With advanced technological approaches like Prozone, Amisco and global positioning systems (GPS) becoming available in recent decades, match analysis has become the primary tool to examine physical and physiological demands during match play. Among youth team sports, male soccer players have received most attention by exercise practitioners and researchers. Yet, match analysis in youth soccer has not been as extensively studied as adult match play and there are a number of limitations in the research that has been conducted. Young players are not miniature adults, they possess lower aerobic and anaerobic capacity; limited glycogen stores; less well-developed thermoregulatory responses as well as a greater variation in maturation status. Furthermore, even at an elite level, most youth soccer match play is conducted on training grounds without suitable automated systems integral to professional stadia, thus reducing the ability to collect match data for this population. Therefore, special consideration needs to be taken when conducting a research study with youth players. The purpose of this paper is to review some of the issues and challenges in youth soccer while highlighting areas that would benefit from further exploration and to establish recommendations for coaches and/or researchers when undertaking match analysis. Furthermore, we also aim to highlight some of the key differences between youth and adult soccer players, and elite vs. non-elite youth players.
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