Developing young soccer players in Hungary

An exercise in developing young people on the cusp of adulthood

Together with my partner, Ildikó Zelinka we implemented a development programme for 10 young soccer players at one of the Hungarian elite football academies between November 2021 and May 2022.

Mostly in their late teens, we know, from our work in education that the period which is roughly between the ages of 17 – 24 represents a time when young people make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

For any young person this is a critical stage in their development. For elite athletes who can peak by the time they reach the early 30’s this is doubly so.

The programme has produced several useful and valuable case studies which are shown in each article. They are anonymised for obvious reasons.

The programme begins with assessment and psychological profiling for each player which included the MTQPlus – the mental toughness questionnaire.

This was followed by a series of coaching sessions which used the information from the assessments. At the end, the players completed the MTQPlus test again to identify where differences had been achieved and what outcomes were apparent.

18-year-old footballer, who has played in NB1 (top tier) and currently plays in NB2 (the second tier of Hungarian soccer).

Characteristics identified included: goal-oriented, competitive, dominant, controlling, decisive, result-oriented, quick decision-maker, very determined.????

Needs identified included: To become constantly challenging, meeting goals, improve decision making and improve communication with others by becoming more direct and more factual.????

Areas agreed for development: patience, paying attention to prioritizing goals, preventing overwork/ burnout, managing stress, increasing self-confidence, error management, listening to others, communicating more openly, developing verbal skills, being more open to learning new things, developing emotional control.

Before and after MTQ Profiles are shown below:?

What emerged: Increased mental stamina (tenacity) was identified. Improved levels of emotional control, risk orientation and belief in his own abilities were the most significant changes.

In discussion it emerged that his father has been very critical of him and his abilities since childhood. So, improving self-belief proved to be a huge achievement for him.

The programme included 3 coaching sessions (between Nov 2021-May 2022).

The sessions explored gathering resources, developing assertiveness, monitoring and building a pre-match routine. The final session focused on preparing for the International Summer Cup (match planning: what do you want to achieve mentally before the match and achieve in the game).

Player's assessment of the programme and its impact for him is summarized thus:

”After each session I felt that I had improved mentally. My self-confidence has increased, and I have learnt to handle things differently that I couldn't before (managing my emotions and being calmer).

I have also improved in asserting my self-interest, for example I have become much more confident in penalty situations and I have realised that if I look after myself a bit more and not just the interests of others I will come out on top and not the other person, whilst at the same time I have been able to remain a team player."

I appreciate Doug Strycharczyk 's help in preparing this article.

MTQ tests for the project were provided by Zoltán Csigás .