YOUNG ATHLETES SHOULD NOT SPECIALISE UNTIL OLDER

Sir,

May I be allowed space to applaud the agreement between the National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS), the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health to unearth football talent in schools among children as young as six years old?

This is a step in the right direction, indeed. We have been saying over the years that unless we pay attention to the youth, our football will not improve. It is encouraging to see government making such endeavours.

Having said that, I must point out that in order for this programme to succeed, the focus should not only be on football. Instead, all the sports in which the country participates in should be included.

In our studies of football and sports in general, we are taught that in order to produce high-performing athletes, a country’s training system should be based on multilateral development for their young athletes (6-12 years of age). Specialisation should start between ages 13-15 years.

In a study in East Germany by D. Harre in 1982, a large group of 9 to 12-year-old athletes were divided into two groups. In one of the groups, the athletes were allowed to specialise in their chosen sport, while the other group was trained under multilateral development, under which specialisation began at ages 15 to 16 years of age.

In the first group, the players developed very quickly but a majority were burnt out and dropped out of their sport before the age of 18. In the second group, the athletes achieved their best performances at age 23 and were high-performing athletes for a long time.
Another study, this time in the former Soviet Union by M. Nargoni, presented similar findings, with a conclusion that specialisation should not begin until ages 15 to 16 years. Other conclusions were:

* Most of the best former Soviet athletes had a strong multilateral foundation.
* Most athletes started at the age of7 or 8 years. During the first few years, all participated in various sports such as soccer, cross-country skiing, running, skating, swimming and cycling. From ages 10 to 13, the children participated in sports such as gymnastics, rowing, and track and field.
* Specialisation started at ages 15 to 17, without neglecting other activities. Best performances were achieved after ages 5 to 8 years in the specialised sports.

* Athletes who specialised at an earlier age achieved their best performances at a junior age level. These performances were never duplicated when they became seniors (more than 18 years of age). Many retired before reaching senior levels. Only a few of the early specialised athletes managed to improve their performances at senior levels.

* Many top-class former Soviet athletes started to train in an organised (sport-specific) environment at the junior level (14-18 years). They had never been junior champions, or held national records, but at senior age many of them achieved national and international-class performances.
* Most of the athletes attributed their successes to the multilateral foundation built during their childhood and junior age.

In another example, former Eastern European sport scientist, Canadian Tudor Bompa (1999) says, “Specialisation and mastery are functionally based on multilateral development in any sport. The chance to obtain high performance lies with the individual who participates in plural anatomical and physiological development during the early stages of athletic training. Systematic training includes the skills of a chosen sport along with other skills and motor actions. Such an athlete should be fast like a sprinter, strong like a weightlifter, resistant like a distance runner and coordinated like a juggler. Many international-class athletes match this ideal.”

I have gone to such length to support my suggestion with examples because, like every Swazi, I would like to see this new initiative by the NFAS and its partners succeed in making Swaziland a First World sporting nation.
However, whether or not a training system (multilateral base or early specialisation) is put in place, the new programme will not succeed if run by NFAS-trained teachers, because the NFAS’ coaching courses are too shallow for coaching at this level, as the NFAS apparently believes that coaches for juniors should receive as little training as possible: no pedagogy, no physiology, no sport psychology, no planning.

If the programme is to succeed, I suggest that government liaises with UNISWA to revive the defunct Faculty of Physical Education, so that the teachers who will participate in the programme receive a two-year training for the primary school part of the programme and a four-year degree course for the high school part, during which specialisation would begin.
In conclusion, Mr Editor, I wish again to praise the FA and the two ministries mentioned in your article of Thursday, July 24, 2014, for their vision.

Fritz S. Seilbea

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: