Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 4 | Page 20

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 4 APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 4 increased selection opportunities for relatively older and earlier maturing young male rugby league players in the UK (and fewer opportunities for the relatively younger and later maturing individuals). It is important to note that the RAE may occur because older boys are more likely to be advanced in maturity (as they are older). However, someone born in August could still be more mature than someone born in September (eg a late maturing boy born in September 2004 vs an early maturing boy born in August 2005). Although this research showed talent identification advantages for relatively older and earlier maturing boys at 13–15 years of age, a range of research studies have challenged these findings. Firstly, Till et al (2013) revealed that between 13 and 15 years of age, those who mature later generally ‘catch up’ and sometimes ‘overtake’ the early maturing players in physical performance. Secondly, large inter-individual variability exists in player development during academy programme involvement due to growth and maturation, and the training undertaken during this period (Till et al, 2015). Finally, and most interestingly, the research has shown that relatively younger and later maturing players have a greater attainment rate at the adult professional level in rugby league (Till et al, 2016). Simply, those relatively younger and later maturing players selected to a TIDS during adolescence have a greater chance of making it to a professional level than their relatively older and earlier maturing peers. In addition, research examining participation levels within youth rugby league has shown decreased participation of relatively younger players from 13 years and above (Cobley and Till, 2017). Overall, this highlights some key considerations for rugby league talent identification and development (and increasing participation). These include: • Talent identification to a rugby league scholarship programme occurs at or around the timing of maturity ( ~ 14 years of age). • There is large variability in the maturity status of rugby league players during this time. This can be a difference of ~ 3.5 years between the later and earlier maturing players within the under 14s age category. • There is a strong relationship between maturity status and physical qualities (ie strength, power, speed and size), which can affect rugby performance. 20 • Rugby league academies can only identify and recruit a maximum of 20 players to their scholarship programme at the under 15s age category (RFL, 2016). • Players may be (dis)advantaged in the identification to a scholarship programme based upon their relative age, maturity status, physical performance and the number of spaces available. • These opportunities usually favour the relatively older and earlier maturing player, but such factors may be a disadvantage for long-term career attainment (ie becoming a professional). • Identifying future potential from current performance is very difficult – especially during this key adolescent period. Leeds Rhinos RLFC TIDS Although these key considerations are prominent within rugby league academy TIDS, the challenge for practitioners is to implement strategies to overcome such problems. The following section provides an overview of the TIDS at Leeds Rhinos RLFC. Talent identification for scholarship Each year, Leeds Rhinos RLFC aims to recruit the maximum of 20 players to its under 15s scholarship programme. The challenge for the club’s Head of Youth Development, coaches and scouts is to identify the most appropriate 20 players from approximately 300 players within the region. Three key steps are involved in this process: 1. Competition observations – Players are observed in competition environments playing for their community club or school on multiple occasions (between three and eight times), in the under 14s age category. Subjective ratings are made by the club’s coaches and scouts on technical ability, game awareness, physical ability and psychological traits (including communication, resilience and control) within competition. Whilst players are allocated playing positions within their community clubs, observations are made irrespective of position. 2.  Community club visits to Leeds Rhinos RLFC – Each community club within the region is invited to attend Leeds Rhinos RLFC one or two times per year. These visits have four purposes: 1) to provide a developmental opportunity for all players where they can train with Leeds Rhinos coaches; 2) to provide coach and parent education about the Leeds Rhinos player development system; 3) for Leeds Rhinos staff to observe players in a different environment to their community club training and competition; and 4) to collect data on the players to inform talent identification decisions. The data collection testing includes measures of height, sitting height and body mass to estimate a player’s maturity status (ie age at peak height velocity – growth spurt). Physical measures include acceleration, lower body strength, power and change of direction. This information is fed back to the community club’s coaches following the visit. 3. Training observations via club visits – Leeds Rhinos coaches attend community clubs for player/coach development sessions. These sessions provide coaches with an opportunity to observe players in their own training environment and occur up to four times per year. Following these steps, the club submits a declaration of interest for up to 20 players within a designated window governed by the RFL. Players can then choose to accept this offer, for players with multiple offers they can decide which club they would like to join. Professional clubs can then submit additional declarations of interest throughout the year for up to a maximum of 20 players. Based on the number of clubs within the Yorkshire region, approximately 80–100 players from the 300 players observed will be recruited to a professional academy scholarship programme. Later maturing TIDS After all professional rugby league clubs have submitted their declaration of interest, Leeds Rhinos RLFC identified a later maturing group of players from the players not recruited to a professional club’s scholarship programme. These decisions were based upon the data collection that was undertaken at the club (specifically maturity status) alongside the competition and training observations, and the club visits. Coaches aimed to identify players with potential whose performance may be negatively affected by their maturity status. Age at peak height velocity (PHV) was used to determine a player’s maturity status and suitability for the later maturing programme. There was flexibility provided for inclusion within the programme based upon an individual’s birth date. For example, a player born in August could have a lower age at PHV than someone born in September but may be classified as later maturing due to the effect that chronological age has upon maturity classification. See two example players below in Table 2. Player X, born in September had an estimated age at PHV of 14.8 years compared to Player Y, born in July with an age at PHV of 14.0 years. This resulted in both players having a similar maturity status (ie years from PHV). Table 2: Age and maturity data for two players Date of birth Chronological Age at age (years) PHV (years) Years from PHV (years) Player X 15/09/2003 14.14 14.8 -0.66 Player Y 05/07/2004 13.28 14.0 -0.72 Table 3 summarises the maturity and fitness data collected on all players who visited the club during the 2017–18 season, the players selected to the scholarship squad and the players selected to the later maturing programme. This data shows the differences in size, maturity and some physical performance measures between the three groups. This demonstrates that players selected to scholarship were generally bigger, earlier maturing with greater physical performance than all the players assessed, which is consistent with previous research findings in rugby league (eg Till et al, 2010a). Table 3: Data comparisons between all, scholarship and later maturing players All Scholarship Later maturing Age (years) 13.64 ± 0.41 13.69 ± 0.32 13.64 ± 0.30 Height (cm) 165.2 ± 8.5 171.2 ± 6.4 159.0 ± 6.1 Weight (kg) 61.3 ± 13.6 65.5 ± 10.5 50.4 ± 5.4 Age at PHV (years) 14.1 ± 0.7 13.7 ± 0.4 14.6 ± 0.4 Year from PHV (years) -0.42 ± 0.73 0.02 ± 0.51 -0.96 ± 0.32 Vertical jump (cm) 27.1 ± 5.9 30.3 ± 5.4 27.7 ± 4.9 Mid-thigh pull (kg) 104.3 ± 23.7 121.1 ± 21.3 96.4 ± 15.9 Rel mid- thigh pull (kg.kg-1) 1.7 ± 0.3 1.9 ± 0.3 1.9 ± 0.3 Agility 505 (s) 2.64 ± 0.17 2.51 ± 0.14 2.59 ± 0.13 21