einstein (São Paulo). 11/Oct/2023;21:eAO0269.
Contemporary reflection on the educational levels of high-performance soccer players in Brazil
DOI: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2023AO0269
Highlights
Only 5.5% of Brazilian soccer players surveyed completed higher education.
Of these 179 athletes, 67% completed high school. T۪۪he most educated were goalkeepers and defenders at 37% (66/179).
Physical education for sports is different from educating the mind in terms of brain plasticity.
ABSTRACT
Objective:
As the soccer culture in Brazil is more popular than schooling, this study reflected on the formal education levels of soccer (football) players through descriptive and quantitative analyses.
Methods:
We evaluated 179 national soccer players playing various positions on different teams across six seasons (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2022). Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising the following variables: age, position in the pitch, age of professionalization, and education (years of study). The data were distributed according to the pitch position.
Results:
The mean age, length of professional career, and professionalization age were 23±6 years, 7±5 years, and 17±2 years, respectively. In terms of education, 121 athletes (67%) completed high school, equivalent to 11 years of study. Only 5.5% completed higher education, with defensive players (goalkeepers and defenders) being the most educated at 37% (66/179). According to 2017 figures from the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua of the Federal Government of Brazil, the schooling rate is 31.7%, wherein 46.1% of Brazilians aged 25 years or over have completed education. In this study of 179 athletes, 67% had completed high school. Thus, players outrank the Brazilian population in terms of achieving a high school education. There were marked disparities in the relative proportions of goalkeepers (85%), defensive players (68%), midfielders (63%), and forward players (64%) in terms of their education.
Conclusion:
Our survey revealed that attending higher education remains a distant reality in Brazil.
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