Performance Profiling in Athletic Youth Populations Youth Athlete Recruitment

What are we doing and what is involved?

We are planning to conduct a PhD study investigating familiarisation and reliability of a proposed test battery suitable for young female athletes competing in the sport of athletics. Participants will be asked to complete a series of four tests which include a 60m sprint using the Opto-gait system, isometric trap bar pull, and both loaded and unloaded jump assessments. The testing chosen will include an extensive range of measures of physical attributes that are important for success in athletics such as strength, speed, and power.  

Where will this be happening?

All testing will be conducted at Ulster University Jordanstown. Athletes are required to attend one session per week for three weeks to perform a series of strength and jump assessments. Each session will last approximately 1.5 hours. Sprint testing will take place at a later date.

To be included, participants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Must be female and between the ages of 8-16 years
• Has been involved in athletics training over the past 12 months. For example, as an active member of an athletics club or through school-based training (including cross-country and/or track and field), which aligns with the Department of Education’s PE curriculum recognising athletics training as a core activity area.
• Healthy and free from any medical conditions
• Uninjured and has had no injuries in the previous three months

Why is this research important?

There is a growing problem within youth athletics with many athletes grouped based on chronological age for training and competition purposes. This presents a problem as young athletes grow and mature at different times and rates throughout late childhood and adolescence. For example, within a particular age group (e.g., U12s) two athletes can have the same chronological age but differ in biological age by as much as 5-6 years. This can result in early developers having a temporary athletic advantage over their peers which can lead to implications relating to talent identification, team selections, injury prevention, and training interventions. The age group classifications at schools-level may further exasperate this problem as an athlete depending on their time of birth could end up competing against another athlete in the same category that are two years older. This problem is magnified further when we consider differences in biological maturity within these categories.  

By taking part in this study, you will help researchers understand how growth and maturation affect the development of physical attributes in young female athletes and how these outcome measures relate to sports performance. This information will not only help to establish benchmarks for training and competition purposes but can also be used to fairly identify emerging talent.  

The next steps:

If your child is eligible and would like to take part in our study please let us know and we will forward on a series of parental/guardian consent, participant assent, and health history questionnaire forms. Forms can be completed on the first day of testing or forwarded online prior to testing.

When will the testing take place?

Testing will take place between 4-9pm on weekdays (Monday-Friday) and between 9:45am – 4:30pm on weekends (Saturday-Sunday).  

We now have times and dates available for testing which I have copied below. Please select a time and date that suits you. Our capacity for testing is two athletes per time slot.

Available times and dates 

Instructions on arrival (Ulster University, Jordanstown - Sports Centre)

Upon arrival, make your way to strength and conditioning suite 1 located on the first floor. There is a waiting area outside the gym. A member of the research team will meet you there.  

Initial testing session

At the beginning of the first testing session, we will collect a series of anthropometric and maturity data. In order to classify athletes into maturation groups (i.e., early, on-time, late) we use the Khamis-Roche Method. This is a child friendly, non-invasive approach that uses anthropometric data to predict a child’s percentage of predicted adult height. In order to calculate maturity status using this approach we require the height from both biological parents. We will collect the parent/s height alongside their child at the start of the first session. If for some reason this height data is unavailable, we can use a self-reporting approach. After we collect anthropometric and maturity data the athlete will undertake a 10-minute dynamic warm-up prior to performing a series of strength and jump assessments.  

What’s in it for you?

At the end of testing, individual feedback will be provided to each athlete with some training guidance offered. Participants will also have the opportunity for repeat testing at three and six months after the initial reliability study. This season-long follow-up compliments the athlete’s regular training programme and will help to monitor their physical development across the athletics season.

If you have any further questions, please contact Paulin-s@ulster.ac.uk