title: Academic performance and self-regulatory skills in elite youth soccer players.
abstract: Although elite athletes have been reported to be high academic achievers, many elite soccer players struggle with a stereotype of being low academic achievers. The purpose of this study was to compare the academic level (pre-university or pre-vocational) and self-regulatory skills (planning, self-monitoring, evaluation, reflection, effort, and self-efficacy) of elite youth soccer players aged 12-16 years (n = 128) with those of 164 age-matched controls (typical students). The results demonstrate that the elite youth soccer players are more often enrolled in the pre-university academic system, which means that they are high academic achievers, compared with the typical student. The elite players also report an increased use of self-regulatory skills, in particular self-monitoring, evaluation, reflection, and effort. In addition, control students in the pre-university system had more highly developed self-regulatory skills than those in the pre-vocational system, whereas no difference was observed within the soccer population. This suggests that the relatively stronger self-regulatory skills reported by the elite youth soccer players may be essential for performance at the highest levels of sport competition and in academia.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. l.jonker@med.umcg.nl
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jonker
authors.forename: Marije T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Elferink-Gemser
authors.forename: Tynke T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Toering
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Visscher
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012916:Soccer; D012927:Social Control, Informal