There is a strong link between maturational development
and growth and performance. Organising age groups
according to the criteria of chronological age leads to
a big difference in size, composition and performance,
and adolescence is the period when these differences
are more visible with the ages between 13 and 15 years
appearing to be the most heterogeneous period. In the
same age group, maturationally more advanced subjects
are generally heavier and taller than their peers of the
same chronological age from childhood to the end of
their adolescence. However, adults do not usually reveal
the same differences when the same comparison is
made. This situation can be explained by the catch up
phenomenon in late-maturing individuals.
The initial process for identifying promising athletes is
multidimensional and the literature in the area shows
that growth and maturation are two important concepts
allowing a better understanding of the identification,
selection and development processes of young athletes.
Young soccer players tend to be above the mean for
height and mass and tend to have an advanced biological
maturity status with increasing age during adolescence
and in elite development programmes. Worst results have
been reported for body size and functional performance
in young soccer players who were not selected to play
in more demanding competitions or who had dropped
out from sport. The same trend was visible in academy players who were not offered a professional contract.
Despite the lack of evidence that at the beginning of
the process the anthropometrical, maturational and
physical characteristics are not directly associated with
an exceptional performance in adulthood, it is of interest
to understand that these indicators may open the doors
of academies and other training centres of excellence
promoting better conditions and better coaching for
select players. Recently, decennial differences were not
found in the entrance profile of soccer players in a club
academy. This finding suggests that the sport (soccer)
promotional strategies are being maintained despite
the increased demandingness of professional players’
anthropometric characteristics and the demands of
actual professional soccer competitions.Med zrelostnim razvojem, rastjo in uspešnostjo obstaja
močna povezava. Oblikovanje starostnih skupin po
merilu kronološke starosti vodi v velike razlike v
velikosti, telesni zgradbi in uspešnosti, adolescenca
pa je obdobje, ko so te razlike vidnejše, pri čemer je
obdobje od 13 do 15 let najbolj heterogeno. V enaki
starostni skupini so zrelejši člani od otroštva do konca
adolescence na splošno težji in višji od svojih sovrstnikov
enake kronološke starosti. Vendar se pri odraslih pri
enaki primerjavi običajno ne pokažejo enake razlike. To
je mogoče razložiti s pojavom dohitevanja pri pozneje
zrelih posameznikih.
Začetek v postopku odkrivanja obetajočih športnikov
je večdimenzionalen, literatura s tega področja pa kaže,
da sta rast in zrelost dva pomembna koncepta za boljše
razumevanje procesov identifikacije, selekcije in razvoja
mladih športnikov. Običajno je višina in teža mladih
igralcev nad povprečjem, glede na starost pa je njihova
biološka zrelost višja v adolescenci ter pri programih
za razvoj vrhunskih športnikov. Najslabše rezultate
glede velikosti telesa in funkcionalne uspešnosti so
poročali pri mladih nogometaših, ki niso bili izbrani
za zahtevnejša tekmovanja ali so šport opustili. Enak
trend je bil opazen pri igralcih iz športnih šol, ki jim
niso bile ponujene profesionalne pogodbe. Kljub
pomanjkanju dokazov, da antropometrične, zrelostne in
telesne značilnosti na začetku procesa niso neposredno
povezane z izjemno uspešnostjo v odraslosti, je dobro
vedeti, da lahko ti kazalniki športnikom odprejo vrata
športnih šol in drugih odličnih vadbenih centrov, ki
promovirajo boljše pogoje in boljše treninge za izbrane
igralce. Zadnje raziskave niso pokazale večjih razlik v
vstopnem profilu nogometašev v klubski športni šoli.
Ta ugotovitev nakazuje, da so se strategije za promocijo
športa (nogometa) ohranile kljub vse večjim zahtevam
po antropometričnih značilnostih profesionalnih igralcev in potrebah na dejanskih profesionalnih
nogometnih tekmovanjih