to investigate whether players' arrive with these psychological characteristics, we looked across a sample of young footballers' and rugby players' personal experiences (such as, family input, sporting background or personal challenges) prior joining the academy. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were analysed via thematic analysis.ResultsOur findings suggested that young athletes acquired an aptitude from general experiences, whereby they had already started to develop and deploy specific skills (such as, reflective practice, mental skills or seeking social support) to navigate particular challenges, prior to arriving at the academy.ConclusionImplications include the need for coaches and psychologists to assess young athletes' skillsets and pre-academy experiences upon arrival and use this as a starting point for developing tailored and individualised pathways that would enable them maximise their potential.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.990617/fulllose talent developmentcoping skillschallengepost-traumatic growthtalent pathwaysocial support |
| spellingShingle | Foivos Papastaikoudis Rosie Collins Rosie Collins Dave Collins Dave Collins Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes Frontiers in Sports and Active Living lose talent development coping skills challenge post-traumatic growth talent pathway social support |
| title | Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes |
| title_full | Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes |
| title_fullStr | Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes |
| title_short | Blank canvas or under construction? Examining the pre-academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes |
| title_sort | blank canvas or under construction examining the pre academy experiences of young developing professional team sports athletes |
| topic | lose talent development coping skills challenge post-traumatic growth talent pathway social support |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.990617/full |
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