David T. Hendry

TL;DR: There was no evidence that play during childhood was positively related to more SDI, and secondary analysis showed that when controlling for years in soccer, years in the UK Academy system were negatively related to global indices of self-determined motivation (SDI) and positive related to controlled motivation for the oldest players.

TL;DR: In this article, a mixed retrospective and prospective study was conducted whereby youth academy soccer players in the UK completed demographic and practice history questionnaires at Time 1 (T1, n = 102; 13-15'yr) and T2 (for those retained on a professional contract at ∼17'yr; n = 26'yr, termed Professional-youth) to evaluate the relative importance of developmental soccer activities engaged in during childhood and adolescence and their relationships with attainment of youth and adult professional status.

TL;DR: Within groups of youth elite athletes, domain-specific play in childhood, and to a lesser degree practice, were generally not good discriminators of specific-skills and the implications for talent development models and purported links between play and creativity are considered.

TL;DR: Coaches are advised to closely monitor the development of pacing behavior during adolescence as well as the underlying factors including physical maturation (meta-) cognitive development and the motivation of young athletes, which could be aided by providing training in which the task, individual, and environment are manipulated.

TL;DR: Differences in SDM as a function of age and skill point toward the dynamic nature of these motivations over time, likely a result of proximity to external rewards related to professional status.