The modern-day landscape of Olympic and Professional sport is arguably more competitive than ever. One consequence of this is the increased focus on identifying and developing early athletic talent. In this paper, we highlight key challenges associated with talent (athlete) identification and development and propose possible solutions that could be considered by research and practice. The first challenge focuses upon clarifying the purposes of talent identification initiatives such as defining what talent is and how its meaning might evolve over time. Challenge two centres on ways to best identify, select and develop talent, including issues with different approaches to identification, the need to understand the impact of development and the need to have appropriate resourcing in the system to support continued development of knowledge. Finally, we discuss two emerging challenges in relation to the ‘healthiness’ of talent identification and developments that will have important impact on talent identification and development systems. The first examines whether a talent identification and development system be is ‘healthy’ for athletes while the second focuses on how sport stakeholders could discourage the apparent trend towards early specialization in youth sport settings. Whilst this paper discusses the research in relation to these challenges, we propose multiple possible solutions that researchers and practitioners could consider for optimising their approach to talent identification and development. In summary, talent is a complex and largely misunderstood phenomenon lacking robust research evidence, and given concerns that it is potentially unhealthy, talent identification and selection at younger ages is not recommended.

/pdf/challenges-and-possible-solutions-to-optimizing-talent-4zxxt1b83n.pdf

Challenges and [Possible] Solutions to Optimizing Talent Identification and Development in Sport.

The purpose of this study is not only to establish whether the relative age effect (RAE) exists in male international rugby union players, but also to investigate the impact of sociocultural influences (i.e., northern and southern hemispheres) and playing position (i.e., backs, forwards, and scrum-halves). The birth date and the playing position of 7144 senior male professional rugby players included in the rosters of the season 2020–2021 were collected from the top 10 nations of the World Rugby rankings (i.e., Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales). Data were analyzed using a chi-square goodness-of-fit test to compare the observed and expected birth quarter (Q) distributions. Results showed that relatively older players were overrepresented in all the sample (p < 0.001; Q1 = 28.8% vs. Q4 = 20.3%). In players competing in both hemispheres, the RAE was weak despite a more pronounced RAE emerging for southern players. In addition, the RAE was present in backs and forwards, but inconsistent for scrum-halves. In general, the data suggest that relatively older players may be more likely to reach expertise at senior levels than their later-born peers, and that the effect was consistent in different sociocultural contexts as well as in backs and forwards.

/pdf/the-influence-of-contextual-factors-on-the-relative-age-ppgcu7r3.pdf

The Influence of Contextual Factors on the Relative Age Effect in Male International Rugby Union: The Impact of Sociocultural Influences and Playing Position

Relative age effects (RAEs) within sports refer to the overrepresentation of athletes born earlier in the selection year and the underrepresentation of those born later in the selection year. Research examining RAEs in women’s and girls’ rugby union remains limited in comparison to the male literature, whilst the impacts of RAEs on the youth–senior transition are yet to be explored in a female sport context. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine RAEs during entry into the women’s and girls’ premiership and international rugby union pathways in England, as well as to compare them to their respective senior cohort (n = 1367): (a) U18 England Rugby Centre of Excellence Player (n = 325) vs. Senior Premiership Player (n = 868), and (b) U18 England Player (n = 49) vs. Senior England Player (n = 125). Chi-square (χ2) analyses compared birth quarter (BQ) distributions against expected distributions. The findings revealed no significant difference in BQ distributions at either youth or senior levels, as well as no significant differences in the BQ distributions of those who were likely to transition from youth to senior levels (all p > 0.05). Importantly, though, descriptive statistics showed a skewed birthdate distribution in both U18 England Rugby Centre of Excellence Player (BQ1 = 30% vs. BQ4 = 20%) and U18 England Player cohorts (BQ1 = 33% vs. BQ4 = 18%). We highlight the gender-specific mechanisms that potentially explain the variations between male and female RAEs in rugby union, including developmental differences, sport popularity, and sociocultural norms. We also warn against a ‘copy and paste’ template from the male provision to ensure the recent growth of female rugby union does not fall victim to the same RAEs in the future.

Disentangling Gender and Relative Age Effects in Women’s and Girls’ Rugby Union

This research aims to produce a website-based talent identification scoring product for athletics, as a tool to process and analyze the talent test data for the children aged 13-15 years old in athletics. This study was a research and development (R&D) and the methods were based on the reference to the borg and gall research steps that had been simplified by the Puslitjaknov 2008 team. The research population and sample were the athletic coaching students at Athletics UKM UNY (Athletics Students Club of UNY). The research instrument was a questionnaire and an evaluation sheet in the form of a google form. The results of the data were analyzed by descriptive quantitative and qualitative analysis. The results show that the website-based athletics identification talent scoring is appropriate to be used in identifying, differentiating the potential and talent of the children aged 13-15 years old in athletics. These results are gained from: a) material expert validation of 94.23% which means "Good/Decent", b) media expert validation of 96.15% which means "Good/Decent", c) small group trial of 94.68% which means "Good/Decent" and 97.08% in the large group trial are included in the "Good/Decent" category. Hence, it can be concluded that this product is good/appropriate to use in distinguishing the potential and talent of the children aged 13-15 years old in athletics.

Development of Website-Based Scoring Talent Identification for Athletics

Tüm spor dallarında, elit sporcular ve olimpiyat seviyesinde sporcular yetiştirebilmenin en önemli basamaklarından biri yeteneğin keşfedilmesidir. Geçmişten günümüze yetenek seçimi ile ilgili çok sayıda araştırma yapılmıştır. Bu araştırmaların bir kısmı yetenek seçimini daha iyi ve isabetli şekilde yapabilmeyi sağlayacak model tasarımları üzerinde dururken, bir kısmı yeteneği belirleyen faktörleri, bir kısmı yeteneğin gelişimine yönelik basamakları ve diğer birçok konuyu tartışmaktadır. Uzun yıllardır incelenen ve geliştirilen yetenek seçimi modelleri üzerine yeni modeller de tasarlanmaya başlanmıştır. Bu derlemenin amacı 2020 yılı sonrasında yetenek seçimi üzerinde çalışılan güncel konuları bazı ana başlıklar altında sunmaktır. Bu derlemenin yetenek seçimi alanında araştırmalar yapan bilim insanlarına, antrenörlere, scoutlara, spor kulüplerine ve spor alanında çalışan tüm bireylere, alandaki en güncel durumu özetlemesi hedeflenmiştir.

/pdf/2020-sonrasi-sporda-yetenek-seciminde-ulasilan-nokta-ve-26r6t1ur.pdf

2020 sonrasi sporda yetenek seçi̇mi̇nde ulaşilan nokta ve temel tartişmalar

‘Wide and Emergent – Narrow and Focussed’ : A Dual-Pathway Approach to Talent Identification and Development in England Rugby Union

A common practice in youth rugby union is to group players into (bi)annual-age categories using fixed cut-off dates. The implications are an over-representation of players born at the start of the cut-off date and the under-representation of players born towards the end of the cut-off date, which are termed relative age effects (RAEs). Due to the increasing studies exploring RAEs in rugby union, the aim of this chapter was to synthesise the existing literature to outline the mechanisms that are responsible within a sport-specific context. As such, this chapter lucidly explores (a) RAEs in male rugby union, (b) youth to senior level transitions in male rugby union, (c) RAEs in female rugby union, (d) potential RAE solutions in rugby union, and (e) future research directions. In summary, RAEs appear prevalent throughout both male and female rugby union across the globe. Further, the interaction between age, competition level, nationality, and playing position can influence the extent to which RAEs are pronounced. Finally, it appears inconsistencies arise when exploring the youth to senior level transition, including reversal effects and knock-on effects. Recommendations for future research include (a) further examination of female RAEs and participation trends, (b) qualitative studies exploring developmental trajectories, and (c) developing, implementing, and evaluating possible RAE solutions.

Relative age effects in rugby union : A narrative review

Received: 16.04.2021 Accepted: 11.10.2021 Online: 24.03.2022 Rule changes in sport are relatively common. They are typically instigated in response to concerns around player safety (e.g., tackle height in rugby), game flow and entertainment (e.g., shot clock in basketball), or to facilitate talent development processes (e.g., reduced team size in junior football). The purpose of this study was to monitor the impact of a modified scoring system created by the Rugby Football Union as a vehicle to shape desired cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes in a talent development setting. We asked players to describe their learning experiences of the scoring system preceding competition, their approach to the scoring system, and its impact on their decision-making. Key performance indicators (Total Carries, Total Points & Points Per Carry) were collected to monitor player effectiveness across three competitive games. Semi-structured interviews and psychometric scales were used to gain insight into the players learning experiences, feelings, decision making and declarative knowledge. Our findings indicated that players learning experiences affected how well-prepared players felt to perform (affective); the acquisition and use of task-specific declarative knowledge (cognitive); and the effectiveness of players carrying the ball into contact (behavioural).

/pdf/the-impact-of-a-player-scoring-system-on-cognitive-affective-2coi9coi.pdf

The impact of a player scoring system on cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes of players in a talent identification and development environment

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Papers

‘Wide and Emergent – Narrow and Focussed’ : A Dual-Pathway Approach to Talent Identification and Development in England Rugby Union

Relative age effects in rugby union : A narrative review

The impact of a player scoring system on cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes of players in a talent identification and development environment

Disentangling Gender and Relative Age Effects in Women’s and Girls’ Rugby Union