Guidelines For Developing Players

Understanding how players grow and develop through play and sport along with long term athlete development (LTAD) can be a challenging process when considering players individual stages of physical, emotional, tactical and psychological development all alongside their participation in the sports they enjoy to play. Keeping in mind that our kids/players all develop at different rates and may experience aspects of “adolescent awkwardness” during periods of rapid growth, considerations around the amount of all sports, including football, played throughout these different ages and stages needs to be well considered, catered for and managed appropriately. In order to help parents, coaches and players understand the development process better and highlight critical developmental phases and stages in a players lifecycle with suggested hours of formal sports participation, plus the LTAD model, we have created the below ‘Player Development Guidelines’.

The player development guidelines table will highlight the changing developmental stages throughout a players journey in line with suggested total hours of all formal sports involvement, plus New Zealand Football’s Whole of Football Plan (WOFP) within this framework, overlayed with the healthy continuation of other sports a player wishes to participate in and in line with Sport New Zealand’s Balance is Better campaign, taking into consideration relevant stages for all ages.

How to use the Player Development Guidelines table

Scroll through the table with your mouse checking against the players age and gender you are exploring to highlight guidelines specific to this population group.   Also try clicking on the below “Show Growth Velocity Curve” button to see the average male and female growth curve overlayed onto these guidelines. Understand what guidelines are recommended for the population group and their phase of growth and development.  It is important to keep in mind that this curve is reflective of an “average” growth rate which may vary from individual to individual depending on whether they mature early or later.