Parents and Coaches Perceptions of English Professional Soccer Club’s Talent Identification Camps
Keywords:
talent identification, parents, coaches, perceptions, youth player migration, soccerAbstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of youth soccer parents and academy coaches involved in talent identification camps associated with professional Premier League soccer clubs in England. This manuscript is part of a wider project that previously investigated the perceptions of elite youth players who participated in soccer talent identification camps (Author, in press). Participants were six American soccer parents and four English Premier League academy soccer coaches. Qualitative data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and online Qualtrics surveys. Analytic induction techniques were used to analyze the data, and NVivo 11 Pro software was employed to manage and code the data. The data suggested that four major themes were apparent. Those themes were: (a) youth player migration challenges, (b) significant financial commitment, but it’s worth it, (c) logistical issues, and (d) academy player benchmark. It appears that there are both advantages and disadvantages of participation in talent identification camps from a parent and coach perspective.
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