SPORTS CAREER DEVELOPMENT AMONG YOUNG BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS
Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the sports career development of young football players. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were employed to examine sport career development of 30 Brazilian football players in different phases of career development (experimentation; specialization; and investment). The interview guide was based on the five domains (athletic, psychological, psychosocial, academic and financial) of a Developmental and Holistic Perspective on Athletic Career Development. Qualitative content analysis of the experimentation phase athletes revealed nine higher orders in relation to the four domains. Experimentation athletes showed a preference for football over other sports and other activities (such as school studies); for athletes in specialization phase it can be noticed a preference for football practice on field instead of other activities; in the transition from specialization to athletic investment, athletes reported having difficulties in adapting to the demands of training and high-performance competitions. In conclusion, this research showed the importance of planning for sports formation that addresses the excellence of the subject as a whole and not only the athletic emphasis, preventing developmental problems as early specialization.
