Narratives of swiss football players about talent - and positive youth development: The role of social agents and agency.

Abstract

Introduction Recent calls emphasize integrating the literature on positive youth development (PYD) and talent development (e.g. Holt & McDonough, 2024). Both highlight the critical role of proximal social agents within the family (parents, siblings) and the sport subsystem (coaches, peers; Dorsch et al., 2022) while advocating for relational-developmental systems (RDS; Overton, 2015) as a guiding theoretical framework. Central to this framework is the shift from static, one-size-fits-all approaches to a dynamic, idiographic perspective where intertwined relationships between athletes and their social environments influence each other over time. Despite this shift, analyses applying such frameworks in football remain scarce (Verbeek et al., 2023). Through the RDS lens, this study aims to explore the developmental pathways of football athletes by reconstructing how they were shaped by—and actively shaped—their environments from childhood to early adulthood. Specifically, it examines how dynamic interactions with social agents facilitated or hindered their football career and PYD.

Methods This study builds on a longitudinal quantitative investigation that tracked 109 Swiss elite youth football players born in 1999 throughout their developmental journeys. To gain deeper understanding of individual developmental pathways, a qualitative narrative approach was adopted. While data collection is ongoing, semi-structured interviews, guided by a timelining approach, will be conducted with 20 players: 10 who transitioned to professional careers and 10 who opted out or dropped out. Interviews focus on athletes’ perceptions of their proximal social agents reflecting on significant experiences, key relationships, and perceived developmental outcomes. To facilitate further discussion, players will review and reflect on selected data from their earlier developmental assessments. Interviews will be analyzed using a narrative life story approach.

Results Preliminary findings will be presented, showcasing the diverse and individualized developmental pathways of swiss football players. These findings provide insights into how athletes perceive and navigate relationships with proximal social agents, such as parents, coaches, peers, and siblings, and how they actively shape their own careers. Emerging themes highlight the dynamic interplay between social support and personal agency in talent development. These insights aim to inform practical strategies for coaches, parents, and policymakers seeking to optimize talent development pathways in youth soccer.

References

Dorsch, T. E., Smith, A. L., Blazo, J. A., Coakley, J., Côté, J., Wagstaff, C. R. D., Warner, S., & King, M. Q. (2022). Toward an integrated understanding of the youth sport system. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 93(1), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2020.1810847

Holt, N. L., & McDonough, M. H. (2024). Positive youth development through sport (3rd ed.). International Studies in Physical Education and Youth Sport. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003395867

Overton, W. F. (2015). Processes, relations, and relational-developmental-systems. In W. F. Overton, P. C. M. Molenaar, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science: Theory and method (pp. 9–62). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy102

Verbeek, J., van der Steen, S., van Yperen, N. W., & Den Hartigh, R. J. R. (2023). What do we currently know about the development of talent? A systematic review in the soccer context. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2023.2283874