Purpose: This paper aims to explore team learning processes used by soccer players in a professional training context by focusing on their identification and evolution for 22 months. Design/methodology/approach: A soccer team from a professional academy participated to this study based on six training sessions. Qualitative data on training…

Over the past 15 years there has been an increase in the number of secondary schools in New Zealand developing sports academies, yet there has not been a corresponding increase in the critical or empirical research investigating this phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to describe the micro-politics associated with the inception and…

This paper describes "Smena," a Specialist Children's and Young People's Sport School of Olympic Reserves, located in Leningrad, which trains elite young soccer players. Information is given on: (1) the facilities of the school; (2) the schools' long-range individual and team goals; (3) instructional methods and hours; (4) the…