الإصدار 7 - العدد 19 (2026-10-20)

Beyond Mental Toughness: Psychological Competence as a Curriculum Problem in Elite Football Academies, A Convergent Mixed-Methods Study and the Integrated Athlete Development Curriculum Framework

Dr: Lara Al Arab

Education Leadership Consultant - Researcher and University Instructor

Football academies and clubs invest systematically in physical, technical, and tactical preparation, yet mental toughness is typically transmitted as an implicit cultural expectation rather than delivered as designed curriculum. This study reframes psychological competence in elite football as a curriculum-design problem rather than a psychological-skills deficit. A convergent mixed-methods design with complementary samples was employed. The quantitative strand comprised the validated 20-item Sport Mental Training Questionnaire administered to 47 respondents across seven sports (athletes n = 40; coaches and club or academy leaders n = 7), of whom 19 were affiliated with football. The qualitative strand comprised semi-structured interviews with 10 under-21 academy footballers and 3 coaches (N = 13) at an international academy championship in Dubai in May 2024. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, interviews through reflexive thematic analysis, and strands integrated through a joint display. Total psychological competence was moderately high (M = 4.04, SD = 0.48, α = .87) but systematically asymmetric. Organisational and interpersonal competencies were rated highest, rule adherence (M = 4.70), self-appraisal (M = 4.53), role acceptance (M = 4.47), team communication (M = 4.21), while trainable performance-enhancement skills were rated lowest: relaxation under pressure (M = 3.64), imagery for emotional control (M = 3.74), rapid adaptation (M = 3.77), self-talk under adversity (M = 3.79). Provision and demand were misaligned: 44.7% reported no programme and only 25.5% had accessed professional support, yet 87.2% expressed willingness to participate. Six themes emerged, centred on error recovery, controllability appraisal, emotional channelling, routinised preparation, scaffolded challenge, and a universally reported absence of professional psychological provision in whose place players assembled self-sourced substitutes including study of inspiring role models. Participants located the decisive competencies precisely in the domains the survey identified as weakest, describing them as learnable but not taught. The profile is more parsimoniously explained by what academies teach explicitly than by athletes’ psychological capacity. The study proposes the Integrated Athlete Development Curriculum Framework (IADCF).