The game variants in Europe. Trends and perspectives during youth competitive stages

Abstract AIMS The aim of this study was to verify how European countries manage the type of game variants and their frequency during different age groups of youth competition. METHODS Data were collected from the official rules of youth football championships. To identify countries homogenous groups according to their game variants, Two Step Cluster Analysis procedure was used while a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the game variants distribution in each Cluster. In order to correlate the game variants with age groups, a Chi-Square independence test and a Spearman ordinal correlation coefficient were used. RESULTS The results showed there were five clusters with significant differences in their game variants distribution (X2 kw (4) = 22.149; p<0.001; n = 30) and a significant correlation between age group and game variant (χ2(63) = 477.724; p<0.001; n = 30). Specifically, the most used game variants in each age group were the five-a-side (F5) in Under-8; the nine-a-side (F9) in Under-12; the seven-a-side (F7) in Under-9 and Under10; and the eleven-a-side (F11) in and above Under-13. CONCLUSION These results may contribute to understand the different country perspectives about the competitive game variants of youth football within the European space and its relation with diverse learning philosophies and pathways.

摘要
研究目的：本研究旨在探究欧洲各国在青少年足球赛事中，针对不同年龄组所采用的比赛赛制变体类型及其使用频率的管理模式。
研究方法：本研究的数据来源于青少年足球锦标赛的官方竞赛规则。为依据比赛赛制变体对各国进行同质分组，本研究采用两步聚类分析（Two Step Cluster Analysis）方法；同时使用非参数克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯检验（Kruskal-Wallis test）对各聚类组内的赛制变体分布情况进行比较。为探究赛制变体与年龄组之间的相关性，本研究采用卡方独立性检验（Chi-Square independence test）与斯皮尔曼等级相关系数（Spearman ordinal correlation coefficient）开展分析。
研究结果：结果显示，共得到5个聚类组，各组间的赛制变体分布存在显著差异（X²_kw(4) = 22.149; p<0.001; n = 30），且年龄组与赛制变体之间存在显著相关性（χ²(63) = 477.724; p<0.001; n = 30）。具体而言，各年龄组最常用的赛制变体为：U8年龄段采用五人制足球（five-a-side, F5）；U12年龄段采用九人制足球（nine-a-side, F9）；U9与U10年龄段采用七人制足球（seven-a-side, F7）；U13及以上年龄段采用十一人制足球（eleven-a-side, F11）。
研究结论：本研究结果有助于理解欧洲范围内各国在青少年足球竞赛赛制变体方面的不同视角，及其与多样化的足球学习理念与发展路径之间的关联。