football – SEMS-journal

exercise is medicine

Should headers be banned in children’s and youth soccer?

A few months ago, a high school graduate contacted me with a request for an interview for her “Matura thesis”. The topic of her thesis was the (possible) ban on headers in children and adolescents in soccer. Shortly afterwards, the same question came up at the general assembly of the Society for Paediatric Sports Medicine (GPS): why are headers banned in youth soccer in England/US, but not in Germany and Switzerland? Reason enough to take a closer look at this topic and try to find evidence-based answers to this question.

elite sports recovery sports science

Recovery strategies for football players

Recovery from intense efforts and matches demands special consideration, and recent years have seen the development of multiple new modalities which promise faster and better recovery. The world of professional football has taken notice, especially due to the repetition of matches and reduction of number of days in between for the best teams playing in the Champions League. Abd-Elbasset Abaïdia presented at the #SportSuisse2018 conference for Grégory Dupont, who was on duty with the World Cup winner French National team.

elite sports sports and youth coaching maturation selection talent

The influence of familial factors on the development of young football players to elite level

The process by which young talents develop to become top-class players once they reach the age of maximum performance is influenced by numerous factors. Among the exogenous factors, the family plays a central role. In the context of a research project carried out in cooperation with the Swiss Football Association SFV, 159 former members of the national youth football team were interviewed retrospectively, among other things concerning their family circumstances. The study is interested in understanding two issues.