Analysis of the Participation on the Game of Footballers in Formative Stages. Effect on the Regulatory Configuration in the Different Age Categories

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze the participation of young footballers, through the analysis of game actions (i.e. pass, dribbling and shooting) in different age category (i.e. U10, U12, U14, U16 and U19). 186 football players, with ages between eight and 19 years participated in this study. They were distributed in three federated clubs. In each age category participated 3 teams, one from each club, being a total of 15 teams. 4,409 actions (passes, dribbling and shoots), corresponding to a total of 30 matches, analyzing the total of actions. To collect the data it was used the systematic observational to analyze the number of game actions. Among the results obtained, the U12 category shows significantly higher values, in terms of the total number of actions, passes and shootings, than the rest of categories (p <.001). On the other hand, the U14 category shows significantly lower values in all actions with respect to the U12 category (p <.001). These findings reveal the lower participation in younger footballers in the U10 category (Football -8 played in 65 x 45 m) and the detriment of the young player's participation after the step of the U12 category (Football -7 played in 65 x 45 m) to the U14 category (Football-11 played in 90 x 65 m).