Análise da detecção de talentos no voleibol a partir da abordagem da gestão de conhecimento: uma proposta para técnicos da base

Abstract

Introduction: Detecting a sporting talent has been configured as a hard work for coaches of various sports modalities. This has been recognized in people who have a high potential, a special aptitude or even an aptitude for sports performance. In addition, other conceptualizations can be adopted, aiming at the opportunity to better understand this phenomenon. However, little is known about the talent detection process, specifically in volleyball, based on the Knowledge Management approach. Objective: To compare the criteria adopted by coaches from different groups (Group A – elite coaches; Group B – base category coaches) in this talent detection process, in volleyball base categories, based on Knowledge Management. Methodology: Observational study, cross-sectional, comparative in nature. This study included 39 volleyball coaches, aged between 27 and 65 years (mean = 48.3 ± 8.4 years), all male, divided into two groups. The instrument adopted was a structured questionnaire containing 13 self-click questions. Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation, median, interquartile range (IIQ, 25th and 75th percentiles) and measures of epidemiological frequency. Comparisons of demographic characteristics between groups of coaches were made using the Mann-Whitney U test. All analyzes were performed using the R statistical programming language (version 4.0.5; R Core Team, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Results: There was no significant difference in most questions evaluated. When evaluating which preferred job category, the 11 to 15 years old showed a significant difference between the groups (p=0.003). In the ranking questions (questions 11 and 12), it was noticed that most of them showed a good consensus between the groups among the investigated variables, with the biotype being the variable with the greatest consensus (0.58) and muscle mass with values below 0.50 (0.47). There was no full consensus (1) on any of the variables ranked in these questions. Conclusion: It was possible to conclude that the coaches of both groups take different physical and anthropometric variables as strong predictors of possible talent in a specific modality. During the athletes’ evaluation process, however, it is suggested that base-category coaches should take into consideration not only those variables, but also the instruments and tests meant to gauge the athletes’ psycho-emotional features (so far poorly applied) based on the Knowledge Management approach. Given its high predictive value, this framework is more precise if compared to the talent detection process. Further investigations with different sampling and methodological designs are needed to confirm these findings.