Activities and Trajectories: Exploring Pathways of Athlete Development in Youth Soccer

Pathways towards expertise in soccer can differ due to the diverse activities and trajectories that players engage in throughout childhood and adolescence. As in many other sports, researchers and youth soccer stakeholders are currently faced with a myriad of issues surrounding the competing developmental pathways of early specialisation and early sampling. For these individuals, early specialisation can be summarised as the intensified participation in soccer and soccer-specific training to the exclusion of other activities, whereas early sampling could be described as participation in soccer as well as a variety of other sports at varying levels of competition and intensity. A large and continually growing body of research exists describing both the benefits and drawbacks of each contrasting developmental pathway. The purpose of the present chapter is to assess prominent works within this literature in an attempt to help those involved with youth soccer programming (e.g., athletes, parents, coaches, administrators) to make informed decisions around what optimal participation might look like. Research outlining how each trajectory relates to player’s overall personal development as well as their soccer specific development will also be discussed. Based on the evidence presented, considerations for researchers and practitioners will be offered.