Introduction — Brain Development, Learning & Talent Development in Football

01

Where This Series Begins

Talent development seen from the inside out

Talent development in football is often discussed through the lens of performance: technical quality, physical ability, match actions, and current level. Those things matter. But if we want to understand how young female players truly develop, we have to look deeper.

"We have to understand how learning happens, how the brain develops, how curiosity is stimulated, how confidence is shaped, and why development is never the same for every young female player."

This series is built on that belief. It starts from the idea that talent development in football cannot be understood only through what a player shows today. It must also be understood through what is still developing underneath: the brain, the body, the emotions, the environment, the life experiences, and the learning process that together shape what a player may become over time.

We have to look at the person behind the player. That is where this series begins.

02

Inspired by Professor Jelle Jolles

Neuropsychology translated into football

Scientific Foundation

This series is inspired by the work of Professor Jelle Jolles, one of the Netherlands' leading professors of neuropsychology, whose work on brain development, learning, and adolescence has been highly influential in the way we understand child and youth development.

His work has helped show that development is never only about ability in the narrow sense. It is also about timing, environment, stimulation, safety, experience, and the interaction between the developing brain and the world around the young person.

More than a decade ago, there was an opportunity to write a number of articles together with Professor Jolles and Annemarie van Eem, exploring how insights from neuropsychology and development could be connected to the world of young people. Over the years, much of that thinking has continued to be translated into football — and especially into what it can mean for the development of young female players.

Many of those ideas still feel highly relevant today. In some ways, they may be even more relevant now, as the women's game continues to grow and the need for deeper, more developmentally informed thinking becomes increasingly clear.

This series is not intended as a scientific paper. It is a practical reflection for coaches, scouts, technical directors, parents, and everyone involved in the development of young female players — translating key insights from brain developmental science into football language.

03

Why the Female Lens Matters Here

Universal principles — read more accurately through a specific context

The core principles from developmental science are universal. Brains mature over time. Curiosity supports learning. Environments shape growth. Individual differences matter greatly. But when we apply those principles to women's football specifically, important layers emerge that are too often overlooked.

Young female players develop within a particular context: a game that is still building its pathways, still strengthening its development structures, and still too often viewed through reference points shaped by a different game. At the same time, young female players move through puberty, hormonal change, body transition, identity formation, and changing social dynamics — all while trying to learn the game, grow in confidence, and find their place within it.

This means that what we see on the pitch is never only football. It is also development. It is body change. It is confidence. It is learning. It is emotion. It is accumulated experience. It is environment.

Through the Female Lens · Talent Development in Women's Football · 2026

The female lens does not change the fundamentals of development. It helps us read them more accurately in the context of the young female player in front of us. It asks us to separate what a player shows today from what she may still become. To distinguish the influence of opportunity and environment from innate ability. To be more careful with early judgments. And to create the conditions in which potential can develop, become visible, and continue to grow.

04

What This Series Covers

Six connected parts · one framework

This series unfolds across six connected parts, each exploring a theme from developmental science and neuropsychology and translating it into the context of women's football.

1

Curiosity Is Essential for Talent Development Why curiosity is one of the essential conditions for learning, exploration, and development — and what coaches and clubs can do to create environments that stimulate it.

2

Brains Mature Later Than We Once Thought What later brain maturation means in practice — how learning, decision-making, emotional regulation, confidence, and puberty interact through the female lens.

3

A Slow-Growing Tree May Eventually Become the Tallest Tree Individual differences in development — why some young female players need more time, and why early performance should not be confused with long-term potential.

4

The Coach Must Have an Eye for the Determinants The wider set of factors that shape player performance — why coaches and talent staff need to look beyond isolated football actions.

5

A Stimulating Environment Is Key to Helping Talent Develop How the quality of stimulation, support, challenge, safety, and guidance around the young female player influences learning and the trajectory of her development.

6

Neuropsychological Development as a Key Part of Talent ID in Football Bringing the earlier themes together — what it means to truly integrate neuropsychological and developmental understanding into talent identification and player development.

05

Who This Series Is For

Everyone involved in the development of young female players

This series is written for anyone who works with, selects, coaches, scouts, or supports young female players at any level of the game. The language throughout is intentionally accessible. The goal is not to impress with science. The goal is to make the science useful.

Coaches & Academy Staff

Working directly with players day to day — understanding development makes coaching more intentional, more accurate, and more effective.

Scouts & Technical Directors

Making judgments about future potential — a developmental lens helps distinguish early advantage from long-term capability.

Club Leaders

Shaping programmes and development environments — building systems that reflect developmental reality rather than only short-term performance.

Parents & Those Around the Player

Understanding more clearly what a young female player may be going through and what she may need — on and off the field.

06

A Note on What Has Not Changed

Enduring foundations — a new moment to apply them

The insights in this series are not new. Neuropsychological research on brain development, learning, and adolescence has been building for decades, and the foundations laid by Professor Jolles and others remain highly relevant.

What has changed is the context in which we are applying them. Women's football has grown enormously. The women's game is moving quickly. More young female players than ever are entering the game earlier, with bigger ambitions, in more organised environments. And yet, in many parts of the game, the understanding of how those players develop — neurologically, biologically, emotionally, socially, and through learning — still lags behind.

"That gap is part of what this series hopes to address. Not completely, and not alone. But as a contribution to a conversation the women's game needs to have more openly."

Because the young female players in our training sessions, academies, and selection processes deserve to be seen more fully. Not only for what they can do today. But also for everything they are still becoming.

Brain Development, Learning, and Talent Development in Football

Where This Series Begins

Curiosity Is Essential for Talent Development

Brains Mature Later Than We Once Thought

A Slow-Growing Tree May Eventually Become the Tallest Tree

The Coach Must Have an Eye for the Determinants

A Stimulating Environment Is Key to Helping Talent Develop

Neuropsychological Development as a Key Part of Talent ID

Where This Series Begins

Inspired by Professor Jelle Jolles

Why the Female Lens Matters Here

What This Series Covers

Who This Series Is For

A Note on What Has Not Changed