Experienced academy soccer coaches' perspectives on players' skilfulness.

INTRODUCTION: Soccer coaches are critical to academies as they are central to identifying players with the potential to succeed (i.e., talent). Research suggests coaches perceive skill as determining players' potential. Regardless, researchers only broadly explored their views and quantified players' skill using objective measures, which is problematic as coaches still rely on their subjective intuition. A plausible reason is that skill assessments do not meet coaches' needs. OBJECTIVE: So,this study explored academy soccer coaches' perspectives on skilfulness. METHODS: Participants required a minimum B-level AFC/FA Pro Coaching Licence and five years' experience for inclusion. Australian soccer coaches (n = 4) and academy directors (n = 7) (Mage = 35.90 ± 8.36 years; Mexperience = 14 ± 7.02 years) participated in semi-structured interviews (Mtime = 50.73 ± 7.33). RESULTS: We analysed coaches' responses using reflexive thematic analysis, generating four themes describing skilful players as i) technically proficient, ii) adaptable, iii) effective decision-makers, and iv) influential to their team's success. We produced three themes on the situational and contextual nature of their views, perceiving skill through a v) developmental lens, relying on their vi) experiential knowledge, and their views were vii) context-specific. CONCLUSION: Additional research is needed to create a refined conceptual model for assessing soccer skilfulness.

Skill assessments in youth soccer: A scoping review.

Talent identification in youth soccer is a complex decision-making process that requires selectors to judge an individual's future potential. While there has been considerable research into the performance characteristics of talented players, investigators have limited consensus on the best approach to assess soccer skills. Most of the research explains why we should measure skill instead of how we go about assessing skill. Therefore, the current scoping review aimed to synthesize and analyse skill assessments in youth soccer. Four electronic databases (EBSCO, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched for relevant studies. Information regarding the sample characteristics and methodological design of the skill assessments were extracted, synthesised, and presented in a qualitative analysis. Overall, 226 skill assessments were used across the 93 included studies. Male players from different ages (U/7-U/23) and playing levels comprised most (89%) of the collective sample. The majority of assessments were performed in settings not representative of football match-play (68%), focused on offensive skills (99%), and included skill outcome measures (95%). The variability of assessments highlights some confusion about the best way to assess soccer skill, potentially limiting selectors ability to identify skilful players. Ultimately, this will impact the number of quality players within the talent pool.