How Do Young Athletes Experience Selection and Nonselection? An Ethnographic Study of Talent Categorization and Identification Processes

Football associations across western nations, including Denmark and Germany, are initiating nationwide programs to identify and select young talented athletes. The aim of this study was to explore how 9- to 10-year-old children experienced such early talent identification and selection processes. Using an ethnographic approach, the first author conducted 1.5 years of fieldwork in a Danish suburban football club from which boys were selected (or nonselected) to an extracurricular nationwide program. Within the club, the first author observed and participated in weekly training sessions for the under 10- and 11-year-old age groups and conducted six focus-group interviews with 19 of the boys. Data were analyzed using Jenkins' (2014) theoretical perspectives on social identity and specifically his distinction between external categorization and internal identification. Observations from weekly training practices noted that the coaches-as representatives of the football system-grouped the boys based on skill level (and talent) as the main criteria. Through focus-group interviews, it became apparent that grouping the boys into A-, B-, and C-teams constituted the main reference point for the boys' internal identification of themselves and their peers. Importantly, the boys actively negotiated their adherence to these categories arguing for their proximity to the top-tier A-team that was remarkably more valued than the other groups. Herein, we discuss the (un)intended consequences of skill level being the salient point of identification for children and provide options for supporting more diverse and encompassing group memberships in sport settings.