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Ensuring satisfaction in rural youth soccer: The consequences of age-unbalanced teams, and suggested remedies
Christian Fischer
International Sports Studies 45 No. 1 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.30819/iss.45-1.06 pp: 59-73 2023-09-14
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association football; match analysis; adolescents; countryside; sport abandonment
Cite: APA BibTeX
Fischer, C. (2023). Ensuring satisfaction in rural youth soccer: The consequences of age-unbalanced teams, and suggested remedies. International Sports Studies, 45 (1), 59-73. doi:10.30819/iss.45-1.06
@article{Fischer_2023,
doi = {10.30819/iss.45-1.06},
url = {https://doi.org/10.30819/iss.45-1.06},
year = 2023,
publisher = {Logos Verlag Berlin},
volume = {45},
number = {1},
pages = {59-73},
author = {Christian Fischer},
title = {Ensuring satisfaction in rural youth soccer: The consequences of age-unbalanced teams, and suggested remedies},
journal = {International Sports Studies}
}
Abstract
In rural areas, the formation of competitive youth soccer teams has become increasingly
difficult due to declining numbers. Often, sport clubs are forced to pool children and
adolescents into multi-age teams and must play with fewer (substitute) players than their
opponents. This study quantifies the effects of average team age and size differences on
match outcomes as measured by goal difference. Regression analyses were conducted
using data from 82 matches of a rural recreational male youth soccer team (U-13 to U-
16) in northern Italy. Results show that teams’ average age differences begin to significantly
affect match outcomes at a threshold of 90 days onwards. The effect was about one
additional goal per 45 days of a team age difference. The influence of unequal substitute
numbers depended on team age differences but averaged approximately 0.5 goals per
additional substitute. The home-field effect was not significant. Based on the estimates,
match outcomes corrected for differences in average team age and size were calculated.
It is suggested that communicating corrected match outcomes might help reduce player
frustrations, which could impact activity abandonment and stabilise countryside communities.
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