Expanding our understanding of talent development environments in English female youth football: Player, parent and coach perspectives

Female football is one of the largest growing sports in the world; yet there is comparatively little research exploring female football talent development environments (TDEs). To develop understanding of TDEs, we explored and compared players’, parents’ and coaches’ perspectives of TDEs, and provide suggestions regarding opportunities for development. Using a cross-sectional design, we surveyed – using the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire-5 (TDEQ-5) − 3217 participants (players n = 1456; parents n = 1432; staff n = 329) from 30 English female football TDEs. Descriptive subscale analysis revealed largely positive perceptions of TDEs (>4/6 of each subscale). Coaches had more positive perceptions of the TDEs than players and parents in all TDEQ-5 subscales, except for the alignment of expectations subscale where coaches had the least positive perception. Significant differences between players, coaches, and parents (p ≤ 0.001) were evident across the support network (coaches most positive, then parents, then players) and alignment of expectations (parents most positive, then players, then coaches) subscales. Based on lowest scoring items from players, coaches and parents, we themed key opportunities for development under (1) achievement-related communication, (2) success planning, and (3) coping skills. Findings can provide direction to national policy makers and inform coach and parent education initiatives.