Özet:

It has been considered necessary to determine young football players’ cognitive and affective characteristics along with their physical-physiological characteristics required by their positions in order to enable players to reach their potential. This research aims to compare youth football players’ problem-solving, attention, and motivation levels according to the positions they play. The research was conducted with 217 male (MAge=16.01) football players between the ages of 14-19, playing in the youth academies of professional football teams in the Aegean Region of Turkey. Problem Solving Inventory, d2 Attention Test, and Sports Motivation Scale were applied to the football players in an environment where there was no coach before the training. Kruskal Wallis Variance Analysis was used to determine whether each variable show significant difference according to players’ positions and Tamhane Test was used for multiple comparisons. There was no significant difference between the problem-solving and motivation levels of the youth players playing in different positions. The concentration points of the center-backs were found to be significantly higher than those of the right/left strikers. It is recommended that coaches design training programs that will improve the problem-solving skills of youth players and increase their intrinsic motivation.

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