An analysis of organizational structure and transition outcomes in the youth-to-senior professional soccer transition — Part one.
Over the following two articles, I will discuss a study conducted by Dr Robert Morris exploring the youth-to-senior transition in professional football. If you’d like to read the study in full you can do so here [an academic login is required].
The study critiques whether the demands, resources, and barriers associated with the youth to-senior sport transition in Stambulova’s (2003) model help explain transition outcomes. The study revolves around two professional football clubs and includes data from meeting minutes, websites, interviews (N = 17) with players, coaches, support staff, and parents, and e-mail communications. The club with the proactive program aligned with Stambulova’s model had better transition outcomes (e.g., player financial value, retention rates) and spent less on player assistance compared to the club with no transition program.
Part one of this series will describe Organisation A’s approach to supporting the youth-to-senior transitions and in particular, the demands, resources, and barriers experienced by the players. Unsurprisingly, part two will cover Organization B’s approach as well as summarising the findings (part two will be released on the 2nd of June).
Transition demands
Organization A was proactive in assessing the demands athletes may face during transition. During the youth program development, Organization A had meetings where attendees focused on assessing transition demands and what they could do to help athletes overcome them (see Table 1). An extract from the minutes read as follows:
After consulting with the players, and through personal experience of the coaches and management team, a list of problems the players may face when moving up to the first team has been drawn up. These stresses can include, but are not limited to, physical demands including the need to be quicker, stronger and have greater cardiovascular endurance, psychological demands including greater motivation, determination and drive, and working with new players who they see as ‘better’, and the need to impress others including new teammates, coaches, friends, and parents. (April 2008, p. 2)
Supporting the value of the list of demands, during an interview, one of the youth coaches suggested that the list was crucial, as it allowed the club to put appropriate resources in place to help their players:
When the new academy manager came in, we had a terrible youth setup; the amount of players we had getting through to the first team was extremely low. … We created a list of things that were important and could potentially hold some of the players back. This allowed us to support players better. … It’s our obligation to look after and support these players.
Finally, one of the coaches highlighted that an additional demand was the level and type of fan interaction a player has after he moves to the first team: “If the player gets a hard time from the fans straight away, they become disillusioned and struggle, but conversely the opposite can happen too, good support from fans can help the player.” This quote highlights the potential role fans have when athletes move to senior sport; they can help to create a supportive environment for players new to the first team.
Transition resources
Organization A was also proactive in helping athletes appreciate the resources that were available to them in transition (see Table 1). Organization A’s program brochure suggested that the resources their players could use to help with their transition. Specifically, it suggested players could use their
personal determination, motivation, and drive to be successful in the first team. You need to work hard, and listen to the advice given. Rely on, and listen to, your coaches, sport science staff, parents, and senior players. Above all, enjoy the experience, it only happens once!
In addition, Organization A educated parents on how they might help their sons become a better athlete. During a series of “parents’ nights,” coaches and sport science support staff educated parents on the potential difficulties their sons faced. Parents were also supported and educated on ways they could provide emotional assistance in a soccer context. A male parent suggested this support was helpful, saying,
The support given by the club was crucial to us as parents, as it gave us a better understanding of what our boy was going through. He came back from training [grumpy] on a number of occasions, but we sort of understood what he was going through and we let him deal with it in his own way. The club had told us to just try and be there for him, so we did that best we could.
This education and support was also implemented to staff throughout the whole youth system, with two coaches saying that they had been educated by transition “experts” (two sport psychologists with previous transition experience) who had discussed many factors that they did not even realize may influence performance. For example, one of the coaches suggested that he was unaware how much influence athletes’ backgrounds (e.g., parental setup) may have on their abilities to transition. Athletes were positive about these educational programs, suggesting that they allowed them to talk to supporters about how they were experiencing the transition, along with any difficulties. A player said,
Knowing that my parents had been through the education, and had some kind of understanding of the transition, it just made me feel more comfortable knowing I could talk to them about it. It wasn’t even the act of talking to them, it was knowing that they had that knowledge.
One player had spoken to his father about moving up to senior sport when he was struggling. He suggested that his father’s knowledge of some of the demands had meant they were able to have a conversation about the difficulties he was experiencing, which made him more relaxed and able to manage the barriers and demands:
I was really struggling at one point and I knew because my dad had some kind of knowledge of what was going on I could talk to him. I was still nervous in case he thought I was weak and couldn’t manage it, but I went and spoke to him, and we both talked through our thoughts and feelings and stuff and it definitely helped me relax and know that if I had problems the next time, [I could] go back and speak to Dad again.
Similarly, the players received educational support about what to expect in the first team. A player, who had recently moved up to the first team, said,
We are given support from the psychology guy, and he gives us, like, a realistic picture of what to expect. He doesn’t gloss it up, you know? He tells you it is gonna be hard work, but that we can use our parents, and coaches, and friends and stuff to help us, and moan at them if we need someone to moan at. I think that education really helped me, it really presented a realistic picture of what I needed to do, but also gave me ways to help myself too.
In addition to education for athletes, parents, and coaches, Organization A used a staggered entry system to support their athletes. Up to 6 months prior to permanently moving up, players trained once or twice a week with the senior team. This gradual introduction was introduced, as athletes had previously said they struggled to integrate with the senior players as they did not know them, and in some situations felt intimidated by them. A coach said,
We brought it in so that they were a bit more comfortable around the guys, and so that after summer they could hit the ground running, they knew the guys, and they weren’t going to be overawed in their presence or what they say to them. We are trying to get all those anxieties out of the road before they move permanently up to the first team.
One player said this approach had really helped him to become more integrated in the squad and understand how hard he would need to work:
I didn’t know any of the boys prior to moving up, and one day when I came in the gaffer [manager] said to me, ‘You’re training with the first team today.’ I hadn’t prepared for it, I knew nothing about what I was doing, but it was a great experience and it made me realize how hard I needed to work to get that good. It also made me more comfortable round those guys, just getting to know and chat to a couple of them, something I had never done before. I done it once or twice a week right up till I moved up, and there’s no doubt I became more relaxed and confident in the environment.
This quote highlights the potential value of using a staggered entry system; highlighting factors that players may appreciate is important when moving to senior sport as a result of such a system (e.g., hard work).
Transition barriers
Similar to transition demands and resources, Organization A was also proactive in appreciating there were a number of transition barriers (see Table 1). The interviews and player development brochures highlighted that a lack of preparation, both physically and mentally, and a lack of appropriate support could be barriers. A coach said,
We need to try and get the appropriate support in place, and that’s everyone, coaches, sport science boys, parents, the player, their friends. We all need to work together to create that support, but if they don’t have it, of course it becomes a barrier.
In addition, one of the players suggested that he had initially not followed the club’s advice to talk to others about how he was feeling and to train harder and longer:
The club gave me a training program, and I never followed it, and the club also told me to talk to people about how I was feeling. I done neither of those initially, and it became a bit of a drain on me, and it became an obstacle to me moving up to the first team.
This quote, in addition to highlighting the difficulties the athlete felt he was experiencing by not following the program, also highlighted another strength in the club’s approach to transition: providing support and encouragement throughout the process. Overall, Organization A demonstrated awareness of the demands, resources, and barriers Stambulova (2003) associated with transition and explicit actions related to these. For example, Organization A appeared to take a proactive approach to supporting their athletes through the transition (e.g., providing parental education programs).
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