Introduction: Football academies main function is to develop future elite players. According to the theory of deliberate practise (Ericsson et. Al 1993), there should be a direct connection between an athlete`s performance level and the amount of performed deliberate practise. The selected players get however advantages in their development process which increases the chance of becoming an elite performer, because of the high-level coaches and training facilities (Ashworth & Heyndels 2007). However, even among talented players there are differences between the players` both actually and self-assessed skill level. These differences could be a result of player background, training load and content, and coach feedback. The main aim of this study was to divide the players into two groups based on their assessment of their own skills (talented and very talented), and see in which degree the players differed to factors such as player background, training load and content, and coach feedback. Methods: The Norwegian academy players (n=119) representing 2 soccer academies (top-level clubs from premier league and league two) answered a questionnaire regarding their assessment of their own skills as opposed to the other players in their club. They were also answering questions regarding their load and content of their self-organised training, the degree of praise from their coaches, the number of matches played last season and when they started to play organised football. Results: Results showed that the very talented players, played more matches and got more praise from their coaches. Furthermore , these players both trained more on their own but also focused more on technical skills in their self-organised training, compared to the talented players, who assessed their skills to be on average or less. Discussion: These results indicate that there could be a connection between the effort/investment the players put in to their training and their performance level. Even so, this might however also reflect the well-known classical issue "what comes first - the hen or the egg"? It could be that the players, who get the most attention and feedback from the coaches, also invest more time and effort because of the confirmation of acknowledged skills. Would this indicate a selffulfilling prophecy, for the most skilled players in these academies?
© Copyright 2014 19th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Amsterdam, 2. - 5. July 2014. Veröffentlicht von VU University Amsterdam. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.