”I need to perform” : A qualitative interview study on Swedish academy players' experiences of the talent development environment from a holistic perspective

The purpose of the study was to examine Swedish academy players experiences of a talent development environment from a holistic perspective. The sample consisted of eleven Swedish male football players between the ages of 16-18 (M = 16,9, SD = 0.9). All participants met the following inclusion criterias: To be an active player in a Swedish Elite Football certified academy with minimum four stars. Gametime primarily gained in an academy team. Access to the senior team is only permitted through the training environment. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, later analysed using a thematic analysis according to Braun and Clare (2022) 6 phases. Thematic analysis resulted in three themes based on the research questions: Challenges, Coping and Opportunity to develop as an athlete and person. The result describes experiences of being an academy player where challenges were mainly linked to dealing with competition and performance demands, how football affects life.Close relationships with staff and teammates as well as an awareness of what it takes to succeed benefited the players ability to cope with the challenges. The talent development environment was perceived to promote both athletic and personal development through a long-term development focus and supporting players on and off the pitch. The results describe the academy players positive story about the experience of the talent development environment and how factors in the environment interact to promote the experience.