Career planning is a growing trend in modern sports with the aim of better structuring the sports career of children and young people, both from the perspective of planning the sports and educational aspects, as well as the support provided by coaches and agents, or those who are supposed to guide career planning. In this master's thesis, we wanted to examine whether there are differences in attitudes towards planning a dual career based on the gender of the parents and the age of their child. The objectives of the master's thesis were related to determining the attitudes of parents about planning the dual career of children in a specific football environment - in the environment of NK Aluminij. An online questionnaire was properly completed by 155 parents. The respondents included 75 men and 80 women; 33 parents of girls and 122 parents of boys. More than half of the parents have above-average monthly income. More than half of the football players have excellent academic performance. Most parents believe that they provide adequate all-round support to their child; they similarly rate the support provided by coaches. They highly appreciate the organization and support of the club. They rarely discuss career goals with coaches and children. The results further show a statistically significant difference in only one attitude - reasons for engagement. Fathers believe that their own commitment to football has significantly influenced their child's involvement in it. We also examined parents' attitudes towards the influence of agents in children's football. More than half of the parents are aware of the role of agents, but do not believe that they have any influence in NK Aluminij. Most parents also do not plan to connect with agents in the further career development of their children.
Our study represents a significant research contribution to the field of career planning for children and adolescents in football. It is believed that with appropriate planning of dual careers, football as a sport could offer even more beneficial life experiences. This would likely result in a smaller decline in the number of youths transitioning from youth to professional football.
It would be meaningful to incorporate the experiences of parents or their perspectives into the strategy for further development of work with young football players not only in NK Aluminij Kidričevo but also in other similar football environments.
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