André Barreiros

From early to adult sport success: Analysing athletes' progression in national squads

Abstract Although some prospective studies have shown that many successful young athletes do not maintain the same level of success when they reach adulthood, there is still a lack of information regarding athletes who started their international involvement at early ages. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the international pathway of male and female athletes in different sports from the moment of their competitive debut, in order to determine how many international athletes at early ages competed or did not compete internationally as juniors and/or seniors. The sample included 395 athletes (soccer, volleyball, swimming and judo), born between 1974 and 1981, who could have competed in their national squads between 1988 and 2008. Results showed that only a third of international pre-junior athletes reappeared as senior athletes, confirming the difficulties of predicting late success based on early identification and selection.

A Retrospective Analysis of Portuguese Elite Athletes' Involvement in International Competitions

The primary purpose of the present study was to determine how many international senior athletes competed at the international level during their development. This examination was conducted across different sports, genders, and levels of success. 532 international senior athletes of four Olympic sports (soccer, volleyball, swimming, and judo) who were born between 1974 and 1983 and competed at National squads between 1988 and 2008. The results showed, particularly at team sports, that a significant number of athletes did not have any international experience during their development as a youth. Overall, results suggest that early involvement in international events and selection of talent during early ages is not a prerequisite of success, particularly in team and male sports.

Training and Psychosocial Patterns during the Early Development of Portuguese National Team Athletes.

This study explored the early development of expert athletes compared to a group of athletes that did not achieve an expert level of performance despite being involved in youth events with their national squads. In particular, the activities, training patterns, and psychosocial influences that characterized their paths in competitive sports were examined. Male and female participants (N = 42) from different sports were interviewed. Overall, athletes showed several commonalities. However, experts were selected to national squads later and also started thinking about investing in becoming elite athletes later. Non-experts revealed more parental pressure and less individual training with coaches.

Como distinguir jovens atletas que tencionam continuar a praticar desporto dos que não tencionam continuar a fazê-lo?

The aim of this study was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish between young athletes who intended to continue playing sports and those who inten...

How to distinguish between young athletes who intend to continue playing sports and those who do not intend to continue doing it

The aim of this study was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish between young athletes who intended to continue playing sports and those who inten...

Como distinguir entre jóvenes atletas que tienen la intención de continuar practicando deporte de los que no piensan continuar haciéndolo

The aim of this study was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish between young athletes who intended to continue playing sports and those who inten...