Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 11, 2026

10:08
Effects of a Novel Neuromuscular Training Intervention on Jump, Sprint, and Change of Direction in Adult Female Soccer Players
Published on: June 10, 2025
1.2K
Talent Selection in Portuguese National Futsal Teams
Diogo Mendes1,2, Diogo V Martinho1,3, Bruno Travassos4,5
1Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Journal of Human Kinetics
|November 17, 2025
Summary
Early futsal registration and competitive experience enhance international selection chances. However, few youth players advance to adult national teams, indicating a need for better talent development strategies.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Talent Identification
- Futsal Performance Analysis
Background:
- Talent selection in elite youth sports is complex.
- Understanding progression pathways is crucial for player development.
- Futsal talent identification requires specific investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze talent selection processes in male youth and adult national futsal teams.
- To identify factors influencing progression to international adult status.
- To evaluate the transition from youth to senior national futsal teams.
Main Methods:
- Statistical analysis of 668 male futsal players' data.
- Binary logistic regressions to assess selection factors.
- Analysis of registration age, competition level, and club history.
Main Results:
- Earlier registration, 1st Division play, foreign competition, and multiple clubs increase international selection likelihood.
- Pre-1999, early registration was key; post-1999, its relevance decreased.
- A small percentage of youth players transition to the senior national team.
Conclusions:
- Talent transition from youth to adult futsal national teams needs further research.
- Coaches should implement strategies to foster youth talent development for senior progression.
- Current selection methods may not optimize long-term talent pathways.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Selection
43.8K
Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
43.8K
Frequency-dependent Selection
23.0K
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
23.0K
Social Facilitation
36.0K
Not all intergroup interactions lead to negative outcomes. Sometimes, being in a group situation can improve performance. Social facilitation occurs when an individual performs better when an audience is watching than when the individual performs the behavior alone. This typically occurs when people are performing a task for which they are skilled.
36.0K
Competition
24.2K
When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.
24.2K
Inclusive Fitness
37.2K
Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
37.2K
Mate Choice
11.5K
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
11.5K

