| dc.description.abstract | This study explores the unique characteristics of the Uruguayan culture for player development in football. The literature on the cultural setting in which player development embedded is scarce, even though many researchers call for more contextual based research. Uruguay with its 3,46 million inhabitants appears to be unique in terms of producing elite football players and achieving results from international competitions with their national team. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the success of Uruguayan football, which was done through investigating how Uruguayans experience and describe their football culture and how best practice in athlete development is perceived.
The study was designed as an explorative case study. The data collection was based on interviews with seven professionals with insight in Uruguayan football (two active players, two ex-professionals, one coach, one football-jurist and one agent) and week of fieldwork in Uruguay, consisting of observations from six games and informal conversations. The Environment Success Factors (Henriksen, 2010) were employed as the conceptual framework for this thesis.
The central findings show that the proud history and intense culture for football appears to have created several basic assumptions that facilitate expertise development in Uruguayan football. Within this culture, Uruguayan football players learn numerous psychological skills associated with expertise development in football such as ambition, commitment to succeed, collective efficacy and the ability to manage adversity. Distal and proximal role models appear to be important for the individual and cultural identity. I have focused the discussion on the potential positive and negative aspects of this culture for football-specific and psycho-social development. I also provide recommendations for further research. | nb_NO |
